The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-01-04
NEWS OF SOUTH RICHMOND
ADVERTISEMENTS NEWS RICHMOND
TUNsTAxL
SOUTH RICHMOND
FINANCE COMMITTEE
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viii begin to reach Richmond tomor-
row morning, and Wednesday at noon
the work will begin. The General AZ
sembly begins Wednesday week, jan
uary 10.
One Of the questions over which
opposing factions in the General AS
sembly will lock horns wien it con-
Venes to act on the question of tax
revision will be the matter OF the
number of Comml ssioners of revenue
to II county or city.
The report of the special tax COM
mission which will form the basis of
The bills enacted by the General As
sembiy recommends the abolition of
al but one commissioner of revenue
in each county and city In the State.
There s,lould not he more than one
commissioner of revenue in any
county or city in the State" says the
report. The number OF commits
2.Qner is not fixed by the constitution,
but by the act of the General AS
sembly with the result that while all
The cities and many OF the counties
have only one. there are otaer counties
chat have four or five comm lssioners.
and some have as many as six. In
the latter counties the number seems
to have been fixed with no regard to
the amount OF the work to be done.
and merely with view to providing
places for as many men as possible"
Where the Fight Comes.
There's the rub. Those having the
places and their friends Will fight.
of course, against the abolition OF the
surplus offices. The tax commission
believes these offices worse than USE
less and recommends their abolition,
ht. ,ttfan hold fhpp. 10
gard them az useless, not do their
friends and they are many and power
full. Naturally, therefore, there will
be strong opposition in the General
Assembly to the adoption OF the
recommendation OF the commission,
ana when the question comes up there
is Poing to be fight
If the recommendation OF the COM
mission be adopted and the surplus
commissi toner's be eliminated Ill Of
flee holders will lose their jobs. for
while there are 100 counties and
nineteen cities in the State having
commissioners of revenue, there are
230 commissioners.
Counties mostly affected, and whose
delegates are likely to be subjected
to the greatest pressure to induce
them to vote against the recommended
ton of the commission, are as foi.
lows
Augusta. Bedford. Campbell, Caro-.
.line, Carroll. Buchanan, Fairfax.
Fauquier. Franklin. Grayson, Han-
over. Lee. Louduun. Louisa. Patrick,
Pittsylvanla. Rockbridge. Rocking
ham. Shenandoah. Smyth, spossyi-
vania, Tazewell
Those With Two.
All Of these have three or more
commissioners of revenue, In addition
TO which the counties OF Accomac.
Albemarle, Amherst. Bath. Bland,
Botetourt. Brunswick. Buckingham.
Charlottem. Chesterfield. Culpeper,
Cumberland. Dickinson. Dinwiddie,
Floyd. Fluvanna, Frederick. Grayson,
Madison. Mecklenburg. Montgomery.
Nansemond. Nelson, Norfolk. Motto.
way. Orange. Prince william. Roa-
noke. Russell. Scott, Southampton.
Sussex. Washington. Wythe. and the
cities of Newport News and Roanoke
have two commissioners OF revenue.
In otner words sixty of the 100
counties and two of the nineteen cities
have more than one commissioner of
the revenue. which means that IN
sixty counties and t~so cities from ono
to five men will lose their offices, II
the tax commissions rUcommenda-
ton be adopted.
That means this feature Of the re-
port will be bitterly fought Thes
comprehensive bill prepared by Sen.
ator Joan A. Lesner, of Norfolk, as
"a substitute for those recommended
by the commission, does not provide
FOR the abolition of the surplus Of
fees. The only reference made to the
excessive number of commissioners In
some counties is found in the clause
providing for the creation Of fha
local tax boards. That clause pro.
v'des that the board shall consist OF
the treasurer, the commissioner of
the revenue and one other qualified
citizen to be named by the court and
adds:
I'm the case of those counties ana
cities which have more than one
commissioner OF the revenue, the one
To serve hereunder shaft be designated
by the said court
In other words. Senator L@sner's
bill contemplates the retention Of all
the present Offices. The bill, II de-
sirable of course. can be amended
so as to eliminate those oficss.
1t can IL the votes can be secured.
Few Comparisons.
II Is noteworthy fact that the
amount of conn missions paid COM
missioners OF the revenue for assessing
taxes is not always in accordance with
the number OF commissioners That
IL to say. counties having more than
one commissioner do not always pay
more taxes than those having one
commiss' oner, and tnose having a
large number do not always pay in
proportion. 4 few examples will
illustrate:
The County Of Allegheny has three