THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 24, 1995 TAG: 9505240479
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously raised taxes, fees and fines, even though a few members voiced misgivings.
The 2-cent increase in the real-estate tax rate, plus higher fines for parking violations and additional charges for trash disposal and wastewater treatment, are part of a $465 million operating budget and a $43.8 million capital improvement budget that takes effect July 1.
The realty tax increase cements the city's position of having the highest in the region - $1.40 per $100 of assessed value. Councilman Mason C. Andrews said that concerns him. He read a report by an outside auditor that said the city's high real estate tax hurt Norfolk's ability to attract businesses.
But Andrews, keeping with the council's tradition of consensus, spoke only after voting for the tax increases.
The increases help pay for what the city staff says is a renewed emphasis on improving neighborhoods and schools. The budgets include a renovated Granby High School, new stadiums for Booker T. Washington and Lake Taylor high schools, and a speedier building-code enforcement process.
The budget reflects the political changes on the council. The shift to a ward system has placed a higher priority on neighborhood services and projects. In addition, with major downtown projects such as Nauticus and Waterside completed, the city has more resources to focus on neighborhoods.
The 2-cent real estate tax rate increase would be the first in five years. With the real estate and fee increases, the city estimates that a family with a home assessed at $81,000, the city's average, would pay about $3.70 more a month.
Also under the budget, spending on police rises, as it does on the city's code-enforcement process. Libraries will be open longer, and some recreation programs will be expanded.
The council reduced the tax on recreational vehicles, from $4 to $2.50 per $100 of assessed value. Councilman G. Conoly Phillips, an auto dealer, had pushed for a greater reduction, but the council stuck with an agreement arrived at last week.
The charges that residents pay for trash pickup will rise from $6.17 a month to $8.10 a month. Rates for businesses will rise as well.
The city says it is passing along a 42-percent rise in the tipping fees charged by the Southeastern Public Service Authority.
Charges for sewer service to residents will rise from a base rate of $1.22 to a rate of $1.28 for a set volume of sewage produced. The average homeowner would pay 44 cents more a month.
Fines for more than 20 different parking violations will increase. Overtime parking at a meter, for example, will jump from $10 to $25. Parking illegally in a handicapped zone will rise from $50 to $100.
The projected additional revenue from parking fines, almost $1 million more annually, are expected to help pay to build parking garages for the proposed downtown MacArthur Center mall.
The council also reorganized several departments. The present communications department, which handles media inquiries, would be folded into a new Department of Marketing and Communications. The present Department of General Services would be incorporated into a new Department of Parks, Recreation and General Services.
Councilman Paul R. Riddick voted against this last combination. He said the city already makes it too difficult to see where recreation money is being spent.
In other business Tuesday, the council:
Approved a school to be operated by Calvary Revival Church at a 10-acre site at 2357 E. Little Creek Road.
This is the same site where a proposal for a new church by Calvary Revival aroused great controversy within the city and neighborhood.
Under the zoning, the school could have kindergarten through ninth grade and up to 700 students. Initially, however, the school would be much smaller with only elementary grades, say church officials.
The council approved the zoning change unanimously. Church and neighborhood leaders had discussed the matter and worked out their differences before it arrived before the council.
Changed a law that had not allowed City Council members to participate in the city's retirement system.
With the change, any council member with 10 years of service would be eligible to receive a percentage of his salary upon retirement.
The percentage would rise with length of service. Council members with 10 years' service would receive about 17 percent of their annual salary.
Council members with 20 years' service would receive about 33 percent of their salary.
Because the law is not retroactive, it does not apply to any present council members, even though several have served many years.
No present council member is eligible to receive benefits until they serve 10 more years on the council.
Heard from members of the NAACP who said they feared that the council might someday eliminate public housing, particularly the projects near the proposed upscale MacArthur Center mall.
Two black members of the council, Paul R. Riddick and Herbert Collins, said they were offended that the NAACP members did not trust them to guard against any such event. ILLUSTRATION: [Drawing]
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL by CNB