THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 7, 1995 TAG: 9504050205
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 200 lines
PORTSMOUTH HAS a reputation for crime. It's an unwanted image and some say unfair.
It's certainly not what the city wants to be associated with as it touts its plans to sell itself as a family destination. The city is also going after more retail business to bolster dwindling revenues from sales taxes.
To bring in businesses and families, though, the city first must deal with its image.
And that's what City Manager V. Wayne Orton targeted in his budget proposal to the City Council late last month.
Orton has proposed raising taxes by 4 cents per $100 assessed value to hire and equip 21 new police officers. He also plans to move police headquarters from downtown out to Midtown to give that area an economic boost.
Nearly 20 years ago, the city consolidated all of its services to the downtown waterfront, a move aimed at spurring the economic recovery of the then-dying downtown. City services were in several locations downtown before they were all moved to the waterfront.
The new plan would bring 300 employees - including 250 police officers - to the decaying Midtown shopping area within the next year. The city plans to look for an existing building in the area to consolidate most of its police services there.
``For the third year in a row, crime has decreased in Portsmouth, but we still have the highest crime rates in the commonwealth,'' Orton told the council members when he presented them with his budget recommendations.
Orton credited an intense community policing program with drastically lowering crime rates in the Park View neighborhood and for being an impetus for citizens to become more involved in keeping their neighborhood clean and safe.
The city manager is also planning to consolidate fire services at the Jamestown Avenue and Port Norfolk fire stations.
The budget plan proposes closing the Jamestown station and shift services in Port Norfolk, Grove Park and at Effingham Street. The fire chief also recommended renovations to the Cedar Lane Fire Station in the budget proposal.
By consolidating the stations, Orton said the city could save about $150,000 and expand coverage of fire zones by 17 percent. He also plans to hire nine paramedics to operate two full-time ambulance units.
While Orton hopes renewed emphasis on public safety will help boost the city's image, the budget doesn't stop there.
He has set aside $1 million for ``Vision 2005,'' the economic development plan designed by Ray Gindroz, an urban design consultant out of Pittsburgh. Half of that money would come from tax revenues, while the remaining $500,000 would come from Community Development Block Grants.
Orton plans to use the funds to help create an inlet at the foot of High Street that would be a new ferry dock, a place to dock a tall ship as a tourist attraction and a permanent home for the new Portside festival place.
Orton also proposed using a portion of the money to revitalize the 600 block of London Boulevard and High Street; to realign Frederick Boulevard near MidCity Shopping Center; to position the new I.C. Norcom High School to include a civic center; and to design a site plan for redevelopment of River Edge, a crime-ridden housing area, into a single-family neighborhood.
The city manager has suggested that the city borrow $10 million from future federal grants. The money would be used on specific projects designed to boost the city's image or to enhance economic development in blighted or struggling areas.
In the meantime, the city is negotiating with a developer to finish developing the failed King's Crossing condominium project on the downtown waterfront. That project, abandoned during the savings and loan crisis, has been sitting empty for more than five years.
While the budget unfolds the city's vision for its future, it also deals with the city's bleak financial status.
The city has long been struggling to make ends meet. From time to time, city officials have had to delay hiring employees or paying bills in order to meet day-to-day expenses. The city's financial reserves are at $7 million, while the Municipal Finance Commission recommends that the city have $11 million in its reserves.
The financial reserves are often used to meet expenses when the city doesn't have revenue coming in.
In addition to the tax increase, Orton recommends raising the tax on cigarettes by 5 cents. He also recommends increasing the admission fee to the Children's Museum by $1, and raising golf and recreation fees.
Other fees also will go up because of mandates and rising costs to the city.
Orton said declining sales to Portsmouth's water customers, increasing chemical and electrical costs and federal mandates passed through the Clean Water Act have led him to recommend that the council increase water fees over the next two years. City officials estimate the rise in fees would cost the average residential customer an additional $3.14 per year.
The city manager recommended increased fees for garbage collection because of the rising price of getting rid of waste at the regional landfill. City officials estimate the city will pay an additional $500,000 in disposal fees in the coming year.
Orton recommends increasing collection fees to customers by $2 a month beginning in June and by another $1 a month the following year.
He also has recommended cutting the School Board's budget request by $1 million. The cut would reduce the city's contribution to the schools, reducing the overall school budget by 1.2 percent.
Orton said the school system could meet its budget demands with the proposed $1 million cut, not by cutting educational services but through administrative efficiencies.
Last week, School Superintendent Richard D. Trumble said he would be forced to make cuts in administration if the city's plan is approved.
Most city employees won't receive a raise this year as the city begins revamping its pay plan. The city is moving toward a pay-for-performance plan over the next two years. In the interim, a private firm is evaluating pay scales based on employees' job descriptions.
Orton has recommended including $300,000 in the budget to boost salaries for those employees who are underpaid based on market pay scales. But for employees who fall within the pay ranges for their jobs, Orton did not recommend pay hikes.
In the meantime, city employees' hours have increased from 37.5 hours per week to 40 hours per week. Employees are now required to report to work at 8 a.m. rather than 8:30.
The city manager plans to bring employee pay up to the market range and then move to a pay-for-performance plan.
When pay increases for police and firefighters, Orton has recommended that the city move away from funding a private retirement plan for the officers.
The lucrative retirement plan was implemented to entice police officers and firefighters to stay in Portsmouth, where they earned less than officers in other cities. The move would affect only new hires.
``With the implementation of the new classification and pay plan, police officers' and firefighters' salaries will now be more regionally competitive,'' Orton told the council last week. ``With this in mind, I am recommending that effective July 1, 1995, all new police and fire hires become members of the Virginia Retirement System and that the Portsmouth Fire and Police Retirement System become a closed system.
``This is a fiscally responsible recommendation and is based on the recognition that with competitive salaries, a premium benefit package is no longer essential.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
TAXING DECISIONS
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Carol Consolvo, a member of the Portsmouth Horse Patrol, and
Commandant, a 13-year-old English Shire, give the city an increased
police presence on the streets.
File photo by RAYMOND GEHMAN
The proposed budget includes funds to hire and equip 21 new police
officers.
Photos by JIM WALKER
The 600 block of London Boulevard, where many homes are boarded up,
would be revitalized with funding from the city manager's proposed
bud-get for the '96 fiscal year.
River Edge, a crime-ridden housing area, would be redesigned to
become a single family neighborhood under the proposed budget.
HEARING
A public hearing on the budget is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 11,
in City Council Chambers in the City Hall Building, 801 Crawford
St.
BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
SPSA/Waste Management
The Southeastern Public Service Authority is increasing its fees
to the city by 41 percent, according to the city's propsed budget.
Officials estimate that the increase will cost the city an
additional $500,000.
The city manager proposes passing the cost on to Portsmouth
residents. Fees will increase in the 1995-96 budget year by $2 per
month and in the 1996-97 budget year by $1 per month.
Public Utilities
Declining in-town water sales, increasing chemical and electrical
costs and Federal Clean Water Act Mandates have increased the city's
costs for public utilities. The city manager proposes passing on fee
increases to water customers amounting to approximately $3.14 for
the average residential water customer for each of the next two
years.
Other fee increases
Higher building permit fees.
A 5-cent increase in the cigarette tax
A $1 increase for admission to the Children's Museum from $3 per
person to $4.
Police
The budget proposes raising real estate taxes by 4 cents from
$1.32 to $1.36 per $100 of value on a home. The tax increase is
designed to allow the city to hire and equip 21 new officers; expand
the community policing program and move police headquarters to the
Midtown area.
Midtown Redevelopment
The city proposes consolidating and relocating police operations
to the Midtown area.
Vision 2005
The city manager recommends earmarking $1 million for economic
development.
Half would come from tax revenues, another $500,000 from the
Community Development Block Grant program.
The City Council also will consider borrowing $10 million for
special projects from future CDBG allocations.
KEYWORDS: BUDGET PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL IMAGE by CNB