ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608120080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: Associated Press
Leaders of some Virginia cities say they're worried about the future, as they see crime rise and property values fall while jobs and population grow rapidly in the counties.
Officials in Charlottesville, Staunton and Fredericksburg have publicly wondered over the past year whether they should give up their status as cities and revert to towns that could share their expenses with surrounding counties.
``In the case of cities, there is very, very little evidence that the situation will get better,'' said University of Virginia Professor William Lucy, who has studied hundreds of urban and suburban areas across the country.
City leaders worry that their governments cannot annex land because of a statewide moratorium, so their ability to increase revenue by expanding their tax base is limited.
They also are concerned about recent trends and what they could mean for the future. Among them:
* Most population growth in the 1980s occurred in counties, 72.5 percent, and the rest in cities, according to the state Commission on Local Government.
* Crime rates increased in cities by 3 percent and decreased in counties by 10 percent.
* During the 1980s, counties gained 33,937 positions in the manufacturing sector and cities lost 21,413, according to UVa researcher Larry McMillan.
* By 1990, the median value of owner-occupied housing in counties was $100,400 - 21 percent higher than in cities, where the median was $79,000.
Charlottesville and a handful of other cities have considered reverting to town status to help their financial situations. Only one Virginia city has reverted: South Boston in Halifax County. The reversion took effect July 1, 1995.
Fredericksburg briefly considered reversion this spring because school funding from the state favors the outlying county, one City Council member said.
But council member Gordon Shelton said worries about reversion's effect on regional entities caused officials to think twice. The city cooperates with outlying counties for the jail, library, landfill and parks, and is negotiation an emergency water agreement and a regional water-treatment plant.
Staunton Mayor John Alvoli said he has only learned some specifics of reversion, but officials haven't acted yet because the city's finances aren't in too bad shape.
``What we're looking at is what is best in the next 15 or 20 years for this community,'' he said.
There are alternatives to reversion, including regional cooperation.
``We tend to be very parochial,'' said John Moeser, a professor of planning and urban development at Virginia Commonwealth University. ``The independent city structure has gotten in the way and has set us back.''
Virginia is the only state in the nation whose cities are independent of adjacent counties. The state constitution specifies that cities are independent local units of government.
Because the legislative strength of cities is giving way to suburban and rural areas, which gain power with population growth, the independent city structure isn't likely to change on the legislative level, Moeser said.
Business and other community leaders could bring on regional cooperation, analysts said. The General Assembly this past year has allotted $3 million to fund regional projects.
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