| Sharla Bardin

sharla.bardin@roanoke.com, 381-1669

CHRISTIANSBURG -- Two things seem to be certain for Montgomery County going into the next budget year: There will be no salary increases for county employees and no new positions.

Beyond that, it's still unclear what more the county will have to do to address an estimated $4.2 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year. The current budget is $158.9 million.

Some of the strategies discussed previously include a reduction of positions or in some services or increasing the real estate tax rate an additional 6 cents.

All those scenarios are still on the table as county officials work to prepare the budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which starts in July, County Administrator Craig Meadows said.

The board of supervisors received a budget update Monday and more are planned as county officials get a better picture of what may happen on the state level after Republican governor-elect Bob McDonnell takes office Saturday.

"It's going to be a very challenging couple of months," Meadows said, adding that he doesn't see any easy choices to be made in the budget process.

The estimated $4.2 million shortfall includes state budget cuts and $1.1 million less county revenue, including $748,775 in local sales tax revenue with people not spending as much.

County officials also estimate an increases in expenses, including in the Virginia Retirement System contributions and increases in maintenance costs for property and equipment and utility costs for facilities.

Meadows said county officials will be reviewing departmental budgets to see if there are opportunities for reductions. However, he also said, "for the most part, we're running a very bare-bones budget."

Meadows also said there will be no salary increases and no new positions in the next fiscal year.

The county now has 393 full-time and part-time employees. Another option to address the shortfall is an increase in the real estate tax rate. The rate is now 71 cents per $100 of assessed value.

To cover the $4.2 million shortfall, it would require an additional 6 cents on the tax rate.

County officials have not taken any official action on the budget scenarios, but they have said they want to do what they can to protect existing employees.

It's a desire shared by Sheriff Tommy Whitt.

Whitt said Tuesday he's taking a "very nervous wait-and-see" approach to what happens with the state and county budget.

In the fall, there were more than $424,000 in state cuts to the budgets of the sheriff, treasurer, commissioner of revenue, clerk of the circuit court and commonwealth's attorney. The supervisors approved budget adjustments to offer money from the county's rainy day fund, which is used for emergency purposes, and the general fund to help offset the cuts.

Whitt said without that county help he may have had to lay off personnel.

He said he worries about additional state cuts and said the Virginia Sheriffs' Association is lobbying on behalf of sheriffs departments across the state to reduce and restore the funds that have been cut and to reduce future cuts.

"It's bigger than just my office," Whitt said about the issue.