THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504060341
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The city's proposed operating budget for fiscal year 1995-96 holds the line on taxes again while significantly increasing services and proposing the hiring of 29 new city employees.
The $118 million operating budget is about 7 percent higher than the current year's. No real estate tax increases are recommended, thanks, in part, to an increase in revenues related to new development.
The financial picture looks so rosy that the city wants to use $50,000 over each of the next three years for marketing - the first time in about 10 years that Suffolk has been confident enough to market itself nationally for business. The last time the city did so, it created the ``Surprising Suffolk'' campaign.
The only noticeable fee increases for Suffolk residents will be in sewer and water service charges, which would rise about 3 percent to keep pace with inflation.
As a result, the average homeowner should see increases of about 73 cents a month for water bills and 50 cents a month for sewer bills, said director of finance C. Lee Acors.
City Manager Myles E. Standish formally presented his first budget to the City Council on Wednesday, pledging to stay within the city's growth pattern without raising taxes.
Standish said the budget shows the cost of living in Suffolk is cheaper than in any other city in Hampton Roads - with no sacrifice in city services.
The budget:
Includes full funding of the School Board's request.
Calls for nine more firefighters and three more employees for the emergency communications department.
Proposes - a week after the city approved an auto racing track - an admissions tax, to be set by the council. The tax would equal about 10 percent of the gross receipts for an event. Admissions taxes are usually added on to the price of a ticket.
The City Council will begin its debate at 7 p.m. April 19 after the first in a series of scheduled public hearings. The council must approve the budget by June 30.
The budget can be examined at the following locations: Circuit Court clerk's office; East Suffolk Fire Department; Bennetts Creek Library station; Butler's Store; Holland Fire Station; Whaleyville Volunteer Fire Department; the Chamber of Commerce; Chuckatuck Library Station; Morgan Memorial Library; Village Drug Store; Driver Variety Store; Library Bookmobile; Boone's Trading Post (Chevron); Metropolitan Credit Union; and the Senior Citizen's Center.
For more information, call 925-6377.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK CITY COUNCIL BUDGET by CNB