Showdown at Verona*
As some folks in Augusta County gather steam for their phony “tax revolt”, Alton Foley outlines the same points I posted earlier: reassessments do not increase taxes. That’s a simple nonpartisan fact, but the politics in Augusta County are hilarious.
One single, solitary leftist has peeled off a large following —many of them self-styled ‘conservatives’— to campaign against responsible Republicans. It would be great if this Democrat was really financially prudent, a change from the last thirty some-odd years. Alas it isn’t to be; there are rabble-rousers and then there is the crowd they are misleading.
“Augusta County citizens are up in arms over their latest property assessments. Well, to be a bit more accurate, they are upset over their latest property tax bill . . . What the good people of Augusta County do not know, and I’ll wager most Virginians do not know either, is that their new re-assessment did not cause their property tax bill to shoot through the roof.” —First Patrick, Now It’s Augusta County
With all due respects to Brother Alton (through no fault of his own) this last part is not exactly true. More than half of the landowners say they are satisfied with their appraisals. Some Augusta citizens are upset over imaginary tax bills . . . because there has been no ‘latest property tax bill’. Tax bills are over a month in the future and the furor is from protesters’ rhetoric.
If you examine these protesters’ statements, check their websites, or look at the wording on their petitions there is no actual claim of high tax; it is the weaselly claim of high taxes if the rates remain unchanged. As Alton and I have pointed out, that is not legal under state law; and only the Democrat Supervisor has used that rhetoric.
For that matter, the ringleaders of Augusta Citizens Against Unfair Assessments don’t even claim the assessments aren’t correct, their key word is “unfair”. They cite the 27% countywide increase in valuations, the worsening economy, and claim that other counties’ land values have decreased. Yet none have shown the assessed value is inaccurate or that the appraisal is substantially different than the actual market prices.
Decent people would not have cost county citizens extra money. The concept that “the county can afford” $50,000 to defy state mandates is a leftist construct put forth by Supervisor Tracy Pyles; conservatives know that government money is citizens’ tax money. In this case, it is taxes that were already paid by county citizens, now lost due to self-centered attention seekers.
Nor would decent people present “petitions asking the board to turn back assessments to 2005 values” that would cost the citizens —not the ‘county government’— even more as the state assesses penalties for illegal actions and withholds state school funds.
This same group is scaremongering that the country will abandon Land Use —a substantial and necessary tax reduction for farming— on no factual basis, only the Democrat Supervisor and some ‘assessment protesters’ are talking about that. The remaining Republicans and Independent Supervisors have all said the agricultural tax break is vital to the county.
Partisanship and Party? The issue should be nonpartisan, but events have conspired to make it a Party issue. On one side are six Supervisors trying to follow the law, minimize its financial impact on citizens, and a bit cautious (conservative!) about finances due to uncertainty on state and federal shares. Whether they raise the tax rate after the zero-adjustment is another matter.
On the other side is an attorney who doesn’t pay his taxes, one Democrat Supervisor, and members of a foiled plot to take over the county Republican Party. The Augusta Free Press, an open Democrat advocate, calls this “A Chance for Us Dems to Gain Traction”. They have already cost taxpayers thousands of dollars, preach disobeying state law, and are misleading county citizens.
And misleading they are. The Staunton Leader, no conservative paper, questions the wisdom of labeling discontent with assessments as a “tax revolt”. But the paper is right, there are now folks who think the recent assessment is somehow not legal, when it is the model of legality. There are some folks who are prepared to not pay their taxes, unaware that the only result will be penalties, interest, liens, and ultimate loss of their property.
There will be a showdown in Verona. In the western The Magnificent Seven, a small handful of gunslingers defend the farmers and town folk from a huge gang of predatory outlaws who exploit them. Over half these brave fighters die, knowing the odds are against them; yet by persisting they prevail and the innocents are freed.
It is a moral tale about doing the right thing, even when the odds are against you; even when doing the right thing will personally hurt you. It may be some of the Supervisors lose their next election, but they need to stand firm or else county citizens will suffer. But if that showdown happens, Supervisors need to make the cost worthwhile, and shoot holes in the ACAUA disinformation.
*Verona, the site of Augusta County’s government center, is named after Verona Italy by Italian stonecutters who immigrated here to construct bridges , tunnels and viaducts for the railroads. Many of them stayed in the area. Ironically, the Italian area they left became the scene for movies about the American West
March 11th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Spread the word Jim. I’m constantly amazed at how many people I speak with do not know that a re-assessment cannot, must not, substantially raise their tax bill.