ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603120092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
It seems pretty certain that the Bedford County real estate tax rate will go up this year. What's not certain is, how much.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday night to advertise a 13-cent rate increase - from 44 cents on every $100 of assessed land value to 57 cents. Personal property, machinery and tools, and merchants' capital tax rates will remain the same.
That's just the advertised rate, however. The board could lower it before voting next month on the 1996-97 budget, but it can't legally adopt a tax rate higher than the one advertised. A public hearing on the budget and rate increase will be April8.
"I don't think that anyone should take that to heart, that that's what the budget's going to be," said Chairman Tony Ware. "I don't think we need to go anywhere near [57 cents], because we're still going to trim more."
Last month, the county administrator's office submitted a draft budget with the biggest deficit in Bedford County history - $6.3 million, most caused by costs associated with growing populations in county jails and schools.
So far, the board has cut out $3 million during almost weekly budget work sessions. The largest net savings came from the School Board, which cut $1.5 million from its proposed budget.
Another windfall was $400,000 that had been allocated to build space to house Bedford County offenders at Lynchburg's juvenile detention center.
The county reached an agreement with Lynchburg to pay a higher per diem rate that will include construction costs over a longer period of time. That way, the county doesn't have to pay up front.
Other major savings included $290,000 from the county recreation department's $500,000 request for new facilities.
The board may soon consider whether it's more cost effective to build a county jail or rejoin the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority. The board has allotted more than $500,000 to plan the relocation of the Sheriff's Office and dispatch center and to build additional jail space.
The state has said it will cancel the county's lease on the Camp 24 jail annex in Moneta by 1999 and give the facility to the regional jail. According to legislation introduced in this year's General Assembly, if Bedford County builds new jail space, the state Compensation Board won't fund additional employees to staff it.
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