THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605160594
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
The City Council approved a $907 million annual budget Tuesday that calls for a 3.2-cent increase in the city's real estate tax rate.
The record-high spending plan is justified, city officials said, by the need to stabilize the school system's finances, improve public safety, staff the expanded Virginia Marine Science Museum and make up for cuts in federal funding.
The council also approved a 6-year construction spending plan totaling more than $1 billion.
Only one councilmember - Robert K. Dean - voted against the 1996-97 budget, saying the city's revenues had increased enough through growth that a tax increase was not justified. Councilmember Nancy K. Parker had expressed the same reservations but said in a note to council Tuesday that she would have supported the plan if her uncle's recent death had not required her to miss the vote.
The tax increase, which still leaves Virginia Beach with the second-lowest tax rate in the region, means the owner of a $100,000 house will pay $32 more next year. A water rebate included as part of the spending plan will return almost the same amount to all city water users.
The new budget is nearly $60 million higher than this year's.
It includes $387 million for the school district, which is an increase of $29 million from this year's allocation but $14 million less than what the schools had requested.
Since City Manager James K. Spore proposed the budget April 2, nearly $7 million in spending has been added, to meet the demands of the school system, the Circuit Court, the Arts and Humanities Commission, the Fire Department, the sheriff's office, the child abuses division of the Social Services Department and city bus riders.
The only groups left dissatisfied by the budget Tuesday were tax increase opponents and police officers.
A handful of taxpayers attended Tuesday's meeting to state their opposition to rising taxes.
``Enough is enough,'' John Vogel, owner of Hunt Club Boarding Kennel, told the council. Vogel complained about business taxes which, he said, made it hard to earn a living when coupled with other taxes such as payroll, Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and Worker's Compensation.
Cynthia Arsuaga, whose husband Michael just made an unsuccessful bid for the School Board, said the tax increase was making it harder for Virginia Beach to keep the feel of a ``big town with small-town values.''
Police officers were also unhappy with the budget, which added 21 members to their ranks but did not address a condition which has left some experienced officers making the same wages as rookies.
Because the city did not give significant pay raises during fiscal hard times in the early 1990s, many 5- and 6-year department veterans are making the same as those who were hired recently at better starting salaries, Sgt. Chip Condon, president of the Police Supervisors' Association, said Tuesday.
Condon said he is not sure exactly what he and his colleagues will do now - but he's certain they won't give up their fight to get higher pay and more respect from the City Council, he said.
Earlier this month, Code Blue for a Safer City, an umbrella organization for three police groups including Condon's, asked officers to continue their lobbying effort, warning residents and tourists that the salary problems are making the city unsafe.
City Council members said Tuesday that Code Blue's efforts have hurt rather than helped the police officers' cause.
``I'm disgusted with some of the actions I've seen on the part of some members of our police department,'' Vice Mayor W.D. Sessoms Jr. said.
In a letter dated Tuesday, City Manager Spore warned Condon and other Code Blue leaders that he would take ``appropriate disciplinary action'' if they proceeded with threats to undermine the city's tourism industry. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
REAL ESTATE TAXES
South Hampton Roads Real Estate Tax Rates for 1996-97 fiscal
year:
Virginia Beach: $1.22 per $100 of assessed value, up from $1.19
Chesapeake: $1.26;unchanged ($1.28 in mosquite control
districts)
Portsmouth: $1.36; unchanged
Norfolk: $1.40; unchanged (proposed)
Suffolk: $1.03 to $1.21 depending on location; unchanged
(proposed)
Other fees such as water and sewer rates will rise in Portsmouth,
and fee increases are proposed in Norfolk and Suffolk.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH BUDGET by CNB