THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, November 24, 1994            TAG: 9411220010
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A18  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   25 lines

THERE'S NO PAIN WITH EXPRESSWAY `TAX'

It is hard to think of a less painful ``tax'' than the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway toll. Past experience should warn Virginia Beach residents that if the city loses this revenue, real-estate-tax and meal-tax increases are about the only remedies to make up the difference. Does anyone really believe lawmakers will somehow refund this loss to the city from outside sources, especially since the monies would repair a road not even in their districts?

Users have already incorporated toll costs into their budgets. The road is a convenience, not a necessity. Gov. George Allen's ``political promise'' to remove this toll is just that - political.

EDWARD C. ATKINSON

Virginia Beach, Nov. 17, 1994 by CNB