DATE: Friday, April 18, 1997                TAG: 9704180614

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY TONI GUAGENTI, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   91 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** Virginia Beach's real estate tax rate is $1.22 per $100 of assessed value. A story Friday about the city's 1997-98 proposed budget contained an error. Correction published Saturday, April 19, 1997 on page A2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. ***************************************************************** SCHOOL SUPPORTERS HOLLER FOR INCREASED CITY FUNDING

The red, white and blue balloons whipped in the wind, snuggly attached to the back of a pickup, where a woman with a microphone shouted a cheer to more than 100 pennant swingers.

``Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar,'' she yelled. ``All for funding, stand tall and holler.''

And they whooped it up, the audience of men, women and children, flashing multicolored messages on sticks: ``Fund Quality Education Now!''

Step right up for funding.

At Princess Anne High School Thursday evening, they lined up to beseech city leaders to include their wishes in the city's 1997-98 capital and operating budgets.

Inside the high school's auditorium, a political carnival of sorts took place.

In one corner was the largest group of the evening: those who asked City Council members to fully fund city schools.

In another corner: a neighborhood concerned with the safety of their homes.

And a blast from the distant past: supporters of money for an archaeological survey of the Francis Land House wearing 18th century garb, flowing dresses with caps and straw hats, knickers and ruffly shirts.

Most of the more than 500 people who came to the first of two City Council public hearings on the budget spoke in favor of the city fully funding a $26 million increase in the School Board's operating budget. That would require some sort of real estate tax increase.

A handful, though, told the city to tighten its purse strings by not raising taxes.

More than 80 people spoke during the marathon meeting, which lasted 3 1/2 hours.

Last month, City Manager James K. Spore asked the council to approve a $957 million budget - $50 million more than this year's. It includes an increase in the utility and stormwater taxes.

The operating budget includes money for 15 new police officers, eight dispatchers, a 4 1/2 percent pay increase for most city workers, a new curbside recycling program and a $13 million increase for schools.

The budget provides half the increase the School Board asked for in its proposed 1997-98 budget. Finding the extra $13.2 million would add 7 cents to the city's tax rate of $1.22 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

The city's six-year capital improvement program on long-term projects carries a price tag of a little more than $1 billion. The new money added for next year's proposed capital budget is about $94 million.

The capital budget calls for a ``pause'' in city spending on big-ticket items because of the city's need to see the Lake Gaston pipeline come to fruition and to reduce the city's debt load.

Many of the people speaking Thursday told the City Council to provide money - about $600,000 - for the design of W.T. Cooke Elementary School.

City officials have proposed asking voters in a referendum in November 1998 whether they support spending an estimated $40 million on the modernization of eight schools, including Cooke.

Many groups questioned why no money was in the budget for their agencies or projects.

More than a dozen people representing the Endependence Center in Norfolk came to ask the City Council why after 14 years, funding for the center had been cut from the budget.

The nonprofit center, which provides services for people with physical and sensory disabilities in South Hampton Roads, received $32,500 this year from Virginia Beach. Center officials are seeking $46,000 for next year.

Center officials said Virginia Beach is retaliating against it because the center is part of a lawsuit claiming that the city's amphitheater does not comply fully with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Other issues addressed at the hearing included funding for the gifted and talented program, library funding, the city's beautification, sewers for Alanton, equitable trash service for condominiums and the need for more firefighters. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot

Yelling and waving a flag, Great Neck Middle PTA member Julie Horton

urges more money for schools at a Thursday rally. To the right are

Cyndi O'Grady, PTA president, and Pam Bennis, another member. KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS BUDGET

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