Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501270011
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROGER E. HEDGEPETH
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It is unique because the issues themselves are unique to this political year, and transcend any spirited discussion of specific line items in state or local budgets.
Beyond the question of BPOL lie two major and current questions whose answers will affect the commonwealth for many years to come:
To what extent can and should the executive branch of state government dabble in affairs that are without question local prerogatives?
Just what is the state government's ``job description'' anyway?
The BPOL tax is but one example illustrative of the first question. BPOL is a product of the General Assembly and intended for voluntary use by local governments. The revenue thus derived from businesses helps defray the cost of those local-government services whose presence enables the businesses to operate in accord with their total needs.
In Blacksburg, for instance, we were easily able to identify 23 town services from which local businesses derive some benefit.
The big beef about BPOL was and is limited to the fact that it is essentially based on gross income. ``Gross income'' is an appropriate index of the size and character of a business, but one can certainly argue that it needs modification to more accurately relate gross income to the profit margin typical of a specific business.
But that is a legislative matter. The General Assembly should be able to improve the fairness of the BPOL, as opposed to scrapping it altogether. It is not right for Gov. George Allen to suggest that a local revenue should be abolished. This is akin to former Gov. Douglas Wilder's foray into local zoning matters (Alexandria's) in conjunction with a proposed Redskins football stadium. And he was a Democrat.
With regard to the question about the ``state's job description,'' one could for example ask, ``Is it appropriate for Norfolk taxpayers to contribute to the restoration of the historical opera house in little Pocahontas, Va.?'' Conversely, one could ponder the fairness of having the small population of Pocahontas contribute a few tax dollars to the continuing operation of the Virginia Seafood Research Center in Hampton.
Certainly they should, in both cases. These are examples of all those assets that, collectively, distinguish this commonwealth. They can only be nourished with some degree of state-government involvement and the state's umbrella of revenue acquisition and disbursement.
The state is an entity and, as such, has a job description that includes those things which cannot be done well, if at all, by local government. The Allen administration, through the news media, has done little to educate the citizens about those taken-for-granted services and assets that will be severely endangered by a misplaced zeal to cut taxes.
Would rank-and-file citizens really relish, or even begrudgingly approve, the continuing erosion of public education, police protection, social services, agriculture, the arts and museums, parks and forests, tourism and technology initiatives ... if they really knew what was coming down?
Not likely. We'll know for sure when they turn those little levers in the awesome silence and privacy of a voting booth.
Roger E. Hedgepeth is mayor of Blacksburg.
by CNB