ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 28, 1997 TAG: 9702280049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANN O'HANLON THE WASHINGTON POST
A NUMBER OF CITIES, including Charlottesville, Winchester, Staunton, Clifton Forge and Fredericksburg, think the answer to their financial woes may lie in sharing them with adjoining counties.
Several of Virginia's 40 cities are considering solving pressing financial problems by giving up their independence and becoming towns again, mainly to transfer fiscal burdens onto surrounding counties.
South Boston, a small community near the border of North Carolina, was the first to catch the bug, voting to dissolve as a city and re-emerge as a town in 1995.
The idea has swept the southern and western parts of the state since then, with residents and officials in Charlottesville, Winchester, Staunton and Clifton Forge actively considering the option and those in Fredericksburg and six other cities mulling the idea.
There are several reasons for the movement, but officials say it's mainly about money.
Unlike those in any other state, cities in Virginia are completely independent from surrounding counties. Once a city stakes its independence, it must produce a school system, social services, and police and fire protection. A few share expenses with a county, but most walk the financial tightrope alone.
Meeting the demands is made toughest in cases where some middle-class residents and businesses have moved to suburbs as areas have grown.
``Most independent cities don't have any developable land left, particularly commercial,'' said Mike Amyx, executive director of the Virginia Municipal League. ``There's a natural migration for both residential and commercial growth to outer boundaries. ... As time has gone on and they've not had a chance to expand their borders, they're realizing that it's very expensive to provide their own school systems.''
Complicating matters is a long-standing ban by the state against cities spreading their boundaries - and therefore their tax bases - by annexing land from neighboring counties.
In Charlottesville, a group of residents collected signatures from 15 percent of the city's registered voters, the first step in considering whether a city should become a town. The process also can be invoked by a vote of the city council.
The next step will be an investigation by the state's Commission on Local Government, which will study the impact of the move on the city and county. That commission's report will go to a three-judge panel appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court, which hears arguments from local officials and others. The judges then decide whether to approve the request.
William Lucy, a professor of planning at the University of Virginia who has helped spearhead Charlottesville's petition drive, said the angst among residents there comes from three sources: an increasing number of impoverished people in the city; a desire among city residents to have a vote on county development issues; and the city's burgeoning fiscal problems.
Officials in Albemarle County, which surrounds Charlottesville, have challenged the validity of the petition signatures, saying they should be certified as authentic before the proposal goes any further.
In the city, council members are divided over the wisdom of reverting to town status, said Mayor Kay Slaughter, who added that Charlottesville needs to find a solution to long-term financial problems.
``It's not a budget crisis right now,'' Slaughter said. ``But ... over the next 10 years, our revenues will not grow fast enough to keep up with the growth, particularly in the school expenses.''
Such fiscal problems, said Winchester City Manager Ed Daley, present cities with two ugly options: raise taxes or cut services.
``As you raise taxes or cut services, you influence who chooses to live in the community,'' he said. ``We're concerned about how that plays out long-term.''
While cities hope that becoming towns will provide relief, surrounding counties aren't always thrilled with the idea of picking up the burdens.
The concern grew loud enough that state Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, introduced a bill this session that would have required both the city and county affected by such a move to approve it by referendum. The measure failed in committee by one vote.
South Boston hasn't completely established peace with its now-parent Halifax County, which fought the city's 1995 reversion ``tooth and nail,'' said South Boston Mayor Glen Abernathy. And, Abernathy said, the fight left some wounds and only a questionable improvement in the town's bottom line.
``We are obviously not a whole lot better off financially at this point,'' Abernathy said. ``We lost the schools, which were a big chunk of our budget, but we also were able to lower taxes some, not a great deal. And because of all of that, we've had to put off a couple of capital expenditures.''
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