Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 9, 1995                   TAG: 9504100003
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ELIZABETH OBENSHAIN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GRUMPY ABOUT TAXES? GO SNIFF THE FLOWERS

I like to attend the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors' tax rate hearing each spring to keep my finger on the pulse of what local taxpayers are thinking. Even though I've lived in this county most of my 47 years, I always learn something about the different political and economic divisions in this county.

Two things struck me this year:

First: Only about 100 people - many of them teachers and PTA officers - showed up at the hearing even though the supervisors had advertised a possible 5-cent increase in the local tax rate.

Second: Most of the older taxpayers who came spoke out against any increase in the local tax rate or funding for the local schools. They had two common themes: folks on fixed incomes can't afford tax increases; and, schools 40 years ago didn't have bright green roofs or other frills, but by gosh, we learned to read and write.

From the relatively small sample of people who spoke it is impossible to try to project whether most local senior citizens oppose - or support - increased school funding. My guess is that many retirees in this community continue to be avid supporters of the public schools long after their own children are grown.

But if Blacksburg and Montgomery County are going to position themselves as retirement communities, local education leaders might want to start thinking now about how to build bridges to this increasing segment of our population. They may want to plan programs to involve retirees so they can see first-hand what is happening in today's classrooms.

Budget season is probably a touchy time for us all. I'll admit the supervisors did not look like they were having a lot of fun sitting on the stage at Christiansburg High School listening to speakers volley back and forth about school computers and dog wardens and tax increases.

I'll admit I get a bit grumpy myself under this spring's triple barrage of budget wrangling going on in Christiansburg, Richmond and Washington - especially when cutting the measly amount of funding for public radio and television seems to be someone's answer for balancing the federal budget. That's the one thing they spend my federal tax dollars on I actually enjoy.

I don't envy the supervisors' job of financing the demands of a growing population with increasing expectations on a relatively fixed tax base. School needs will make spring an increasingly difficult balancing act for supervisors as education moves toward expensive technologies and an increasingly urban population demands more sophisticated schools.

It's hard to see beyond each spring's budget crisis. Yet more than ever, the supervisors need to be planning ahead, aware of how their budget and land-use decisions are shaping our county for years to come.

This year the voters will also have their chance to weigh in on the tax and spending issues confronting the county when they elect a majority of the board this November. It's up to us to insist that we have a serious debate on this county's direction and the increasingly difficult budget decisions that lie ahead.

Elizabeth Obenshain is the New River editor for the Roanoke Times & World-News.