ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 TAG: 9704220111
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY THE ROANOKE TIMES
Phones, both wired and cellular, may be tapped to finance city operations, including a 911 upgrade.
Roanoke residents would pay more in real estate taxes and 911 user fees and could see an increase in their cellular telephone bills under the $161 million budget that was submitted to City Council on Monday.
But the fiscal 1998 spending plan recommended by City Manager Bob Herbert would give city employees a raise, expand a preschool program for at-risk toddlers, pay for more curbs and gutters and give city parks a minor facelift.
The spending blueprint will take effect July1 and will determine how much the city collects in taxes and where it spends that money through June 30, 1998.
Council set a 7 p.m. public hearing for May 5 at the Roanoke Civic Center so residents can offer input. In the week following the hearing, council can make changes in the budget. It is expected to formally adopt the budget at a 6p.m. special meeting at City Hall on May 12.
"This is a good budget for the people of Roanoke," Herbert told council at its afternoon meeting Monday. "It allows us to maintain services, make improvements in our neighborhoods and move forward in a progressive manner."
The budget also puts the city into position for a bond referendum this fall that would be the largest in city history - between $35 million and $37 million, Herbert said. That's how much the city will be able to borrow for building projects over the next five years without increasing taxes.
Herbert's budget anticipates $8.4million in increased revenues in the next budget year. Of that, $6.6 million would go directly into the city's general fund. Under a revenue-sharing formula with city schools, the other $1.8 million would be transferred to the School Board.
More than two-thirds of the increase in the general fund would be eaten up by three large expenditures.
The biggest is a $2.2 million increase in social programs for at-risk youths, which is mandated (and mostly funded) by the state.
The second-largest outlay is a pay raise averaging 3.3 percent for city employees. That would cost taxpayers $1.9 million next year if council leaves it untouched. Herbert also recommends a small pension match program for rank-and-file workers that would cost taxpayers $173,000 annually.
A third spending increase of $290,000 would pay for higher residential tonnage and declining revenues at the regional solid-waste landfill because of private haulers taking commercial waste out of state.
While spending is increasing substantially, the number of city employees will be cut by the largest amount in recent years. The budget anticipates that Roanoke will reduce its total work force by 47 workers, to 1985 budgeted positions.
Most of the reductions come from privatization of the city nursing home and automation of residential trash collection.
The administration is making every effort to find job openings for those workers or to retrain them for other city jobs, Herbert said.
Council also is considering two changes in the tax structure and increasing one monthly fee by 45 percent.
The first is a 1-cent cut in the real estate tax rate, from $1.23 per $100 of assessed valued to $1.22. It would go into effect Jan. 1 and would save the average homeowner about $3.38 in the next year. But that savings would be more than offset by rising assessment, which increased an average 3 percent this year. The bottom line for taxpayers is they'll be paying more in real estate taxes. The rate cut will cost the city $177,000 of that revenue.
Another item under consideration is a utility tax on cellular telephone service. It would cost the average cellular user about $3 per month and would raise revenues by $177,000 if it went into effect Sept.1. Councilman William White moved that council consider the tax at the May 5 public hearing.
Herbert also recommend increasing the 911 fee on residential and business telephone lines from 99 cents per month to $1.45. That would raise $271,000 annually, money that would be used to help police upgrade its communications system and make it compatible with one used by the Roanoke County Police Department.
Other spending increases recommended by Herbert include:
An additional $100,000 for curbs and gutters, items long requested by neighborhood leaders.
A $52,000 program to hire temporary workers to clean up city parks.
An additional $54,755 for the city school system's Pre-School Initiative Program, which essentially is free nursery school for at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds. Studies have shown that spending a little money earlier dramatically increases youngsters' success in school later.
$15,000 to staff a customer service center to help residents register complaints or call for service. Herbert's goal is to have a "live" person rather than a machine to take each call.
Council members, whom Herbert privately briefed on the budget individually or in pairs last week, had a largely positive reaction to the spending plan.
Mayor David Bowers said it was clear that Herbert has listened to council members' and residents' suggestions for improvements during the past year.
Councilman Carroll Swain said he wished council could cut 2 cents from the real estate rate, give city workers a larger raise and spend more on parks, which are underfunded compared to other Virginia cities'.
Vice Mayor Linda Wyatt predicted that council would look foolish if it cuts the real estate rate and raises an identical amount in cellular phone taxes.
"There is no way I will vote, on the one hand, for a 1-cent reduction in the real estate tax and on the other hand for a [new] cellular phone tax," Wyatt said. "That's robbing Peter to pay Paul."
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by RT. Roanoke's General Fund Operating Budget.by CNB