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

DATE: SUNDAY, August 8, 1993                   TAG: 9308060048
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER
DATELINE: HIWASSEE                                LENGTH: Short

PUBLIC GAINS USE OF CAMP

A member of the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors raised the question at a meeting June 1, 1992, about whether the Boy Scouts of America should be exempt from paying taxes on its 1,600 acres in Pulaski County.

Bruce Fariss argued that if the property is to be tax-exempt it ought to at least be open to the public.

He also questioned whether the organization could put up gates blocking other landowners from access across the property. He said some people have complained about the camp's blocking convenient access to their own properties.

County Attorney Thomas McCarthy looked into the legalities and reported back that the General Assembly has classified the Boy Scouts as a charitable and benevolent organization. That means its property is tax-exempt so long as its use fits the purposes for which the organization received its classification.

Still, Fariss suggested, the organization - although not legally required to do so - might voluntarily allow some public use of its facilities.

A year later, he reported that it apparently had done just that.

At the June 28 board meeting, Fariss moved that a letter be sent to the Scout Council executive and local reservation ranger expressing appreciation for increasing the availability of the facilities by public groups.

The motion passed unanimously.