The Virginian-Pilot 
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996                   TAG: 9605110160
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 09   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   84 lines

NEW-FOUND FUNDS TO BENEFIT SCHOOLS, POLICE, FIREFIGHTERS $7 MILLION ALSO PROVIDES ADDITIONAL SOCIAL WORKERS WHO SPECIALIZE IN CHILD ABUSE CASES.

Some last-minute reshuffling and new-found money allowed the council last week to add almost $7 million in spending to next year's budget.

The bulk of the new money will go to the school system, restoring some programs and employee raises that the city manager had initially recommended cutting. It will also allow the city to hire eight additional police officers, three firefighters and three social workers specializing in child abuse.

All the new programs will be funded within the 3.2-cent tax rate increase City Manager James K. Spore had proposed.

The council has not yet approved the new spending but is expected to on Tuesday when it finalizes the 1996-97 city budget.

The proposed budget calls for more than $904 million in spending on city operations next year, and more than $1 billion in spending on construction and other major projects over the next six years. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

The proposed tax increase would bring the city's property taxes up from $1.189 to $1.221 per $100 of assessed valuation. That means the owner of a $100,000 house who paid $1,189 in property taxes for this year will pay $32 more or $1,221 next year.

Most council members are expected to support the spending plan next week.

Nancy K. Parker, the only council member to publicly express concerns about the budget, said she doesn't have any problems with the spending proposals, but still isn't sure the 3.2-cent tax rate increase is needed. City revenue has grown significantly over the last year, she said, and should cover all the city's spending needs.

The council did not yield to pressure from hundreds of police officers to increase salaries above Spore's initial recommendation. Under the proposed budget, all city and school employees will receive 4.5 percent raises on average.

Because police officers are underpaid relative to some their peers in the region, many will receive increases of 6 percent to 20 percent.

Charles Condon, president of the Police Supervisors Association, told the council during a public hearing Thursday that conflicts over pay are hurting police morale.

``Thanks to you, we have veteran officers with years of much-needed experience who are leaving the department,'' he said. ``Thanks to you, we have animosity running rampant due to the lack of concern you have shown in addressing these problems. Thanks to you, morale is at an all-time low throughout the police department.''

Bobby Mathieson, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said officers held ``a feeling of betrayal'' toward Spore for not delivering on what they felt were promises of better pay and more staffing.

The budget includes money to hire 21 officers next year, including 13 as part of a federal program to promote community oriented policing, and eight to beef up neighborhood patrols during the summer months when most officers are detailed to the Oceanfront.

Other additions made last week to the city's budget:

$4,762,556 to the school budget to increase pay raises for employees; fund another year's rent at the Celebration Station building on Virginia Beach Boulevard to house the displaced Princess Anne High School; and replace money in the textbook fund that was depleted to help balance the district's budget;

$100,000 for the Arts and Humanities Commission to bring city spending on the arts up from 50 cents per resident to 75 cents;

$243,540 to supplement sheriff's deputies salaries;

$113,253 for three firefighters, in addition to the three already included in the budget;

$25,000 for the Atlantic Wildfowl Museum at the DeWitt Cottage;

$96,000 to restore bus service to the Municipal Center and around Oceana Naval Air Station;

$11,500 for a TRT bus route around Rudee Inlet;

$38,437 for a law clerk for the Circuit Court;

$35,080 for an animal control officer to handle the current rabies outbreak;

$119,000 to hire 3 social workers to handle child abuse cases;

$100,000 to develop an area plan for the Shore Drive area;

$500,000 to study the possibility of straightening Sandbridge Road;

$183,000 to enhance drop-off recycling centers.

KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH BUDGET by CNB