THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 8, 1997 TAG: 9701080333
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 60 lines
Bobby Vaughan, the commissioner of revenue for the past 12 years, will not run for re-election in November and instead will return to work on his family's farm in Back Bay.
The 54-year-old commissioner, who helps oversee the city's taxing policies, said he will be eligible for retirement next year and that now is a good time to leave public life.
``I'm young and I still have this goal inside of me to do some things on the family farm,'' Vaughan said. ``I feel like if I don't do this now, I may never get the chance again and I will have wished I had.''
The Vaughan family owns about 1,300 acres in the southern reaches of the city - land that produces corn and livestock. It also contains about 1,000 acres of mostly virgin timber, a rarity in southeastern Virginia.
Vaughan said some of the timber is infested with the Southern pine beetle and unless it's harvested soon its value will decline.
``I can show you areas where a couple hundred trees are dead right now,'' he said. ``The beetles tend to hit the trees at a certain maturity and eventually kills them. When they attack, you can see the bark slipping from the top of the tree. When this happens, its value is diminished.''
Harvesting trees is time consuming, he said. His brother now runs the family farm.
``I came to work many years ago with the intent of working just a couple of years and go back to farming,'' Vaughan said. ``Thirty-two years later, I'm still here. Now I have the time and the service in, and next January I will be eligible for full retirement. It's something I've worked for a long time.''
The commissioner's job, essentially, is to put a monetary value on personal property, businesses, and items that fall under consumption-related taxes, such as those paid on meals. The City Council determines the tax rate, and the job of collecting the money falls to the city treasurer, John T. Atkinson.
The commissioner is one of five constitutional officers in Virginia. The other four are the sheriff, the treasurer, the commonwealth's attorney and the clerk of the circuit court.
Vaughan began working in the office in 1965 and became commissioner in 1985. He was appointed by the chief judge of Circuit Court after Ivan Mapp retired.
Although no immediate replacement candidates have announced their intentions for the fall election, the head of the Second District Democratic Committee said the likely new candidate will be Phil Kellam, who now works in the office.
Kenneth V. Geroe, chairman of the Second District Democratic Committee, said he has spoken to Kellam about running.
``I would think Phil would be a good candidate,'' he said. ``He has years of experience in the office. He knows how it operates. He knows its strengths, knows if there are areas where it needs improving because he's right there.''
Kellam was not available for comment.
The job of commissioner of the revenue has an annual salary of $90,000, including a car allowance, which is about $3,600. The office has 80 employees and a $3.6 million budget. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Bobby Vaughan
KEYWORDS: RETIREMENT