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Will this new tax help? That's the question

August 20, 2008 12:15 am

YES, it's true that Stafford County could use more money, but shouldn't the first question addressed by Henry Scharpenburg in his 0p-ed supporting the Business Professional Occupational License tax ["Don't slam supervisors! Let's talk rationally," Aug. 14] have been, "How do we know that BPOL will result in a net gain in revenue?"

As many readers now know, at 3:30 a.m on July 2, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors voted to levy a new tax on the gross receipts of most businesses in Stafford.

The new tax will be collected in January 2010 and will be assessed on businesses gross receipts for the calendar year 2009. A $200,000 exemption applies to all gross receipts.

Also part of the 4-3 vote was that all proceeds from BPOL tax be dedicated to transportation, and not a penny to education or parks and recreation. The supervisors who voted in favor of this tax are Joe Brito (an Independent), George Schwartz (Democrat), Harry Crisp (Democrat), and Bob Woodson (Democrat).

Even though BPOL is now part of Stafford's tax code, it is not too late to correct this momentous mistake. In November of 2009, four supervisors' seats will be decided in elections. If three of those positions are filled by people opposed to BPOL, regardless of party affiliation, we can reverse this decision before its full detrimental effect is delivered to our economic welfare.

Let me set the scene for you that night. By the time the 7 p.m. Board of Supervisors session had begun, the largest crowd ever had assembled at the County Administration Building. The fire marshal stopped allowing people into the board chambers after around 160 people had arrived. The overflow was directed to other areas of the building where televisions were set up with live feeds to the board proceedings. Our fire marshal's count revealed that nearly 350 attendees had come to speak on the BPOL issue.

After a brief description of BPOL and a series of questions from board members, the hearing was open to the public. By the time the last speaker had spoken it was past 3 o'clock. Wednesday morning on July 2.

A tally of the speakers in favor of BPOL was 17, those uncertain 2 and those opposed 87. (Of course, by 3 a.m., many attendees had left before having been allowed to speak.)

This overwhelming 83 percent opposition to BPOL was indicative of the opinion of those who had come and did not have a chance to speak as well. This was evident because nearly every person in the building who opposed the BPOL tax was wearing a "NO BPOL" sticker. That's right, 300 people showed up to speak against BPOL and only a few dozen to speak in favor.

The testimony against BPOL was diverse, and many stories were told by business owners having troubled times. Heart-wrenching pleas were made to the three Democrats and one Independent on the board not to do this now, when our economic situation is especially gloomy.

Many speakers explained that a $200,000 exemption was of little consequence because they had gross sales well over that figure but were still not making enough profit to make ends meet. Business owners explained that in many cases this new tax would be passed right back to you, the consumer.

We also learned that jurisdictions like Falls Church, Virginia Beach, and Albemarle County were trying to phase out their existing BPOL because they have discovered it is a limit on economic growth whose cost outweighs the benefit. In other words they have discovered that BPOL doesn't provide a net gain in revenue.

What we did not hear from anyone, including staff or board members, was any economic analysis indicating that BPOL revenues would make up for revenues lost by the deterrent to business growth sure to be caused by BPOL. In fact, we confirmed that no economic analysis at all had been done on the overall effect of BPOL to the county.

After nearly eight hours of testimony from Stafford residents and Stafford business owners, the public hearing was closed to speakers and the discussion came back to the board. Over the objections of Cord Sterling (Republican), Mark Dudenhefer (Republican), me (Republican), and nearly all of the attendees to the public hearing, the other supervisors still insisted on imposing BPOL on our residents and businesses.

Even at 3 a.m., our board chamber was still filled with disappointed residents who believe that they wasted their time speaking to these board members who endured their testimony only because of a legal obligation.

In their final speeches, the pro-BPOL supervisors did not address the many concerns voiced by the public but, just as Mr. Scharpenberg did, chose only to focus on the need for more tax revenue.

We need to be sure that we have people leading our county who understand basic economics and who are willing to listen to their constituents.

Paul Milde represents the Aquia District on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.