Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 18, 1995 TAG: 9505190035
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEWART MacINNIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The supervisors Tuesday set a June 20 public hearing on the proposed budget and on the proposed property tax increase.
The board has wrestled this spring with pressure on local revenues caused by fewer state and federal dollars to fund mandated programs. The process has been painful, because the county has little room to raise local revenues.
About three-quarters of the county's land area is part of the Jefferson National Forest and exempt from the real estate tax. The county has only one industrial employer, and a tax on machinery brings in only about $10,000 annually.
The result has been cuts in all budget requests from county departments and actual decreases in most departments, compared to this year's funding.
"This is a bare-bones budget," said Stephen A. Carter, county administrator. "There's no specific monies for capital improvements or for planning. We'll just operate next year."
The supervisors have held the county's real estate tax rate at 58 cents per $100 of valuation. The other major local revenue source, the personal property tax, however, is to increase by 30 cents to $2.50 per $100 of valuation.
The board hopes the personal property increase will bring in about $93,000 more in revenue for the coming budget year than it now brings in.
The two largest increases in the budget - $255,000 for education and $89,700 for solid waste disposal - are due in large measure to mandated requirements. The increase in funding for schools, for example, is because of expected increases in enrollment. The amount budgeted by the supervisors is the minimum required by state funding formulas.
County employees will receive a 3 percent cost of living raise; constitutional officers will receive a 2.25 percent raise; and school employees will receive a 4 percent raise.
by CNB