Collegiate Times

Tonight the town of Blacksburg will hold a public hearing regarding the recommended operating budget for 2009-10.

The Town Council meeting will be an opportunity for Blacksburg residents to begin a dialogue about the $56 million budget and how to overcome a $600,000 downturn brought on by the recession.

Representatives for the town of Blacksburg say that the town - like any other during a time of recession - will have to make budget cuts, but is likely to fare better than many other towns and counties because of its diverse sources of revenue.

"The town of Blacksburg takes its revenue through a wide array of taxes," said Steve Ross, the Town of Blacksburg deputy town manager. "Therefore, we are not as dependent on certain taxes that other areas may be dependent on."

One of these taxes that Blacksburg is not heavily dependent on is its real estate tax. Homeowners in the Blacksburg area will not see an increase in their property tax this year.

The town of Blacksburg has only raised its rate on real estate tax one time in the last 22 years, said Susan Kaiser, the Town of Blacksburg finance director. "We try to maintain the property tax rate and usually leave it as a last resort measure to be changed," Kaiser said.

Blacksburg's real estate tax rate of 22 percent assessed accounts for 19.4 percent of the town's general fund revenues. Many other areas in America depend on up to 50 percent of their revenue from real estate, Ross said.

To balance the constant real estate rates, the town has chosen to raise utilities fees.

A utility hike of $3.48 a month for the average family has been proposed. "In contrast with real estate, utilities are something people have control of how much they use, so an increase in utility fees is more welcomed," Kaiser said.

This year, town services such as brush collection, the annual town calendar, and the town's Fourth of July celebration will be reduced.

Brush collection will be reduced from monthly pick up to twice a year, saving the town $117,000 over the year. Residents, however, can call the town for a special collection at a fee of $60.

The annual town calendar printed at a cost of $16,000 will be cut from the budget and reduced to online only.

Blacksburg's Fourth of July celebration budget will be reduced by $5,000.

"Though these are services we wouldn't like to cut, there are other services such as snow removal that just can't be cut," Kaiser said.

The restaurant and hotel industry may see some changes if the new recommended budget is finalized as-is.

In the past, restaurants and hotels have retained the first 6 percent of total tax collection to account for their labor. It is proposed that they now retain only 2 percent of their total tax collection.

"This action was put in place years ago when the restaurants had to do more manual work to prepare taxes," Ross said. The work preparing taxes is less costly and much easier now, so the waiver was decreased, Ross said.

The officials building the budget also had to consider their salaries in the time of recession. Top department directors will not take pay increases this year, and the remaining employees will take a $500 salary increase.

"Even though economic times are rough, we recognize the hard work of our personnel," Ross said. "Their teamwork brings huge savings that wouldn't be there without them, and they deserve a reward."

The Town Council is set to vote on the budget April 28. The budget must be finalized by June 30 as the fiscal year starts July 1; however, it is almost always passed by the end of April, Ross said.