ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
A newly formed residents group claims Roanoke County can't afford to approve the upcoming $37.4 million school bond referendum because it says the county is overextended in bonded debt.
The bond issue will add to the tax burden, causing more people to move out of the county and leave fewer taxpayers to pay off the debt, said Don Terp, a leader of the group.
The county's bonded debt has increased from $347 to $896 per resident in the past decade, an increase of 158 percent, he said.
At a news conference Tuesday, Terp said the group, Concerned Citizens for Good Government, believes the school bonds could hamper the county's ability to finance other needed projects.
Roanoke County has experienced slow growth in the past decade as taxes have increased to help pay off the long-term debt, he said.
But Finance Director Diane Hyatt said the county can afford the school bonds and that they won't cause any financial burden. The Board of Supervisors said the bonds can be repaid with a maximum increase of 2 cents in the real estate tax rate.
"When we were considering the bond issue, we looked at what we could afford, and we feel we can handle it without any problem," Hyatt said.
Terp said the county's total debt is $250 million, slightly more than $3,000 for every resident. More than half of that is for water and sewer bonds, including Spring Hollow Reservoir, he said.
But Hyatt said Terp's figure includes interest payments throughout the life of the county's bond issues, including those that will be paid with water and sewer fees rather than taxes.
She said the county's bonded debt is $137 million, which includes $65 million in water and sewer bonds.
Terp, a leader in the anti-consolidation movement six years ago, also urged voters to reject the April 2 bond issue because the proposed site for the new Cave Spring High School is in a flood-prone area.
The site on Merriman Road near the Penn Forest Elementary Schools is unsatisfactory, he said.
"It's unbelievable that anyone who has actually seen this site and talked to the people who live there would consider it for a school," Terp said. "The flooding situation will get worse, much worse, as more houses are built upstream from the site."
Consulting engineers have said the site is not ideal, but that it can be used. About 70 percent of the 28 acres is in the flood plain of Back Creek.
Engineers have said extensive grading and earthwork will be required to raise all buildings to a minimum first-floor level of 2 feet above the 100-year flood plain elevation. They have estimated that grading and other site work will cost $1.2 million.
"We feel confident this site will make for a fine facility," said Marty Robison, executive assistant for county schools. "It is the feeling of our engineers and consultants this will make a good site."
The Merriman Road location will be cheaper in the long run than trying to buy a high-priced site, school officials said.
But Terp said it's absurd to build a school in a natural water retention basin.
Although the school will be built on land above the flood plain, he said, the athletic fields and stadium are likely to be flooded and covered with silt each time it rains.
Terp said the county's school enrollment has been essentially the same in recent years, and that there are less expensive alternatives for solving space problems at Cave Spring High and other schools in Southwest County.
Despite the county's flat enrollment in the past decade, consultants estimate the enrollment in grades 9-12 in Southwest County will increase 18.5 percent, from 1,615 to 1,914, during the next decade. The total enrollment for all grades is projected to increase 9.5 percent, from 5,497 to 6,014.
Besides the need for more space, bond issue supporters said a new high school is needed so ninth-graders can be housed with the upper grades.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB