Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 15, 1991 TAG: 9103150207
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET CAMLIN CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Originally, the students planned to boycott Lexington businesses for a week to protest having to pay local property taxes.
But the boycott plan was scrapped after students talked with the local Chamber of Commerce. "A boycott just looked like something that would hurt business without having an impact on the City Council," said Tom Hatcher, president of the executive committee of the student body.
Still, this has not dampened students' resolve, according to Hatcher, a senior from Kentucky. "We're going to pursue every legal means possible to avoid the tax."
Hatcher and other student leaders figure students need to park their cars outside city limits 15 weekends per year to legally avoid paying the tax.
This strategy galls Mayor H.E. "Buddy" Derrick.
"This is an absolute subterfuge to avoid paying taxes anywhere," Derrick said Wednesday. "I can't believe that the student body - if they truly believe in the honor code - would resort to that."
City officials expect to receive $50,000 to $100,000 per year if all students with cars in Lexington pay their taxes.
"It really is something that in all fairness should be done," said Commissioner of Revenue Courtney Baker. "It isn't fair to say that people who live here for 12 months should pay for all those services" also enjoyed by students.
Some W&L students have paid the property tax, according to Pat Delaney, the city treasurer.
But according to Mike Skarda, the student who first championed the boycott tactic, most students have contacted their lawyers back home. The students have been advised not to pay the tax, he said.
He said some students plan to exchange cars with their parents some of the year to evade the tax. Others will park their cars in Rockbridge County and catch a ride to town some other way.
Hatcher has nothing but kind words for the city officials with whom he and other students have tried to negotiate over past weeks. "They're very cordial. They're really nice people," he said. "It's just unfortunate because they see it as an equity issue.
"There's no way to compromise on this thing. Somebody's going to have to take it to court."
The burden of proof would be on the student to show his or her car was not in Lexington most of the year.
But if it came down to a fight in court, City Manager Jon Ellestad believes the "rule of logic" would prevail, and the student would be forced to pay the tax to the place where he or she lives most of the year.
Baker indicated she won't take kindly to such tax evasion. "I don't know how it will be looked upon when it's obvious people are skirting the law."
State law requires the personal property tax to be paid to the jurisdiction in which the cars are "principally" parked.
An attorney general's opinion stated that full-time college students must pay the personal property tax to the jurisdiction where they reside while attending school.
It's immaterial where the car is licensed, or under whose name it is registered, Baker said. "It's where it's located - but people have a hard time with that concept."
About 500 bills have gone out to students so far, including VMI cadets. VMI provided a list of students with cars, but Washington and Lee refused. The university said it would violate privacy laws because students did not give permission to release the information.
Students feel they are already contributing enough to the city through their business with local merchants and through grants the university gives to the city.
But Derrick said property taxes have nothing to do with the $40,000 grant awarded last year by the university, and any other grants that have been promised.
In the past, the city did not enforce the property tax on students because of the difficult, time-consuming job of tracking down the information. But last year the city stepped up efforts, with help from Lexington police and a new part-time employee.
by CNB