Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503060032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Secrist's budget, released Friday, relies on the real estate tax remaining at 20 cents per $100 of assessed value. With last year's countywide reassessment, real estate values jumped an average of 8.2 percent.
By law, council will have to drop the rate - probably to about 19 cents, Secrist said - so the town does not bring in more money just because of the reassessment. To raise it back to 20 cents, it will have to advertise the increase and hold a public hearing first.
The budget also calls for cigarette taxes to be raised from a nickel to a dime a per pack, and it doubles the tax rate for staying in a motel from 2 percent to 4 percent.
Bills for water and sewer services would go up by about 6.5 percent because of an increase in water rates.
The cigarette and lodging tax increases should bring the town an extra $150,000 during the 1995-96 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The town will use that money to build a senior citizens center and to fund the Clay Street extension during the next five years. The water service increase continues a five-year plan to convert the service into a money gainer.
The biggest chunk of the $19 million budget comes from the $11 million general fund. Though the budget is made up of five separate funds, only the general fund is tax-driven.
In preparing it, Secrist projected $137,000 coming to the town from Booth American Cable Co. for the town's 5 percent share of the cable company's annual revenues. That's dictated by the recent franchise agreement between the company and town.
Real estate taxes are expected to generate $1.7 million.
Noteworthy, too, is the $750,000 the town expects to garner in Business, Professional and Occupational License taxes, which earlier in the year had been threatened by Gov. George Allen's tax-cutting push. When the General Assembly defeated that effort, it let stand a revenue source which Secrist considers extremely important.
"Absolutely," he said. "That's three quarters of a million dollars."
Secrist directed attention to his capital improvements program, passed by Town Council in January at a time when the state budget battle going on in Richmond made many local leaders uncertain what they would have to work with in preparing their budgets. He told the council then that things could change depending on the outcome of the General Assembly session that ended a week ago.
"What this budget is saying ... is that we will continue to move on the course that we set," Secrist said. ("Unless something happens in the veto session," he noted as an afterthought, referring to the assembly's April session for dealing with bills that could be vetoed by the governor.)
Secrist directed his departments to submit budget requests that chopped 2 percent off of what they will spend this year, and to submit separately a 4 percent addendum. The idea was to keep the budget requests down since the state situation was uncertain but to be prepared if luck was to be had. In the end, after personnel costs were added in and Secrist made decisions, some agencies, like the police, came in below this year's cost. Some, such as parks and recreation, came in higher.
The budget calls for:
2 percent wage increases and pay-for-performance bonuses for town staff;
Hiring a full-time systems and network administrator to keep up with the town offices' growing computerization at a cost of $33,814, while removing a part-time data entry position;
Spending $1.65 million on capital improvements;
Replacing the Fire Department's ladder truck at a cost of $304,100;
Allocating $295,000 for street repaving.
Town Council is expected to set a public hearing on the budget at its next meeting and should vote on it by the end of April.
by CNB