DATE: Wednesday, July 16, 1997              TAG: 9707160461

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   61 lines

REVENUE OFFICIALS SCOFF AT GILMORE'S PROPOSAL THEY SAY OTHER TAXES WOULD HAVE TO COVER LOSS OF REVENUE FROM PERSONAL PROPERTY.

It may appeal to voters and make a good sound bite, but a proposal by Republican gubernatorial nominee James S. Gilmore III to abolish the tax Virginians pay on autos would be disastrous, some local government officials said Tuesday.

``The bottom line is that he's playing to what people want to hear, but he is not addressing the impact,'' said Bob Vaughan, the commissioner of the revenue for Virginia Beach. ``It's a populist idea that's really going to play out to be a disadvantage to Virginia taxpayers in the long run.''

Vaughan joined fellow Democratic office holders from Norfolk and Isle of Wight County for a news conference on the steps of Norfolk's City Hall, part of a statewide effort begun to denounce Gilmore's proposal as unrealistic.

Gilmore's rival for governor, Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr., encouraged local officials to launch the campaign, and provided ``talking points'' on the issue, officials said.

Gilmore supporters dismissed the effort as hot air.

``This is the same crowd that in 1993, when George Allen was running for governor, said parole abolition wouldn't work and that welfare reform wouldn't work. Well, they are working,'' said state Sen. Edward L. Schrock, R-Virginia Beach, chosen by the Gilmore campaign to respond. ``It's just a clear difference in philosophy. We want to see the hard-working people of Virginia share in some of the commonwealth's prosperity.''

Gilmore's tax-relief proposal is shaping up as a major issue of this fall's race for governor. He wants to abolish personal property taxes over a five-year period on automobiles costing up to $20,000.

Personal property taxes rank behind only real estate taxes in importance as a source of revenue, generating $1.2 billion across Virginia in 1996, based on information officials released Tuesday.

Eliminating that source, Vaughan and others said, would mean other taxes or fees would have to be raised to recover the loss.

Currently, personal property taxes pump about $55 million into Virginia Beach's coffers annually and about $26 million into Norfolk's.

``This would shift the burden to home owners and the middle class in Virginia,'' said Gerald Gwaltney, commissioner of the revenue for Isle of Wight County.

Gilmore's plan counts on economic growth to generate enough new money to reimburse the localities. But that's an overly rosy assumption, said Sam T. Barfield, Norfolk's commissioner of the revenue.

``There's no guarantee the state would have that money,'' Barfield said.

``What Mr. Gilmore's saying is extreme, and we don't need an extremist elected governor,'' said Joe Fitzpatrick, Norfolk's treasurer.

Fitzpatrick offered a counterproposal: If Gilmore wants to end the personal property tax, fine. Just give localities all of the sales taxes they generate to make up the difference. Now, localities get only a portion of the sales taxes they collect. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot

Sam T. Barfield, commissioner of the revenue, center, and Joe

Fitzpatrick, city treasurer, left, gather for a news conference

Tuesday at Norfolk City Hall.

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