After 60 years of service, the Vinton public swimming pool is about to host swimmers for its last season, a victim of age, changing times and the economic downturn that is putting local governments everywhere in a bind.

The scheduled closing of the pool in 2010 is one of a variety of significant cost-cutting and revenue-raising plans to be discussed at a public hearing at the town municipal building tonight at 7.

The town council will also consider imposing a cigarette tax for the first time, a one percentage point increase in the meals tax, and raising water and sewer rates by 10 percent -- although the public hearing on that increase won't be held until June 2.

The pool ended up being a logical choice for trimming, Town Manager Chris Lawrence said, despite the fact that it has been part of the municipal landscape for almost half the town's 125-year history.

"It's not a modern-day pool," Lawrence said. It's smaller than regulation size for most swim meet events and serves only 3,000 to 4,000 patrons each summer.

Its daily fees of $3.25 for adults and $2.25 for youth don't begin to cover operating costs, which the town subsidizes to the tune of $40,000 to $50,000 a year, Lawrence said.

On top of which, the pool -- near the town War Memorial -- needs a new $70,000 pump and filtration system, plus additional maintenance and upgrades totaling another $30,000.

The council decided to leave the pool open this summer because until a couple of weeks ago it appeared the nearby Fallon Park public pool in Roanoke would be closed and the new North County recreation center pool won't be open until after this summer season. Roanoke City Council, after initially deciding to close both the Fallon and Washington park public pools to save money, later opted to find $203,000 in the budget to keep them open.

In Vinton, council member Carolyn Fidler said she understands the rationale behind closing the town pool, but she regrets it because she believes the facility serves a need for both Vinton and East Roanoke County.

At the same time, she credited the staff with doing "a great job. Working with council, they've put together something to get us through this year and put us in a good position for next year."

She acknowledged, however, that "I'm like everybody else. I wish we did not have to be this tight."

Lawrence said he and his staff have been "working very closely with town council since the end of February, initially looking for ways to reduce the current year's budget by $300,000. ... Then, that kind of kicked off into what we have to do next year."

While that included generating $140,000 a year with the meals tax increase, and $115,000 with a 30 cents per pack cigarette tax -- providing council approves them -- it meant some things had to go, such as the pool, or be deferred.

Although the current year's final budget was trimmed to $11.3 million, Lawrence said it quickly became clear that even more would have to come out of the spending plan that takes effect July 1.

Trends that intensified in the spring lower personal property valuations, reduced water usage, decreases in new connections for water and sewer, lower income on investments and reduced sales taxes -- indicated available revenues of only $10.8 million for 2009-10, he said.

The lion's share of the budget is for the $7.6 million general fund -- paying for services such as the police department, trash collection and the operation of the War Memorial.

Unlike most localities, however, Vinton doesn't rely primarily on real estate taxes to fund it. Only 1.8 percent of general fund revenue comes from those taxes. The town's real estate tax rate -- 3 cents per $100 valuation -- and its personal property tax rate of $1 per $100 would remain unchanged. Vinton residents also pay Roanoke County real estate taxes at a rate of $1.09 per $100, as well as its personal property tax of $3.50 per $100.

The town counts on a variety of other local taxes -- such as business, professional and occupational license fees, utilities taxes and meals taxes -- to generate most of its general fund revenue.

The recession has diminished almost all of them -- and more.

The $3 million utility fund pays for the town's water and sewer operation.

"We need a 10 percent raise right now" on water and sewer fees, Lawrence said, an increase that will be considered on June 2. It would amount to $2 to $3 a month for an average customer, he said.

The town anticipates a drop of almost $500,000 in water and sewer revenue as businesses and individuals use less water, and income from fees for new connections has tanked as construction has slowed.

Water use is down 13 million gallons this year, he said, and new connections have dropped from 30 "in a good year" to just five or six in the past year.

Even if use hadn't dropped, the town needs to significantly restructure its water and sewer rates, Lawrence said, a study of which will begin later in the year. The current rate system barely covers operating and debt costs and doesn't provide any income to pay for future improvements to the aging system, he said.

The budget does not anticipate any cost of living increases for employees but avoids layoffs.