FIREFIGHTERS UNION LOSES TAX BREAK

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

DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993                   TAG: 9301090100
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
FIREFIGHTERS UNION LOSES TAX BREAK
A break on the admissions tax for the Roanoke Firefighters Association's concerts at the Roanoke Civic Center will be ended.
It has saved at least $15,000 for the firefighters and a private promotional company that has sold the tickets for the concerts.
The Civic Center will begin collecting the 5 percent admissions tax on all tickets that are sold - not just those that are redeemed at the door.
Ed Crawford, president of the firefighters' union, could not be reached for comment Friday.
Until now, the center has not collected the tax on unredeemed tickets because the firefighters' union was considered to be charitable organization.
The issue arose after the Roanoke Times & World-News disclosed that the Civic Center had failed to collect admission taxes on unredeemed tickets.
For three years, Gehl Corp. of Miami has promoted two concerts a year in the name of the Roanoke firefighters.
Most of the money from the concert goes to Gehl. The firefighters received 10 percent to 20 percent of the ticket sales.
Civic Center Manager Bob Chapman said he had been under the impression that most of the money went back into the community.
Many people who are contacted by phone by the promotional company to buy tickets make a donation, not because they want to see the concert. The goal of the promoters is to sell as many tickets as the Civic Center has seats, 10,622.
But the audience for some concerts has been fewer than 4,000.
The firefighters' union, which represents most of the 245 members of the Fire Department, is non-profit, but it is not a charity. Money contributed to the union is not tax-deductible.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB