ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9604010048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
note: above
WHICH WILL WEIGH heavier on the minds of Roanoke County voters Tuesday - their anger over taxes or their desire to improve education?
Sylvia Tricarico worries that the children will become hostages in the battle over the school bond referendum in Roanoke County.
She hopes county voters won't take their anger over taxes and the distribution of school funds out on students by doing what some would have considered unthinkable a few years ago: defeating a school bond issue.
The referendum on the proposed $37.4 million bond issue is Tuesday.
Tricarico, a former teacher who has a child at Cave Spring High, says the rhetoric about tax bills and fairness in the allocation of school money has overshadowed the need for school improvements.
"We have a problem with the county [Board of Supervisors], but are we going to vote this down until all of this other stuff clears up?'' she asked.
"Cave Spring Junior High is falling apart. When will be the right time for us to build a school? What are we waiting for?''
The proposed bond issue has come under attack at a time when polls show education is a priority for voters in the nation and state. It was a big issue in last fall's General Assembly elections, and it was the big winner in the state budget recently approved by the legislature.
Many voters agree that either a new school or renovations are needed to relieve overcrowding at Cave Spring High and Cave Spring Junior High. But some don't trust county government, and they aren't willing to approve the school bonds quietly. They are upset with the county's spending and taxation policies.
Some voters said they oppose a tax increase to pay for a new school. They don't think an increase would be necessary if the county were managed better. And they see the bond issue as another example of the county adding to the tax burden on homeowners.
There also is disagreement over the cost and details of the school improvements bond and the method of paying for it. Most of the debate has focused on the proposed 1,900-student Cave Spring High School because 90 percent of the money - $33.6 million - would be spent on it.
The referendum includes smaller amounts for several school improvements in other parts of the county, and $1 million for computers and technology at all schools. But these projects have received little attention because of the controversy over the high school and complaints about too much of the money being spent in one part of the county.
David Courey, a U.S. Postal Service worker who had two children graduate from Cave Spring High, agrees that a new school is needed. But he's angry about what he calls the county's wasteful spending, high water bills and rising real estate assessments.
"Now we need a new school, there is no argument there. What we're voting on is how do we want to pay for it," said Courey, who describes himself as a foe of any additional taxes.
Courey said the county can afford to build the school without raising the real estate tax rate. Higher assessments in recent years are producing more than enough money to repay the bonds for a new school, he said.
The Board of Supervisors has said an increase of 2 cents on the tax rate of $1.13 per $100 assessed valuation is the most that will be needed to repay the bonds. The supervisors said no increase will be needed next year, and they hope none will be required in future years.
But some voters see the board's decision not to raise the rate next year as a ploy to entice voters to support the bonds. If the bond issue is approved, they expect the rate to increase in two years.
"If they keep on raising taxes, I don't know how much longer we can keep paying them," said Robert Lovelace, a retiree who had four children graduate from Northside High.
"We just got an increase of the [real estate assessment] of about 8 to 9 percent, and if you add this to it, then what are they going to do to add more to it next year?'' Lovelace asked.
The referendum has divided the county between those opposing higher taxes and those favoring money for school improvements.
Mark Schmidt, who lives in North County and has two children in elementary school, supports better schools, but he thinks the county needs more fiscal responsibility. He opposes higher taxes and he believes the referendum is presenting a false choice for voters.
"It seems they're pitting people who are against the tax increase and the people who want the best for the kids," said Schmidt, who builds construction and mining equipment for Ingersoll-Rand.
"I think to spend money on the children and their education is one thing, and raising tax rates is something else," he said. "I think they should have worked harder to find the money somewhere else."
Shannon Abell, a North County resident and assistant finance director for the League of Older Americans, said retired people cannot afford to pay higher taxes to pay for the new school. Abell lives on a street with 14 houses owned by retirees.
"They are all living on fixed incomes, they're not driving Cadillacs, they're not getting retirement from IBM or other huge companies," Abell said. "It's horrendous the way they're assessing the homes."
The referendum has caused an emotional split between parents in different parts of the county over the distribution of the bond funds. Some parents who consider themselves strong supporters of education will vote against the bonds because they believe schools in their communities have been shortchanged.
For Donna Dean, a mother of three schoolchildren who lives in Glenvar, the issue is fairness.
She said Glenvar has been slighted because school officials said they didn't have enough money to build a separate middle school for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders like those built in North County and East County. Instead, Glenvar had to settle for an addition to the high school to house its middle school students, she said.
Some North County residents have complained that the size of a new gymnasium for Northside High was reduced because of a lack of money - yet, they said, school officials didn't scale back the plans for the new Cave Spring school.
During population growth in the 1960s and '70s, the county was gaining 400 to 600 students a year. New schools and school additions were constructed in all areas, and most bond issues included money that was spread equally throughout the county.
But enrollment trends have changed. The number of students is declining in North County, East County and West County, yet enrollment continues to increase in Southwest County where 40 percent of all county students live.
The space squeeze in Southwest County is compounded because there is no room for ninth-graders at Cave Spring High. Ninth-graders attend Cave Spring and Hidden Valley junior high schools, but education experts say they should attend a high school as they do in other areas of the county.
The construction of a 1,900-student school would enable those ninth-graders to attend Cave Spring High. The plan would also convert the existing high school to a middle school to house students now at Cave Spring Junior, which would be closed.
Renovations and air conditioning have been delayed at Cave Spring Junior pending the bond referendum. Cave Spring Junior is using four modular classroom units to accommodate the student overflow.
"These students in those units have no water, no bathrooms - that's a health issue right there," said Doris Lewis, a retired teacher. "In these classrooms, there's dry heat and you get very, very thirsty and you cannot perform when you're thirsty.''
Southwest County residents believe it's their turn to get a middle school and other improvements that have been approved previously for other areas of the county.
Jan Danahy, a Southwest County mother with four children in school, said a new high school and funds for educational technology are needed regardless of voters' thoughts about county government. She said it's sad the new school has become a whipping boy for voter unrest.
"If something is not correct in our government system, we have no way of fixing that by [Tuesday], no way," she said.
Gloria Christen, a Cave Spring High graduate who has a daughter at the school, said she sees both sides of the issue but she wishes school officials had given voters some choices - not just a yes or no on a new school.
Some voters think the county should look to other tax sources, such as an additional 1 percent sales tax or a levy on apartment residents, instead of relying on real estate taxes to pay for the new high school.
"We could put on a 1 percent sales tax in Roanoke County and we could have the best schools ever, but nobody will push for it. A sales tax hits everybody alike," retired teacher Patricia Hammond said.
Abell said he opposes any additional taxes, but he added that an extra 1 percent sales tax would mean everyone would help pay for schools.
State law does not allow localities to enact a local option sales tax. And supporters of the bond issue said a sales tax would put a heavier burden on elderly people on fixed incomes because it would be levied on groceries.
Theodore Allen, a computer software designer who had two children graduate from Cave Spring and has another preparing to enter the school, believes a new high school would be a good economic investment for the county.
"It will tax our property, but it will bring into this county the kind of people who are making money and will spend money," Allen said.
Frank Kallio, a businessman with three children who graduated from Cave Spring, said it's fashionable to complain about high taxes and waste in government.
"But at some point, you have to bite the bullet and make logical, sensible investments, and in my opinion, this school is one of them," he said.
LENGTH: Long : 165 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: map showing School Spending in the Last 10 Years.by CNB