Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502100035
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Here are just a few of Jordan's ideas for how Roanokers could not only make some money for themselves, but help out the community as well.
Cashing out. It's the concept of having worked and lived in the fast lane long enough to have accumulated enough wealth that you can actually choose where to live and raise a family.
``There are lots of people out there looking for this,'' Jordan says of Roanoke. ``People who drive through here endlessly comment on what a great town this is. Why doesn't someone actually try to market Roanoke as a place people can come to cash out? Look at the money it would bring to the region. There are people dying to move out of big cities and live somewhere like this.''
The little town that could. ``Everybody here is so hung up on this being a railroad town. So why couldn't Roanoke be the little town that could? If we could only have that `I think I can ... I think I can ... I think I can ...' attitude, it would change the entire body energy of this area.
``The way I see it, Roanoke has an inferiority complex. They sit around and whine that this is just some little blue-collar town, and that is so screwed up, and you can quote me on that.
``There'd be so much potential if everyone would just change their attitudes.''
Death and taxes. ``There are lot of people in this town with $3million. And they're not high rollers. These are people who worked hard and saved and invested. You sure can't beat compound interest.
``But when they die, 50 percent of that is going to leave Roanoke to go to D.C. for estate taxes. There are creative ways around that. There are ways to plan on keeping those dollars here in Roanoke.
``There's a hospital in Washington state that has a service where they go out and talk about estate taxes and ways of setting up trusts to keep the dollars in the community. They do this free of charge, as a service to the community, and ultimately the money is channeled off to the little nonprofits.
``The money ultimately goes to the community upfront for a number of years, and the wealth gets to stay here for a long time before it goes to D.C. Why not leave the money in the community rather than just automatically flush it to Washington?''
Jordan points out that this is how Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis handled her estate. ``Here's a woman who wanted to take care of her grandchildren, so she left what's called a lead trust by will. She left the money to the grandchildren - and it was something like $200 million - and she did it in such a way that 9 percent every year for 24 years goes to charity. That's $18million that will stay in New York City and go to her causes, rather than $110million outright going to the government.
``Most people don't know about this, and then much of their money winds up building an aircraft carrier somewhere rather than helping out the free clinics, the Rescue Mission or any of the museums.''
School year round. ``Financially, it's a great idea. Both parents are working today, and having the kids home is a hassle. It would lower class sizes, make better use of the facilities, and there wouldn't be any need to build larger schools. Why not introduce a 50-cent local cigarette tax and take that money and pay teachers real money for what they do? Why shouldn't teachers be making $75,000 a year? They are the most influential people around, and they should get paid real money.''
Pension plans. Most of this theory involves Jordan's neighbors, to whom he refers as ``the docs.''
``Most have these $700,000 pension plans they think are going to take care of their family after they're gone. But the truth is that 70 percent of that money is going to go to taxes. That's right, instead of going to the spouse, it is going to go to Uncle.
``The docs can set up family foundations and let their children control the foundation. If they can't have the money, they can at least control it and increase it. That's how the Rockefellers made all their money.
``Then the children can substitute foundation money for what they would have given to charity themselves.''
Why aren't the docs doing this?
``Because they are hesitant to pay a lawyer or an accountant to talk about this because they are so strapped for money this year,'' he said scarcastically.
Gas tax. ``This is a regional transportation area, so introduce a 50-cent gas tax that goes to a fund for regional transportation. It ain't gonna hurt anyone to pay that 50 cents, and nobody has the guts to do it, but it just makes sense.
``Use this money to work with Virginia Tech to make this the world center for alternative-powered cars.''
First Union Corp. eventually will leave Roanoke. ``Start anticipating that. All of the dollars are up in Northern Virginia, and most of the executives are already traveling up and down I-81. Why should First Union pay executives $300 an hour to drive up and down the interstate? Eventually, they're going to have to move out of here.''
Set up a small-business investment council. Give seminars for small companies with new ideas. ``Raise 10million bucks, and then borrow $40million at advantageous rates. Take the money and invest it in small companies.''
Too many local governments. ``They're all in trade wars with each other to see who can steal each other's business population. Doesn't anyone realize this is what caused the stock market decline in 1929? The county and city should not be stealing businesses from Botetourt.
Instead of a business tax, why not give corporations credits for investing in this small-business investment council?''
Local Neighborhood Assistantship Program. ``Give $2,000 donation to Neighborhood Assistant Program and you save $1,000 on your state income taxes. It's a 2-for-1 bang for your buck. $2,000 goes to charity; $1,000 goes to you.
``Put someone like Bev Fitzpatrick, who has his heart and soul in this community, in charge, and instead of having all of these committees, let private economy accomplish its goals. People will get richer and invest their money here and pay less taxes by channeling their money to the poor.
``Giving to the poor is a very important responsibility of being rich.''
by CNB