
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 10, 1990                   TAG: 9005110571
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE                                LENGTH: Medium

TAX DELINQUENTS IN CRAIG WARNED

The Craig County Board of Supervisors has decided to take action against a number of people who have not paid real-estate taxes for a number of years.

The board, during its Monday meeting, decided to advertise a list of real estate in which delinquent taxes amount to $3,523. The taxes date back to 1975.

The supervisors decided to advertise the sale of real estate with delinquent taxes after receiving a report from Treasurer Sandra Reynolds and consulting with County Attorney James E. Cornwell Jr. of Pearisburg.

In most cases, the usual steps for collecting back taxes - sending several statements and letters to the taxpayers - have been taken but the taxes remain unpaid, board members were told.

Members of the board are money conscious during this period because they are in the midst of preparing a countywide budget for the fiscal year 1990-91.

Zane M. Jones, chairman of the board, has said that the budget will be tight.

"This board is scraping. We're trying to get everything we can in every way we can," Jones said of the board's funding intentions. Board members also discussed the possibility of revamping the county's tax code that covers business, professional and occupational licenses in an effort to increase revenue from those sources.

On another matter, the board also authorized advertising for applicants from the New Castle Magisterial District for a seat on the Craig County School Board. That seat is now held by Thomas Zimmerman, but his four-year term expires this year.

The board also reluctantly voted to deny a damage stamp claim by a farmer who said a cow, worth $1,000, was shot during the hunting season for wild turkeys.

The claim was denied after County Attorney Cornwell told the board that the General Assembly, in 1988, removed wild turkeys from the legal definition of big game. That meant that people hunting wild turkeys aren't required to buy big game damage stamps, and there's no fund to cover damage caused by wild-turkey hunters.

by CNB