Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504120017
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
This year, the most noise on the night of a public hearing on the budget was made by Dale Dearing, captain of the Stewartsville Rescue Squad.
Dearing questioned the county Board of Supervisors about its decision to include $25,000 in the 1995-96 budget for the Campbell County Rescue Squad.
Dearing, while acknowledging the Campbell County squad's efforts, wondered aloud why the board went against a vote taken by the Bedford County Rescue Squad Association.
The association - made up of an elected representative from each of the county's nine rescue squads - voted against a request from Campbell County for Bedford County to appropriate $50,000 toward the cost of a new crash truck, Dearing said.
Dearing and other members of the Bedford County squad said members of the county Board of Supervisors sent Campbell County representatives to them when the request was made.
After the association denied the request, they said, the Bedford County supervisors met with the Campbell County representatives and agreed to half the money.
Dearing said the nine Bedford County squads are set to receive $20,000 each.
The Campbell County squad, which answers calls in the eastern section of Bedford County, also will receive $7,200 for its time spent across the county line. The Campbell County squad has been receiving the $7,200 stipend for several years while Bedford County squads were given close to $20,000 annually, said County Administrator Bill Rolfe.
"This will knock a hole in morale," Dearing said of the $25,000. "And when I talk morale, I'm talking voters."
Bertie Padgett, a retiree and a member of the Moneta Rescue Squad, said she was watching the news on television a few nights ago.
"I saw Campbell County people talking about this big crash truck. And then I heard them say Bedford County was giving them $25,000. And I said, 'Oh my gosh! There go my taxes.'"
Members of the Board of Supervisors, however, stuck by their decision.
"The eastern end of the county would be in bad shape without Campbell County," said Supervisor Henry Creasy.
He also said he's seen figures that show Campbell County answers the second most response calls in Bedford County.
Dearing said that hasn't been proven.
Rolfe said the $25,000, if given final approval by the board, isn't tied to any one item and can be used by the Campbell County squad in any way it chooses.
Only one person spoke on the subject of taxes during the hearing.
The supervisors aren't being lambasted with complaints because they lowered the real estate tax rate by 21 cents - from 65 cents per $100 of assessed value to 44 cents - due to this year's reassessment.
But John Sublett, a Chamblissburg resident who's running for the board, took issue with the supervisors, who have publicly stated that there will be no tax increase.
The taxes residents will pay will depend totally on the reassessment of the home and property.
And while Rolfe agreed that, in some cases, a citizen may pay a higher amount of taxes next year, he said reassessment figures show that two-thirds of parcels in the county will generate lower taxes in 1995-96.
Bedford County's proposed budget is set at $72.2 million - a $3 million increase from 1994-95.
by CNB