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

DATE: TUESDAY, July 24, 1990                   TAG: 9007240436
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SALEM OKS RESOLUTION TO PRORATE TAXES

Salem City Council adopted a resolution Monday night that could result in the city having the power to prorate personal-property taxes if it chooses.

Last month, council directed the city attorney to draft the resolution, which urges state legislators to add Salem to the list of localities that have the right to prorate personal-property taxes.

City Manager Randy Smith and Max Brown, commissioner of revenue, asked council to study the feasibility of prorating the taxes. Such action would generate an additional $200,000 to $300,000 in revenue, it has been estimated.

But Salem couldn't prorate the taxes until the General Assembly approved an amendment to the state code adding Salem to the list of localities permitted to take such action.

Copies of the resolution will be forwarded to Sen. Dudley Emick Jr. and Del. Steve Agee.

Under Salem's current system, a resident could purchase a car in, say, January 1991 and not pay taxes on it until May 1992. Salem's personal-property tax rate is $3.20 per $100 of assessed value.

Roanoke County has prorated personal-property taxes for several years. Roanoke will begin prorating personal-property taxes in 1991.

Council also gave initial approval to an ordinance amendment that was sparked by the Stephenson & Aldridge furniture company's going-out-of-business sale.

The amendment specifies that the city commissioner of revenue issue permits to merchants who are going out of business and set up a $65 "special sale" permit fee.

In May, Stephenson & Aldridge announced it would close. State law requires that a company quitting business have a license for its final sale and provide an inventory of what is to be sold.

The law forbids mixing other goods with the inventoried items, as the Better Business Bureau alleged the store had done.

The ordinance amendment would help to avoid confusion about who should issue licenses for going-out-of-business sales by putting it "into the purview of the commissioner of revenue," City Attorney Steve Yost said.

by CNB