Public challenges Bedford leaders on tax issue

BEDFORD — A crowd of more than 100 people tested the Bedford County Board of Supervisors’ conservative theme of not raising taxes in a woeful economy Monday night.

People flooded the board’s meeting room, some holding signs opposing cuts to school funding. One read, “Read Our Lips: Raise Taxes.”

The common message presented to the board by several residents was that more local aid is needed to assist Bedford County Public Schools, which are facing a potential $7 million cut in their proposed 2010-11 budget.

“We really need to raise taxes,” said Jerome Loy, a Bedford County teacher. “It’s that simple.”

Though no final decisions have been made, Superintendent Douglas Schuch has recommended cutting 124 jobs and consolidating two elementary schools in Thaxton and Body Camp.

One way to help the schools financially, some argued, is to raise the county’s real estate tax by several pennies to generate several million dollars in revenues.

The county’s real estate tax rate is 50 cents per $100 of assessed value. Residents said the burden of state cuts, which County Administrator Kathleen Guzi has termed “the new normal,” should not be assumed by the county’s teachers.

Dale Herbst, of Goode, asked that seven cents be added onto the real estate tax rate to generate nearly $5 million, said the school system has cut “fat and muscle” and is now “being forced to amputate” because there’s nowhere else to turn.“We cannot afford to be penny-wise to be dollar-foolish,” he said. “Real leadership is difficult in difficult times ... if you have the courage to tax us, we’ll pay.”

Supervisors face a county budget with a deficit of nearly $1.5 million that has to be resolved. The county currently expects to provide level funding to the school division — just more than $36.2 million — though that decision isn’t final. The contribution to schools is the board’s largest expense.

Schuch, who did not recommend pay cuts in his budget proposal, has said Bedford County teachers are already among the lowest paid in the region and the state. When asked in a recent survey if they would be willing to accept pay cuts, the majority of Bedford teachers said no.

Supervisor Steve Arrington, who said he continues to oppose tax increases, reiterated the board couldn’t dictate to school officials how to spend the money.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” said Arrington, who described himself as a product of Bedford County schools. “What the answer is, I don’t know. But I can tell you it’s not government.”

Supervisor Dale Wheeler said he could appreciate the public comments but it would take a drastic tax increase that could be very controversial with a property reassessment looming for the county in 2011.

The board is expected to set tax rates on April 12, the same evening it is scheduled to adopt the county budget.

In other business:Supervisors unanimously voted to grant tax-exempt status to a lease of county property for a nonprofit developing Bedford House, a hospice operation set to locate on a single acre on Falling Creek Road just south of the city of Bedford.