RADFORD -- The advertised tax rate increase is 14 cents. But the council is aiming lower than that.

When City Manager Tony Cox proposed a $47.4 million city budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, it included a real estate tax rate increase of 14 cents per $100 of a property's value. Radford City Council members have dickered and figured and sent Cox back to find more savings until they managed to cut almost 5 cents off that increase. But they decided to advertise the higher rate just in case.

When the council advertises a rate in preparation for a public hearing, that sets a ceiling but not a floor. The council can pass a lower rate than advertised but not one that's higher. So the council, with the exception of Mayor Tom Starnes, decided to stick with Cox's proposed rate.

"We're not saying it's going to be 14 cents," said Councilwoman Laurie Buchwald. "We're just trying to be smart about how we do this."

A 14 cent increase would take Radford's real estate tax rate to 78 cents. Of the nine towns in the nearby counties of Montgomery, Pulaski and Giles, only Dublin has a lower rate. That makes Radford a bargain, Cox said Monday.

Even so, Starnes said, a lot of people have told him that a 14 cent tax increase is simply too much.

"I don't recall in years having that many people saying they're opposed to what we propose to do," he said.

Starnes has been promoting a number of ways to cut the increase, including putting off equipment purchases and giving employees three days off without pay.

Other council members said they have heard from a lot of people, too. But the message haven't been so monolithic. Some people want to protect city services.

The top two things that attract people to a community, Buchwald said, are quality of life and schools. Cutting deeper into the budget means reducing services, she said.

"A furlough here, a truck there is not going to cut it," she said. "Which services would you cut?"

People may be complaining about taxes now, Buchwald said, but that's nothing compared to the complaining they'll do if city services decline drastically.

"What's going to happen next year when we don't have the money to fix the potholes?" she asked. "What's going to happen next year when we don't have the money to plow the snow? What's going to happen next year when we don't have the money to pick up the leaves?"

The city has historically kept real estate taxes low by transferring profits from the city's electric system into the general fund. Without those transfers, Cox has told the council, the city's real estate tax rate would be 50 cents higher.

But electricity consumption is falling, mostly because of reductions at the Intermet foundry, which used to be the city's biggest employer. The foundry's parent company is in bankruptcy.

"We've got to move away from that being the goose that laid the golden egg," Councilman Bruce Brown said.

"We've become almost addicted," Councilman Bob Nicholson agreed.

For years, the city has put about 17 percent of the system's profits into the general fund.

At Monday's public hearing, six people spoke about the budget. Five of them urged the council to find a way to cut the $47.4 million and the 14 cent tax increase Cox proposed.

"I'm sure Tony could look back in the budget and cut some more things out" without cutting essential services, Larry Walker said.

Three speakers talked about the pressure such an increase would put on senior citizens. With a 14 percent increase, Bob Whitsell said, he and his wife would "have to chose bread, milk or medicine -- and we're not alone."

George Harkrader said he's not retired yet.

"I'm still among the working poor," he said.

The city could cut its tourism director or get rid of some police cars or sell Cracker's Neck, the roughly 250 acres it owns in Montgomery County, Harkrader said.

Only John McCandlish spoke in favor of the proposed budget.

"This does seem to be a very lean budget," he said.

McCandlish said he's done the math and a tax increase of 14 cents would cost him 88 cents a day. The 9 cent raise the council seems to be close to agreement on would cost him 32 cents a day.

"I personally am willing to pay 32 cents a day to receive services from this city that I think are important," McCandlish said.

The council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the tax rate and take a final vote on the budget April 13. Its next budget work session is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday.