THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180445
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 54 lines
The City Council wants to spend a fraction of its year-end $20.5 million surplus on streetlights and school computers, save about $7.4 million for a rainy day and put off deciding where to spend the rest.
That was the general agreement at an informal council meeting Tuesday afternoon at City Hall.
At their Oct. 1 meeting, after a public hearing, members will vote on about $1.1 million in spending that includes:
$310,000 for a backlog of streetlights.
$355,000 for computers for the Virginia Beach campus of Tidewater Community College.
$385,000 to upgrade computer systems at nine city high schools and furnish two-way radios for all city school buses.
The items were selected from a $700 million council-formulated wish list that included Dome area revitalization, Burton Station land purchases, development of a new police training facility and improvements to a number of schools.
An informal survey of council members last weekend by city budget director E. Dean Block produced a five-point priority list and an admonition to hold back some of the year-end balance for next year's capital improvement plan.
After some discussion of pressing school and resort improvement needs, the council decided it should spend surplus money on the computers and streetlights.
Council members agreed that the first phase of a multi-purpose stadium for the Hampton Roads Mariners, improvements to Oceana Boulevard and the purchase of land to expand the Municipal Center - items that would cost an estimated $9.4 million - could await further study.
This left $7.2 million to be held for next year's capital improvement planning.
Earlier this month the council learned that the city had closed out its fiscal year with a $20.5 million surplus and came up with a long list of must-do projects.
Of that total, the council already had set aside $585,373 for the city's fund reserves; $1.7 million to repay city employees for cost-saving suggestions; $100,000 for the multipurpose stadium design and $442,593 for the replacement of the Luxford Elementary School roof.
That left $17,694,247 to parcel out on other projects.
Last year's surplus was eaten up largely by the school district's $12.1 million deficit.
The year before, the council spent most of a smaller surplus buying the 1,200-acre Lake Ridge tract that now houses the Virginia Beach Amphitheater.
In the years before that, the city usually compiled its long-term spending plan around this time of year, and any surplus was immediately folded into that package.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL BUDGET SURPLUS by CNB