ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 15, 1996 TAG: 9604160038
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH DAY PASHLEY STAFF WRITER
In the real world, today is an important day for adults: Tax forms must be filled out and taxes paid and postmarked by midnight.
But this is just another Monday at Huff Lane's MicroVillage School in Roanoke, where the pupils have created their own economy and business is booming. The micro-society is real in every way except one: "We don't have taxes," said fifth-level pupil and MicroVillage Mayor Jenny Wright.
They don't have taxes because the school government supports itself with fees. The pupils decided not to collect taxes, because they aren't needed. Principal Dayl Graves said the MicroVillage operates "in the black," or not in debt.
"We don't need the money. We don't have to pave the hallways or make a new school," Vincent Hogrefe said.
Vincent said that in the real world, taxes pay for, among other things, schools, parks, police and firefighters and roads. He is right.
Don Webb, MicroVillage coordinator, recently talked to Walker Healey's fifth-level pupils about taxes in the real world and gave them questions to answer.
Thao Nguyen answered the first question: What is a tax? She wrote, "money paid involuntarily to the government."
Why are there taxes? Nicole Marcus said to support government activities and to distribute the wealth.
Although the residents of MicroVillage don't pay taxes, the pupils learned about real-world taxes - property, income and sales taxes. Dino Mehmedovic wrote that people are taxed on what personal property they own - cars, boats and houses. That's true.
The four top ways the city collects money to pay for services it provides are: real estate taxes, personal property taxes, sales tax and business licenses, said Marsha Compton Fielder, Roanoke commissioner of the revenue.
Real estate taxes are fees you pay on property you own, such as your home. Personal property taxes are collected on personal items you own, such as a boat or car, as Dino pointed out. Sales tax is tax you pay on candy or toys or most anything you purchase. When someone opens a new business, he or she is required to purchase a license.
The revenue (money) generated in Roanoke goes into a general fund, which pays for schools, government salaries for 1,800 employees, snow removal, firefighters, police officers and refuse (trash) collection.
The MicroVillage operates in a school that was built with tax money in 1950.
Here are some things state income tax pays for: Gov. George Allen's budget, state universities (such as Virginia Tech) and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Federal income tax pays for President Clinton's salary, post offices and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Taxes don't pay for personal expenses for Clinton or Allen.
The MicroVillage government pays for itself by collecting fines for breaking rules, fees for business licenses and rent for space in the school's store, called The Marketplace. Revenue is also raised by special assemblies, auctions and raffles.
James Lavinder and Stephanie Pressley explained that in The Marketplace, pupils buy business licenses, and make items such as bracelets and sell them. They rent spaces in The Marketplace for six microdollars. Microdollars are worth 25 cents. There are no microcents in the MicroVillage.
The post office and the radio station are self-sufficient, too.
Jason Tyree said pupils get paid one microdollar weekly for classroom jobs such as recycling manager, floor monitor and board washer. Nguyen said jobs outside the classroom such as library helpers are paid positions. The pupils' wages aren't taxed.
April 15
Amy Wheeling was right when she said people pay taxes every year depending on how much money they earn (gross income). The more money they earn, the more they have to pay.
Jason Tyree said he watched his mom fill out her form after adding everything up on another sheet of paper.
Jeremiah Gills knew people must count the number of people who live in their house and the number of kids. Those are deductions, or a break on their tax bill.
In the United States, there have always been taxes. The first settlers paid taxes to England, believing they had to pay, but had no say in what the government did. Taxation without representation, as it was called, helped start the American Revolution.
And about a century later, on July 1, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a law that created a department designed to handle tax matters. It was called Internal Revenue. In 1953 the name was changed from the Bureau of Internal Revenue to the Internal Revenue Service.
It is true that the MicroVillage pupils won't be rushing to meet the tax deadline at midnight. They don't have to. But here's a tip for their parents from the IRS: Put the correct postage on the envelope before dropping it in the mail.
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