ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996 TAG: 9604050077
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
By the slimmest of margins, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday for a 1-cent increase in the real estate tax rate.
For the School Board, the supervisors' vote was a disappointment.
"What the Board of Supervisors has done is a serious blow to education in the county, " said Barry Worth, the School Board's vice chairman. "How they can do that is unbelievable."
The schools will receive $70,169, about one-third of the money raised by the 1-cent increase. Last year they received more than $500,000 in new county money. Because the county funds 45 percent of the school budget, Worth said the schools should get that amount of the tax increase.
The School Board had hoped to use its increased funding to pay for 7 percent employee raises, hire more teachers and purchase new science, math and vocational supplies.
However, the county school system will see a $2.1 million increase in state funding, largely in basic aid and special education funding. That will increase the school budget from $47.38 million to $49.65 million.
The School Board will have to decide what of its proposed new spending will stay and what gets the ax. The board responded to the supervisors' vote Thursday afternoon by announcing it will hold hearings in each high school district to get community input on how to deal with the limited budget increase, which the board called "minuscule."
Bolstered by its first four elected members, the School Board had asked for a 12 percent increase in county funding, which would have required a 19-cent increase in the real estate tax rate.
But the School Board knew they'd get, at best, only half of that increase if the supervisors had adopted the 75-cent rate that they advertised.
A 1-cent tax increase equals $219,000 in new money and makes the real estate tax rate 70 cents for each $100 of assessed value. That means the owner of a $100,000 piece of property will pay $10 more in taxes a year.
The board approved the 1-cent increase by a vote of 4-3 after about two hours of discussion in work session. Supervisors Mary Biggs, Joe Gorman, Jim Moore and Ira Long voted for the increase. Nick Rush, Joe Stewart and Chairman Henry Jablonski voted against it.
The county's budget for the next fiscal year, was set at just more than $72 million - about $700,0000 less than the advertised budget.
Worth, the School Board vice chairman, is concerned the small amount of local money to schools will all but wipe out raises for teachers and staff and will slight the county's efforts to keep pupil to teacher ratios at 25:1 or less.
He also said the increase doesn't cover even a 2.8 percent inflation rate or $143,000 in debt service for schools.
Biggs, a school teacher in her first year on the board, tried to lobby for a higher tax rate, but found support only from Moore. Moore, who like Biggs and Gorman represents part of Blacksburg, said the county shoulders less of a local tax burden than other communities of similar size.
Biggs told fellow board members that during her campaign last November her Blacksburg constituents constantly told her they would pay higher taxes if it went for schools.
But Long countered that his constituents down the road in the Prices Fork community didn't want higher taxes. Respecting their wishes has helped him be a survivor on the Board of Supervisors, he said.
And Stewart, who represents the rural area around Elliston and Shawsville, said farmers have had a difficult year and can't bear additional taxes.
Jablonski said he was struck by comments by Roanoke County voters in Wednesday's Roanoke Times who said they rejected a $37.4 million school bond referendum because they were weary of rising real estate assessments and other increased service fees.
Rush sided with Jablonski and Stewart, saying the county had been fortunate to have bond referendums approved in the past. That coupled with six of the board's seven members being re-elected tells him voters have confidence in the supervisors to make the right decisions about how best to provide for county needs.
The supervisors have until midsummer to decide whether to put a bond referendum on the November ballot to pay for three proposed county schools.
Gorman suggested the county should have done a better job examining alternative sources of revenue, such as increasing vehicle decal, solid waste or E-911 fees.
The supervisors first appeared headed to voting for no increase, but that changed when number-crunching by Finance Director Carol Edmonds showed that leaving the tax rate at 69 cents would mean the county would be giving the schools $148,000 less than in this year's budget.
The county portion of the budget stayed at $18.7 million.
Other than the schools' requests, the county budget will fund county initiatives that include a 5 percent across-the-board pay raise for county employees in addition to regular step increases that average 4.5 percent. The county has been concerned about losing employees to surrounding jurisdictions because of better wages.
The supervisors also approved money for new radios for the Sheriff's Office, a project undertaken last year after complaints that deputies often were unable to communicate effectively with dispatchers when answering calls in remote parts of the county.
The budget also funds new vehicles for several county departments and the replacement of outmoded computer equipment.
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by staff: Montgomery County's tax increase.by CNB