BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

Culpeper County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to refund more than $18,400 in personal property taxes to a charter bus owner, despite strong written objections from Commissioner of Revenue Terry Yowell.

David Messick owns Blue Ridge Bus Lines with his wife, Margie, a Culpeper County employee. He has argued that the buses were regularly parked on land he owns in Madison County, where he paid taxes at a lower rate.
Yowell, however, has maintained that those buses were parked at Messick’s home during 2006 and 2008  and were subject to taxes in Culpeper those years.

In a battle that has raged for almost two years, Messick finally took his appeal to Culpeper Circuit Court in October. The refund comes as part of a non-trial settlement.

The refund issue was originally part of the Board of Supervisors’ consent agenda, which would have allowed action without any discussion.

Supervisor Tom Underwood, however, had it removed from the consent agenda so it could be reviewed before a vote was taken.
“Our attorney doesn’t believe we have a good case,” Underwood explained to the spectators and the TV audience, adding that Messick had also paid taxes on the buses in Madison.

“This is not a question of law, but a question of fact,” County Attorney Roy Thorpe said of the case.

Thorpe added that the matter had been “fully debated” by the supervisors at a previous meeting.

“I don’t think it is in the best interest of Culpeper County to get into a protracted trial [with this case],” he added.
In other business, the board voted 6–1 to spend $21,000 to hire a Florida firm to do a classification and compensation study for the county. The recommendation from the personnel committee comes in the wake of the county’s recently losing  several key employees to the Town of Culpeper, where salaries are higher.

“They’re just going to tell us that we’re not paying enough,” said Underwood, who voted against the study.
Underwood said he preferred to just put the $21,000 in the salary pool. He also complained that the study might contribute to “more growth in government.”

Supervisor Steve Nixon, however, said that the study might save the county money because it could recommend  eliminating some positions and consolidating others.

“Sometimes it is a good thing to take a self-examination,” Nixon said.

In other action Tuesday, the board voted to:
Restructure its six-year road plan in order to make the most of limited Virginia Department of Transportation  funds.

Join Fauquier County in asking VDOT to reconsider its decision to build a new bridge and demolish the  existing, historic one over the Rappahannock River at Remington.
Build a privacy screen  in the Real Estate Assessor’s Office.

 Re-elect Bill Chase as its 2012 chairman and Sue Hansohn as vice-chairman.

Donnie Johnston:
djohnston@freelancestar.com