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61 <br /> <br /> MONDAY. APRIL 26. 1999 <br />A special and duly-called meeting of the Council of the City of Martinsville, Virginia, with Mayor Mark A. <br /> <br />Crabtree presiding, was held Monday, April 26, 1999, in the Council Chamber, City Hall, beginning at 5:30 <br />P.M. The purpose of the meeting was to consider the City's FY 1999/2000 budget. All members of <br />Council were present: Dr. Mark A. Crabtree, Mayor; M. Gene Teague, Vice-Mayor; and Council Members <br />Bruce H.T. Dallas, Elizabeth H. Haskell, and Terry L. Roop. <br /> <br />Mayor Crabtree opened the meeting and yielded the floor to City Manager Earl B. Reynolds, Jr.. Mr. <br />Reynolds began by stating that this was his eighth budget presentation, and that each year the budget had <br />gotten better, with more benefits to the community. He then turned the presentation over to Mr. Wade <br />Bartlett, Director of Finance, for a review of revenue figures from 1997 through the year 2000. Mr. Bartlett <br />began by complementing the Treasurer, Ms. Pat Conrad, for her diligent efforts to collect delinquent taxes. <br />He then described a pattern of virtually no growth in Real Estate values and taxes, decline in Machinery and <br />Tools tax revenue and Bank Franchise taxes, and only small growth in Personal Property tax revenues. Mr. <br />Bartlett noted some growth in other local taxes such as Business Equipment, and in revenue liom the <br />Commonwealth, Refuse Disposal, and Electricity sales, while noting predicted decline in revenue fi:om Water <br />and Sewer Utilities. Council Member Haskell asked about the basis of assumptions on the local economy, as to <br />whether these were simply straight line .projections, and was told that they were not. Mr. Bartlett stated that <br />projections were based upon a combination of information fi:om the Commissioner of Revenue, the City <br />Manager, and his general knowledge of the community. Other questions and comments were then addressed <br />concerning real estate values, and it was noted that slow growth in Real Estate values was true for many areas of <br />the Commonwealth. Mr. Reynolds commented that Real Estate taxes could no longer be relied upon to support <br />improvements in the budget, and that the community must work hard to diversify its revenue sources. <br /> <br />Mr. Reynolds then presented his Resource Allocation and Work Plan for FY 99-00. He noted that General Fund <br />expenditures were up about 2.39%, primarily due to a proposed 2.95% compensation improvement for <br /> <br /> <br />