DATE: Tuesday, July 22, 1997                TAG: 9707220081

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   67 lines

BEYER'S TAX-CUT PLAN GETS BACKING TO TOP LEGISLATORS KEY DEMOCRATS CALL THE PLAN "WORKABLE," SAY THEY CAN GET IT THROUGH ASSEMBLY.

Some of the most powerful Democrats in Virginia's General Assembly on Monday embraced a tax-cutting plan on cars and trucks unveiled Saturday by their party's gubernatorial nominee, Donald S. Beyer Jr.

The legislators, who joined Beyer at a news conference at Norfolk International Airport, predicted that the legislature would approve Beyer's proposal for a state tax credit of as much as $250 for low- and middle-income families.

Del. Thomas W. Moss Jr., D-Norfolk, who is speaker of the House, described it as a ``doable, workable program.''

``I've never met anyone who liked the personal property tax - I don't like it,'' Moss said. ``I'm sure we can get (Beyer's plan) through the General Assembly.''

Joining Moss were Del. Alan Diamonstein, D-Newport News, a ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee; Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk, chairman of the legislature's black caucus and senior member of the House finance committee; and Del. Flora Crittenden, D-Newport News.

Beyer unveiled his proposal during a debate Saturday with Republican rival James S. Gilmore III, who had keyed his campaign around a plan to abolish the unpopular tax on personal vehicles valued at up to $20,000.

The surprise announcement by Beyer, who spent months attacking Gilmore's plan as unrealistic, virtually guarantees that relief from the personal property tax will be on the agenda of Virginia's next governor.

On Monday, the two rivals took to the road to hold dueling news conferences, wasting no time in launching new lines of political attack.

While Beyer was in Norfolk touting his plan as the ``honest, responsible, real way'' to cut personal property taxes, Gilmore was in Roanoke denouncing it as a ``tax scam.''

Beyer estimates that his plan would cost $202 million a year. Gilmore estimates that his own proposal, which would be phased in over five years, would cost $620 million a year by the fifth year. However, local government groups have projected that Gilmore's proposal would cost up to $1.3 billion a year after fully phased in.

Beyer on Monday called his plan more affordable than Beyer's and said that ``it doesn't touch local governments.'' Localities would continue collecting the tax, while the state would pay for the tax break with a tax credit - $250 for families with an adjusted gross Virginia income of up to $75,000 or $150 for individuals earning up to $40,000.

Gilmore, by contrast, calls for abolishing the tax altogether on vehicles valued at $20,000 or less. The state would reimburse localities to make up for the loss of tax dollars.

Both plans rely on economic growth to pay for the tax relief.

Local government officials have criticized Gilmore's plan, voicing pessimism that the state would - or even could - pay them dollar-for-dollar the tax revenue they'd lose. The constitutionality of eliminating a tax reserved to local governments also has been questioned.

The Virginia Municipal League, which represents the state's local governments, has opposed Gilmore's plan. On Monday, Mike Amyx, executive director of the league, said the league's initial reaction to Beyer's plan is ``favorable.''

``The Beyer approach doesn't involve replacing local dollars, and that, to us, is very favorable,'' Amyx said.

Even so, Amyx said there are concerns about eliminating hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.

``We look at the pent-up demands, whether for transportation or schools,'' Amyx said. ``Theoretically, every new dollar spent on this could be spent on programs beneficial to local governments and their citizens.''

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