ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997 TAG: 9702260061
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
Half of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors was reluctant Monday to advertise a possible 7-cent real-estate tax increase after the board's first look at the proposed budget for next year.
A motion by Supervisor Mary Biggs to advertise a possible 10 percent increase in the county tax rate and plan its work sessions accordingly died on a 3-to-3 vote. Supervisor Nick Rush was absent.
The supervisors could revisit the issue at a special meeting Monday, or could wait until a March 6 budget work session to decide the matter. The supervisors wanted a full board present to make the decision, said Randy Wertz, deputy assistant county administrator.
The proposed $78 million budget is some $5 million more than this year's.
If the proposed budget were adopted with no cuts, it would require a 7-cent increase in the county's 70-cent tax rate. A public hearing for the budget is set for March 20 in Shawsville High School.
The supervisors were reluctant to advertise such an increase, even with the knowledge it would likely be considerably pared down. Last year, the supervisors advertised a 6-cent increase, but eventually raised the rate by only 1 cent. In the past six years, the board has raised the real-estate tax rate only twice, including last year's 1-cent increase.
A 7-cent tax increase would mean owners of a $100,000 home would see their tax bill increase by 10 percent - from $700 to $770.
County Administrator Betty Thomas, in presenting her final budget before her retirement next month, said she was "continually amazed at the goals we met while maintaining a conservative tax rate."
The county had a real estate tax rate of 84 cents per $100 dollars in 1981, with a population of 64,200, she said. Today, the tax rate is 70 cents for a population of 76,200.
Almost 74 percent of the proposed budget, or $57.3 million, is for schools, Finance Director Carol Edmonds said. The schools' request represents a $3.6 million increase over this year's county funding.
The county will take in an additional $1.7 million as a result of increases in assessed values for county property. Continued growth in property and sales tax collections have given the county the ability to fund modest spending increases at the current tax rate, according to the budget document.
Thomas called this year's general fund, which finances county departments and operations outside the schools, "not one of new initiatives." It would continue current services for county residents, she said.
County departments asked for $3.5 million in new spending, but Thomas and her staff recommended only $1.9 million. Thirty percent of the new spending would go for health and welfare mandates; 16 percent for first-year costs of a state-mandated real estate reassessment; and 10 percent for debt service for development of the Falling Branch Industrial Park.
Supervisor Joe Stewart called a 7-cent advertised increase "kind of a bitter pill to swallow to start with."
Supervisor Henry Jablonski said even though it's understood that the rate is for advertising purposes, it will "cause a lot of reaction" from the citizenry.
"I know the philosophy ... is you can always go lower. But to some of us, it means something," he said.
To Supervisor Jim Moore, that's not such a bad thing. "It gets interested citizens out," he said.
The supervisors must set a final tax rate by April 10 so Treasurer Ellis Meredith can prepare tax tickets for mailing. A budget must be adopted by June 30.
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