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8 Mr. Lynch said that in the fall of 2003 the projected new revenue for the Schools from the City was $1.2 million, and the Schools based their budget on that amount. He said it is their desire to raise teacher salaries and to redu ce head count. He said the Spanish program is good, but he respects the School Board's decision about how they want to handle their funds. He noted this program is specific to a single school. He said he feels the curricula should be as consistent as po ssible throughout all the schools. He said if given more money they would probably expand the program to all schools. He said in reality money was left on the table, but it should not be earmarked for one program. He said the School Board should do the prioritization. Mr. Schilling said he agrees if the decision was made by individual schools they should work it out. He said he has a fundamental disagreement with giving 40% of new money to the Schools. He said they should ask for what they need. He asked what percentage of the trash sticker is set aside for the landfill today. Mr. O'Connell said $350,000 is budgeted in next year's budget for landfill cleanup, but he needs to come back with specific dollars from the trash sticker fee. Mr. Schillin g asked about the balance of funds for landfill cleanup today and down the road. He asked why tripling the E - 911 tax only doubles the income from it. Mr. O'Connell said many people are transitioning to cell phones and there is no local tax on those. He said this reflects the best estimate of the number of land lines. Mr. Schilling said this is a huge percentage drop. He said he has lots of questions and said the numbers do not look right on face value. He said there must be a better way to explain i t. He said Council has been shown a comparison of tax rates for Virginia First Cities, but requested that information regarding the cost of living and percentage of increase of assessments be added to that information. Mr. Caravati said he withdraws his support of staffing cutting $1 million from the budget. He said Councilors should come up with specific cuts. He expressed concern about the volume of questions given to the City Manager and the amount of staff time needed to respond. He said he is irr itated about the irresponsibility of the General Assembly, especially in their core responsibilities. He noted that State cuts amount to 16 cents on the City's tax rate. Mr. Cox also expressed concern about the enormous number of questions being asked o f staff, and said some work is somewhat academic given the amount of research and effort needed. He said he is perplexed by the cuts made by the Burnley - Moran principal. He said there needs to be a discussion between school staff and the PTO. Mr. Cox sa id he would like to know if there is a way to increase the tax relief for seniors, and said he would be willing to look for cuts somewhere else to increase that fund. Responding to questions from Mr. Cox, Ms. Richards said the E - 911 tax is $2 in the Coun ty, and Mr. O'Connell said that the increased expected if the tax is increased to $3 is $500,000. Mr. Cox said he did not advocate for cutting $1 million from the budget so he will not go through the exercise to find cuts. Mr. Schilling said he disagre es with Mr. Caravati and feels the City Manager and Budget Director should find the $1 million in cuts. Mr. Lynch expressed difficulty with Mr. Schilling's approach. He said no reductions are gong to be easy and we are going to have to figure out our pr iorities. Ms. Richards said the fiscal stress index for Virginia First Cities localities is available. PUBLIC HEARING/ORDINANCE : QUITCLAIMING GAS EASEMENT ON GREENFIELDS COURT TO VDOT