Published: May 08, 2008 11:23 pm      

Supervisors back to the drawing board on meals tax referendum

TAZEWELL, Va. — A vote taken Thursday by the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors wiped all language, including a provision to fund Pocahontas High School, from a proposed meals referendum, creating the possibility that a new version of it could be put before voters during the November general election.

The supervisors voted by three to one during a special called meeting to delete all the language from the tax referendum after Supervisor Seth R. White made a motion to do so and Vice Chairman Bill Wimmer seconded it. White, Wimmer, and Supervisor David R. Anderson voted to approve the motion. Supervisor Mike Hymes voted against it. Chairman Bill Rasnick did not attend the meeting.

The referendum had included a measure to provide money from the tax to help fund Pocahontas High School for an additional two years. However, during Thursday’s meeting, Anderson read aloud letters indicating that the Tazewell County Board of Education, which has voted to close PHS at the end of the school year, and the Tazewell Education Association, did not support the tax.

Thursday’s special meeting was called to address the referendum’s wording, said County Attorney Eric Young. On April 1 the supervisors voted to request a 5 percent meals tax, but Virginia state code allows only 4 percent. The fact the tax would be a food and beverage tax, not a meals tax, had to be clarified, too.

With the supervisors’ vote Thursday, the referendum is now “a blank piece of paper,” Young said. The supervisors could bring up the referendum and its wording again during their June 3 meeting, he said.

Anderson said during the meeting that he wanted to take more time to study the tax and “do it right.” White, who said he opposed the meals tax, said the county needed to look at other areas of funding. A special vote on the referendum would cost the county $25,000, he said.

“I am 100 percent for a prepared meals tax,” Wimmer said. “Place it on the ballot and let the people decide. The county needs an additional revenue stream. From what I understand from the school board, they are closing Pocahontas High School. I don’t agree with that, but we still need the revenue to help subsidize education.”

Revenue from a meals tax would make more budget money available for other needs such as roads and the sheriff’s department, Wimmer said.

Hymes said he was concerned that putting off the vote until the November election, which would require federal approval taking 60 to 90 days to arrive, would reduce the chances of getting the tax. An alternative such as raising property taxes would place burdens on farmers and other landholders in the county’s southern district, he said.

“I’m really trying to help education,” Hymes said. The money could help fund teacher pay raises, he said.

Attorney T. Shea Cook objected to members of the public being unable to address the supervisors. The supervisors consulted Young, who said additional business could not be brought on the agenda without Rasnick being there to vote. Cook said not allowing public comment was a violation of the Virginia Constitution.

“The people have the right speak,” Cook said. “It’s their money, it’s their business.”

Pocahontas residents said they would continue working to keep their school open.

“I think the only recourse is legal now,” Pocahontas Treasurer Greg Jones said. “There were a lot of errors made and we would certainly like a judge to take a look at them.”

Five parents of Pocahontas High School students have filed a petition of judicial review that dubbed the school board’s decision to close PHS as “arbitrary, capricious” and “an abuse of discretion.” The parents argue there was no valid financial reasons to close the school and that no public hearing on closing the school was held.

David Woodard, the school board’s northern district member, said that if the subsidy for Pochanotas High School is removed from the referendum, then the voters in Pocahontas, Abbs Valley and Bossevain will unanimously not allow it to pass.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com