THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 20, 1996 TAG: 9605180009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Between 1988 and 1994, Norfolk City Hall eliminated 841 municipal jobs, drawing down the work force to 4,273. The addition of police and other personnel since has raised the total to 4,555. The $487.8 million operating budget proposed this season by City Manager James B. Oliver Jr. would expand the city work force further. Most of the additions would be public-safety personnel, and many would be deputy sheriffs whose hiring is mandated by the state.
As is true in most urban centers, crime is Norfolk residents' top concern. Violent crime is down in Norfolk. And the overall crime rate in the city has dropped in recent years. But the rate rose slightly last year, mainly due to auto thefts. Most of these ``thefts'' are actually ``unauthorized use'' of motor vehicles by teens, who may or may not trash the cars after using them. Bringing down instances of unauthorized use ought to be an achievable objective of the Police Department's crime-prevention arm.
The downward crime trend in Norfolk tracks a national decline traceable to a slowdown in the number of males entering their teens and 20s. A big chunk of crime is committed by young men.
But the spread of community-based policing - called Police Assisted Community Enforcement (PACE) in Norfolk - and the enlargement of police forces also figures in the crime drop. The proliferation of residential electronic security systems and putting more and more lawbreakers behind bars for longer and longer periods help too; the U.S. jail and prison population now exceeds 1 million.
City Council increased the real-estate tax rate a few years back to implement PACE. The proposed FY97 budget, which City Council will vote on tomorrow, would add 27 police to the force, thanks in part to federal money included in President Clinton's omnibus anti-crime bill. A program that places nonpolice personnel in administrative jobs would free still more officers for patrol duty.
The proposed budget would also allow improvements in the city's retirement plans for municipal employees. The changes include financial incentives for retirement-eligible employees to leave their jobs sooner than they might otherwise and would halve (from 10 years to five) the time needed for employees to become vested in the municipal retirement system while accelerating their accrual of retirement benefits. General city employees appear pleased by the proposal, but public-safety personnel are lobbying for further sweetening. City Council seems disposed to approve the plan more or less as is, and should.
The proposed budget would fully fund the School Board's request for education and is responsive to specific needs in neighborhoods across the city. The public libraries would get more money, though far less than needed to recover from years of deep cuts. There would be more money for recreation programs that aim to keep youngsters out of trouble.
Norfolk's property-tax rate, highest in South Hampton Roads, would not rise. But there would be a new fee for household-pickup recycling to defray part of the recycling fee recently voted by the Southeastern Public Service Authority. Virginia Beach City Council, which is raising the real-estate-tax rate, intends to stop curbside pickup rather than have residents pay a fee. Norfolk should stick with the curbside program.
City Manager Oliver also has proposed raising the stormwater fee. City Council may not go along with that; it would increase the financial burden on businesses and householders alike. Stretching out the schedule for capital improvements funded by the stormwater fee would be a better course.
Despite severe financial stresses, multiplied by cuts in federal and state funding, Norfolk is coping handily. Forty-seven percent of property within the city limits is exempt from taxation, but the assessed value of the 53 percent that can be taxed totals $6.8 billion. While many central cities are losing ground, Norfolk is not simply holding its own, it is progressing. by CNB