Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 1 · column 1 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
By MEMORY PORTER
IF LOCAL real estate taxes have to provide the revenues needed to balance the $117.2 million shortfall expected in the state’s budget in the coming fiscal year, many counties across the state will “have to raise the property taxes considerably.” George Long, the executive director of the Virginia Association of Counties, gave this warning to a small turnout of Northern Virginia state legislators and local government officials at a legislative meeting in Arlington on December 14. Long maintained that counties across the state could be facing a jump in real estate taxes from 12 to 20 per cent, an increase in real estate taxes of 20 cents to as high as $2.15 on each $100 of assessed value.
The Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal League are urging the 1977 session of the General Assembly to amend the existing sales tax legislation to provide for a onecent sales t^x increase. However, the two statewide groups representing local governments differ on how the one cent sales tax increase should be distributed.
The counties are recommending the additional revenues be returned to the localities on the basis of school age population, while the cities and towns would like the higher sales tax to be returned to the jurisdictions based on points of collection.
Republican Senator Wiley Mitchell, who represents the City of Alexandria asserted that the disagreement over the formula used
96.0%