Sunday, May 27, 2007
Editorial: Learning a tough lesson the hard way
Christiansburg finds that growth doesn't pay for itself.
From the RoundTable blog
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Christiansburg is learning a tough lesson other cities and towns around the nation have already discovered: Growth rarely pays for itself.
The town has welcomed commercial growth with open arms, hoping that would enable it to keep taxes low on homeowners.
But now a debate is brewing in town council about a 15 percent increase in taxes some say is needed to keep up with a rising demand for services.
The increase won't be in the tax rate, which is going down. But the rate won't go down enough to make up for values increased by the latest property reassessment.
As Councilman Ernie Wade said after Mayor Richard Ballengee noted the rate decrease, "It is a tax increase. I don't care how you slice it. People don't pay rates -- they pay dollars."
The increased needs are a direct result of Christiansburg's growth. The police department needs more patrol officers as an increased number of calls have led to a near doubling of response times.
Retail growth has also led to more "paper crimes," such as credit card fraud and bad checks.
The unrestrained growth has increased costs in many other areas: street maintenance, fire and rescue, water and sewer services.
Each new subdivision and each new strip mall adds new demand to the town's infrastructure and services.
Growth also leads to pressure for more amenities, like the new $12 million aquatics center.
Some council members want to trim the budget, mostly by putting off some expenses, so that no tax increase is necessary.
Others believe the town staff and members of the financial committee have gone over the budget well, and any cuts or delays would degrade services.
Town council should do what's necessary to keep services at an adequate level. The real lesson here is for the future.
Decisions have consequences, and Christiansburg is now facing the consequences of allowing unrestrained growth.
"I am for pro-growth, but I am for controlled growth," said Councilman Dan Canada.
Unless town council wants to face this same dilemma in a few more years, other members need to start thinking of ways to control Christiansburg's growth.
