CLIFTON FORGE CITY NO MORE

The Associated Press
July 1, 2001

CLIFTON FORGE - Clifton Forge marked its last day as a city yesterday.

It's now a town and a partner with Alleghany County, which will provide

schools, social services, health services, elections and trash removal.

The town will handle its own fire and police protection, sewage system,

street maintenance and library.

Clifton Forge's five constitutional officers were eliminated, their

duties assumed by county officials.

The change is a result of a March referendum in which residents voted

1,071 to 617 to revert from independent city to town status - a move

that will result in lower taxes.

The real estate tax rate in Clifton Forge will go from $1.33 per $100 of

value to 18 cents. Residents also will have to pay real estate taxes to

the county, which has a rate of 66 cents per $100. The city's tax rate

was the state's fifth highest, and officials had warned that a rate of

$1.70 would be needed if the reversion proposal failed.

"Budgets are always interesting, but I will say that preparing the town

budget this year was a delight. There was much less fiscal stress," said

interim City Manager John Rowe Jr., who now becomes the full-time town

manager.

However, county officials found the budgetary process more challenging

because of muddled revenue numbers from the state and property

reassessments in the county and Clifton Forge. The county's budget will

go from $23.6 million to $68.7 million because of the reversion.

"We are putting numbers out there that we are unsure of. We might not

even have a true budget," county Supervisor Rickey May said.

Clifton Forge is only the second city to revert to town status. South

Boston's bitter 1995 reversion had to be settled by the Virginia Supreme

Court.

Clifton Forge tried to consolidate with Covington and the county in

1987, but the proposal was rejected by Covington voters. The General

Assembly passed legislation the next year allowing cities to downgrade

to town status with voter approval.

City officials began to seriously revisit town status in 1998, after a

pro-reversion majority was elected to the City Council. A reversion

agreement was reached with the county Board of Supervisors in April 2000

and endorsed by the state Commission on Local Government in October.

Clifton Forge received its city charter in 1906. The city's population

stood at 6,461 in 1940 but had declined to 4,289 in 2000.