Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990 TAG: 9006140579
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Heard's company, Renovation Specialists, owes the IRS about $30,000 in taxes going back to 1986, two years before he went to work for the proposed living-history state park.
He's also told the IRS that Explore - the state board in charge of the project as well as the non-profit foundation that runs it for the state - owes him almost exactly that same amount.
So last week, the IRS sent a "notice of levy" to both the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority and the River Foundation, requesting that if they owe Heard's firm any money, to pay it directly to the IRS.
The notice is not an order, simply a request routinely sent to anyone who owes money to someone who in turn owes taxes to the IRS. Richard Burrow, Explore Project engineer, says the IRS notice is Heard's problem, not Explore's.
Nevertheless, Explore officials suspect Heard is trying to embarrass them by making it look like Explore is negligent.
It's just the opposite, Burrow contends. "The River Foundation has paid Renovation Specialists rather substantial amounts of money the last couple of months, and I don't know what he's done with that money," Burrow said.
Heard says the project is mismanaged because the foundation has run late on payments to his company.
Heard has been upset with Explore officials ever since they decided not to renew his contract in early May.
More recently, Heard has been entangled in a dispute with Explore over the house he lives in at the park site. He claims the lease runs through 1995; Explore officials contend it ran out Wednesday and want him to leave.
Burrow declined comment on whether the River Foundation owes Heard's company $18,000 as Heard claims. But the $12,000 Heard told the IRS the authority owes him may be in some dispute.
That's how much Heard claims he spent cleaning up an auto junkyard the authority bought. First, Heard said he had an unwritten lease on the property allowing him to use the place for storage in return for cleaning it up. Explore officials say they never agreed to such a lease.
So now Heard has sent the authority a bill for $12,000. Burrow says he hasn't had time to review it to determine whether Explore really does owe Heard that much money.
"When and if we owe him any money, we'll be glad to pay it to the IRS," Burrow said.
State Sen. Granger Macfarlane, D-Roanoke, a longtime Explore critic, took note of the situation Wednesday, saying the public is "due an explanation about what exactly is going on."
by CNB