THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 19, 1995 TAG: 9506190070
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
The Elizabeth City Council is working to hold the line on spending in a $7.9 million 1995-96 general fund budget that raises real estate taxes by a penny.
The general fund, part of a $34.5 million total budget, reflects an increase in general spending of a little more than 2 percent. The overall budget, which includes the self-supporting electric and water-and-sewer funds, is up about 7 percent over last year.
The 1-cent per $100 valuation ad valorem tax increase will bring the city's rate to 61.5 cents and raise roughly $42,000 in revenue. The owner of a $50,000 home would pay an extra $5 a year.
Also in the budget is a 5 percent sewer rate increase. Those revenues will go toward repainting the downtown water tower.
The City Council will hold a public hearing on the budget at 7 tonight.
The document reflects little new spending and no new full-time employees, although the city will share the cost of a new child abuse investigator and new police officer with other sources. Eleven positions had been requested in the Police Department and six in the Fire Department, according to the budget message.
There is a 2.5 percent cost-of-living raise for all employees, which will be expanded to 5 percent for employees identified as needing a salary boost in a recent pay study.
``Like the current budget year, we have stressed conservative requests from departments,'' outgoing City Manager Ralph Clark said in his budget message. ``While we would have liked to have funded more requests, it is felt the recommended budget will allow us to maintain the present level of services provided to the citizens of Elizabeth City.''
The council ``wanted to make every attempt to keep things as close to last year's expenditure level as possible,'' Clark said last week.
Included in the budget ordinance is a call for reducing the city's 260-member work force by 10 percent, which the budget message says will be accomplished through attrition.``I think the intent is very serious,'' Clark said of the proposed cutback. ``What you have to remember is, it's a goal.''
``Anything that we do, there's some opportunities to improve efficiency,'' he added. ``We have to keep working to make things better.''
The budget strikes a different tone from what was set by Mayor H. Rick Gardner after the council's first budget work session in April.
At the time, Gardner said the council would probably shoulder a tax increase to further beef up public safety ranks. But the tenor changed in later discussions.
``We looked at the facts of life,'' Gardner said last week, ``which were that we have to better organize what we have and use what we have.''
The city added some eight police officers and two firefighters in the 1994-95 budget and raised taxes three cents per $100 valuation. by CNB