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County Issues
May 2010 - MEALS TAX
While the HOV membership is not unanimously in favor of a county-wide meals tax, several of us have committed to circulating a petition for referendum. Whether voters are in favor of this revenue generating method or not, signing the petition will allow the question on the ballot in November. Here is the question as stated on the petition:
“Shall the County of Accomack be authorized to levy a tax within the County, but not including the incorporated towns, on food and beverages sold for human consumption by restaurants and on prepared sandwiches and single meal platters sold at delicatessen counters, by grocery and convenience stores, in the amount of four percent (4%) of the amount charged for such food and beverages, in accordance with Virginia Code Section 58.1-3833 (1950 as amended) and that 100% of the revenue be used for the cost of education in Accomack County”
It will be necessary to collect the signatures of 10% of the registered voters in the county (approximately 2000) to make this referendum happen.
Some points to consider:
It is a “user tax”, not an across the board levy.
It will not be burdensome - on a $10 meal, the tax would be 40 cents.
It “levels the playing field” - there is already a meals tax in most of Accomack County’s incorporated towns, such as Chincoteague, Parksley, Onley and Onancock. If you eat at McDonalds in Onley you pay the 4% tax, but not at Hardees on Rte 13.
A good portion of revenue collected will come from tourists and passers-through, as businesses on Rte 13 and Rte 175 would charge the new tax. Royal Farms, Shore Stops, Food Lions, and Wal-Mart will be picked up.
The proceeds from this tax will be 100% designated for public education, which has been hit particularly hard by state budget cuts ($3 million this year alone).
It may eliminate the need for the county to constantly increase personal property and/or real estate taxes to cover budget shortfalls. For example, the town of Onley collects about $200,000 annually from their meals tax, which accounts for 50% of the town’s budget.
Those opposed to the meals tax say that it will mainly affect the elderly, handicapped, or working residents who regularly eat out. However, do people choose where to eat based on whether a meals tax is charged, or do they even know which businesses charge a meals tax??
Let’s allow the voters in Accomack County to decide. Please sign the petition, or even better, print one out and help collect signatures.
PETITION
UPDATE:
At their monthly meeting on June 16th, the Accomack County Board of Supervisors voted to allow a meals tax referendum to be placed on the ballot in November. After much discussion regarding the legality of allocating the revenue collected to education, and which types of foods would be included, the vote was unanimous to let residents of the county decide. It was also agreed that a campaign of public education, mainly through newspaper articles and ads, would be essential in providing all the facts voters would need in order to make an informed decision on this tax.
1/28/10 - Conversation for Future of Accomack County a Success
Establishing a vision for the future of Accomack County was the purpose of a meeting attended by nearly 200 people Tuesday evening, January 27th at Eastern shore Community College.
The process, called a "World Cafe", was authorized by the Accomack County Board of Supervisors and County Administrator Steve Miner did the legwork to make it a reality. The meeting was attended by residents from all over the county and included a cross-section of all economic and social groups. The two and a half hour exercise was facilitated by a Chestertown, Maryland group with expertise in this type of local planning. The meeting featured small group conversations regarding why we live here, what we like and dislike, and what we can do to make Accomack County a place of prosperity.
The information generated by the groups will be compiled and a report of the event will be available on-line within a couple of weeks. The report will be available at www.co.accomack.va.us/conversation . Radio station WESR (103.3FM) will announce when the report is available and will establish a link on their website, ShoreDailyNews.com.
Several members of the Accomack County Board of Supervisors were in attendance. Accomack County Board of Supervisors Chairperson Laura Belle Gordy said "It's great so many people could attend because our committee has really worked hard together, and I hope some people who have shared their dreams and ideas with us come to our meetings and refresh their memories so these ideas don't get put on a shelf."
It is hoped the World Café process will provide local government a very clear picture of how the citizens of Accomack County want to shape its future.
ISSUE: SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL IN ACCOMACK COUNTY:
On June 3, 2009, the Accomack County Board of Supervisors voted for a change to county code, making it a Class 3 misdemeanor to take solid waste generated or collected within Accomack County to any facility out of the county. A fine of $500 per day could also be levied. The driving force behind this ordinance is revenue loss, with a documented drop of approximately 10% in billable tonnage for both the North and South county landfills from May 2007 to May 2008. The current tipping fee of $66 per ton was debated, as well as the costs required to close the southern landfill in 2012, the northern landfill in 2016, and the subsequent 30 year monitoring mandated after closure.
Stewart Hall, Director of Public Works, suggested that some of the lost tonnage might be going to the newly opened transfer station in Northampton County, whose tipping fee is $55 per ton, or $11 per ton less than Accomack. Northampton which previously shipped its trash to Accomack resumed use of its own landfill in September of 2008.
HOV has concerns that the effects of our current recession, including decreased construction and business downturns, have not been factored in. We also do not like the fact that county businesses using disposal service providers may be unfairly penalized by this ordinance change, in that local haulers will be required to use county facilities when cheaper alternatives are available. As stated by Michael Davis, of Davis Disposal, "flow control creates a monopoly for the county, eliminating competition for disposal." Free enterprise is thus undermined. And while this ordinance may not increase tonnage coming into the two landfills, it may encourage more burning or roadside dumping of trash by county residents.
The vote was 6-3 in favor of the ordinance, with Supervisors Chesser, Mears, Wolff, Gray, Mallette, and Hart in favor and Supervisors Gordy, Thornton, and McCaleb voting against.
One suggested alternative - lowering the county's tipping fee to be more competitive with neighboring areas - should result in increased tonnage , thereby more completely filling the landfill cells prior to their mandated closures. This option, which might also result in increased revenue, has not been considered.
The VA Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) report follows:
Virginia solid waste report for 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2009
Contact: Krystal Coxon, DEQ
(804) 698-4399
krystal.coxon@deq.virginia.gov
RICHMOND, VA. -- The Department of Environmental Quality released its annual report today on solid waste management in Virginia. The report includes the amounts of solid waste managed in Virginia in 2008, and the amounts and sources of solid waste generated outside the Commonwealth.
The total amount of solid waste received at Virginia facilities during 2008 decreased by about 1.3 million tons (5.5 percent) from 2007. Solid waste includes municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris, vegetative and yard waste, and other types of waste. The total amount of solid waste from outside Virginia decreased by about 533,000 tons (7.5 percent) to about 6.6 million tons. The total amount from within Virginia decreased by 842,000 tons to about 15.4 million tons.
Other findings of the report include:
• Of the nearly 22 million tons of solid waste reported in 2008, about 15 million tons (68 percent) were municipal solid waste, which is trash from households and businesses.
• The total amount of municipal solid waste generated outside Virginia was 5.1 million tons, a decrease of about 518,000 tons (9.2 percent). Maryland, New York, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and New Jersey accounted for 97.3 percent of all waste received from out-of-state sources.
• Of the total solid waste reported in 2008, about 3.6 million tons (16.8 percent) were construction and demolition debris.
• Of the total solid waste managed in Virginia in 2008, about 14.4 million tons (79.3 percent) were disposed of in landfills, about 2.1 million tons (11.9 percent) were incinerated and the rest was managed by other means, including mulching and recycling.
The full solid waste report is available on the DEQ web site at www.deq.virginia.gov.
ISSUE: ACCOMACK COUNTY ELECTION/VOTING INFORMATION :
This is a great website (www.VPAP.org) for checking election turnout and contributions to candidates. FIRST click on the link for Election Initiative, then Compare Turnout 2008 v. 2004 . This will bring up a map - if you then click on Accomack County on the map of Virginia, it will bring up all elections for Accomack County Supervisors. You can then change the year with the pull-down menu where it lists 2011 to check any local election from 2004 through 2008. The last election was in 2007. Also, by clicking on any candidate's name you can view his/her major contributors for that particular election.
ISSUE: CREATION OF A PUBLIC SERVICE AUTHORITY (PSA) IN ACCOMACK COUNTY
While Hear Our Voices is NOT fundamentally opposed to the idea or purpose of a PSA, we feel that the Board of Supervisors should be more forthcoming in the provision of information to the public as regards the creation of this authority. Few details have been provided on feasibility, costs, initial service areas, or scope of services. Virginia Code (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+15.2-5100 ) allows an authority a broad scope of powers, including the right to issue bonds, borrow money, set rates and fees for services, and condemn property (eminent domain). It can set Directors’ salaries, hire and fire employees, and spend money collected in any manner it chooses. State code allows for services including water, sewer, sewage treatment and disposal, storm water control, garbage collection, or any combination of these.
Once an authority is created, it cannot be dissolved without its own consent, and unless the creating body (the Accomack County BOS) assumes any debt the PSA may have incurred. Given the broad scope of powers allowed by VA Code, this could be a major liability to the citizens of the County. And although the BOS might initially limit the PSA to one or two specific projects or service areas, their scope of authority could very easily be expanded by simple passage of a resolution by majority vote of the BOS. While future actions by the BOS should not be a deterrent in creation of a PSA, a recognizable voting bloc (5 votes) has existed for several years and this concerns us.
Virginia Code also specifies that articles of incorporation shall include “preliminary estimates of capital costs, proposals for any specific projects to be undertaken, and preliminary estimates of initial rates for services” where practicable. The Board of Supervisors has deemed it “not practicable” to include such information in its resolution. In an economic state where taxes are being substantially increased and Accomack County is operating with almost no reserves, we feel that it is fiscally irresponsible to proceed without this data..
HOV recognizes that water and sewer services are especially critical in the mid-Accomack County area encompassing Onley, Onancock, and the IDA Park in Melfa. New businesses and those seeking to expand have been negatively impacted by a deficiency of such services. This part of the County has been advocated as a “service area” for the PSA, but subsequent extension of service areas have not been defined.
Additionally, HOV is strongly opposed to three of the five initial Directors named to the PSA. Steven B. Miner, County Administrator, Stewart Hall, Director of Public Works, and Jane Corson-Lassiter, Director of the Eastern Shore Soil and Water Conservation District. These three hold full-time positions, with salary and benefits packages paid with taxpayer dollars. They have responsibility to oversee many other employees and are accountable to the public for work done by themselves and those employees. It has been stated many times, that the Directors will not initially be paid and that 18-20 hours per week of volunteered time will be required. We cannot understand how this would be possible and believe the taxpayers deserve better accountability for their money. Also, while no elected office is involved and a PSA is supposed to operate outside the political arena, it is hard to imagine that political influence could completely be eliminated with such appointees.
PUBLIC HEARING TO BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009 at 7:30PM at the ARCADIA MIDDLE SCHOOL in OAK HALL.
Petition
UPDATE:
A public hearing was held on April 22nd, and there were speakers on both sides of this issue. Information on all options for provision of water and sewer services was presented by County Administrator Steve Miner and the Board of Supervisors agreed in a controvertial move, not to vote on incorporation of the PSA that night. Instead, they decided to interview candidates for the PSA from among the previously submitted applications at a work session on May 11th. It was also agreed that more information should be provided to the public, although a public referendum was not considered.
It was also disclosed that early in May, Board of Supervisors Chair Steve Mallette and members of the Utility Cost Committee met with the Accomack County Farm Bureau - a meeting which many consider illegal. County Attorney Mark Taylor is reviewing this matter and is expected to render a decision soon. Since this meeting, the Farm Bureau which previously stated its support for a public referendum on the PSA, has changed its position because they were promised a seat on this authority.
HOV has expressed concern that appointees to the PSA not be political, in order to be able to manage water and sewer services in a fair and equitable manner.
HOV advises county residents to continue seeking information on the powers Virginia Code allows a public service authority (including the setting of rates and fees, availability of services, eminent domain) and to question their supervisor's position on this issue.
ISSUE: 2008 and Future Tax Assessments
HOV takes the position that the 2008 tax assessment performed by Tri-County Appraisals was flawed.
Standards of appraisal practice apparently were not employed and uniformity was not achieved. We would like to see legal action taken, to recoup approximately $900,000., of taxpayer money that was paid to this firm and we support having our County Assessor and his staff perform all future assessments. A tax appeal was made in court by our Commonwealth Attorney on behalf of the tax payers. The judge dismissed it on a point of law, so it seems we can only continue to try to help property owners with the Board of Equalization. A long and frustrating process.
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