THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150381
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The City Council got down to serious horse trading Tuesday in last-minute negotiations over next year's proposed $488 million city budget.
At one point, Mayor Paul D. Fraim told a group of councilmen that he would seek to delay water projects in their wards if they voted against a package of water-related rate increases needed to pay for those projects.
``Why should I go and vote for something,'' Fraim said, ``just so you can get a vote for a project in your neighborhood?''
Councilmen Paul R. Riddick, Herbert M. Collins and W. Randy Wright, who had opposed the rate increases, did not indicate how they would vote on the issue Tuesday, when the budget is scheduled to be approved.
``People are very sensitive to anything added to that utility bill,'' Wright said.
At another point, Riddick suggested that he would try to block $600,000 for Ghent commercial-area improvements unless 35th Street and Lafayette Boulevard received money for their commercial streets.
At that, Councilman G. Conoly Phillips complained that Wards Corner needed money, and Wright pleaded the case for East Little Creek Road.
The matter was apparently settled after city staff members pointed out that 35th Street and several other commercial areas were scheduled to receive funding under a separate neighborhood fund.
The city's proposed budget does not call for any real-estate tax rate increases, but includes increases in water and wastewater rates and the stormwater management fee, and a new recycling fee. With the additional fees, the average homeowner would pay an additional $2.21 a month, according to city estimates.
Most of the rate increases are needed for capital improvements in the water system and to meet federal mandates in water quality and pollution control, the city staff has said. The higher water rates would cover about $2 million in water-related projects scattered around the city, including replacing water mains, dredging lakes and improving a boat ramp.
The proposed budget also raises council salaries by $7,000. If approved, the mayor would be paid $27,000 annually, a council member $25,000.
A major change was the addition of a 2 percent cost-of-living raise in the pensions of the city's 2,200 retirees. It came after Riddick argued strongly for a 3.5 percent increase, along with additional rate increases in future years. The council compromised on the 2 percent increase.
The council also opted to give an additional one-time $150 payment to 53 people who had retired before 1970 with less generous pensions.
The council also decided to give libraries $41,000 more, on the condition that they find matching funds, on top of a $366,000 increase.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK CITY BUDGET by CNB