CALLANDER: Democrat supervisors firm on BPOL

One thing you can say about the new Democratic-controlled Stafford County Board of Supervisors: They faced a raging line of fire recently with dignity and resolve.

Despite repeated threats from business owners and from partisan Republicans, the Democrats did what they thought was best for the community. They passed a new and different business tax, BPOL. Whether you agree or disagree, you’ve got to hand it to them; they didn’t base their decision on political expedience.

In 2007, then Supervisor Jack Cavalier, I-Griffis-Widewater, had told the board that discussion of BPOL (Business and Professional Occupational License) would be too contentious for an election year and asked the board to hold off until after the November 2007 election.

Members of the current board who voted to schedule a public hearing on BPOL for several months later - Chairman George Schwartz, D- Falmouth; Bob
Woodson, D-Griffis-Widewater; Harry Crisp, D-George Washington; and Joe Brito, I-Hartwood - have spent the summer in a frying pan because they had the courage to bring up the subject.

It seems that not long after the Democrats took control of the board in November, Republicans decided that BPOL was an issue they could nail them on. The
business community was mobilized with the goal of maintaining Stafford as the region’s only jurisdiction without BPOL.

Apparently the Republicans thought a full-court press would wear down the voting bloc, which includes Brito, who has always been a proponent of low taxes.

Letters and huge ads appeared in newspapers. E-mail and voice mailboxes were jammed. Supervisors made public appearances to scare businesses and residents about BPOL. Supervisor Paul Milde, R-Aquia, sent out a controversial e-mail letter.

Dozens of business owners turned out for the public hearing, where Milde bluntly stated that he thinks BPOL is a Republican verses Democrat issue.

He claimed that the Democratic supervisors had a closed mind on the topic while he and his Republican cohorts wore “no BPOL” stickers at the public hearing.

Weirdly inappropriate.

Milde also managed to tell supervisor Woodson, a retired economist from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that he didn’t know how to do math, and Mark Dudenhefer (R-Garrisonville) complained that the supporters of BPOL didn’t know anything about economics.

While the campaign against BPOL was aggressive, the county staff did a poor job of explaining the proposal. Information sessions, explicit handouts and
PowerPoint presentations should have been used to help the public get a complete picture.

Scott Mayausky, the Republican commissioner of revenue, even showed up at the hearing without his calculator, making it difficult for him to answer questions.

After the 4-3 vote in favor of enacting BPOL, Cord Sterling (R-Rock Hill) moved that the proceeds brought by BPOL’s passage go toward transportation funding.

Milde seconded Sterling’s motion and it passed 7-0.

But wait! Now Milde has circulated a letter to “taxpayers” criticizing the Democrats for earmarking all the funds for transportation and providing nothing for parks and recreation or education. He said they voted 4-3 to do so. The letter also indicated that Brito is a Democrat, though he actually ran and was elected as an Independent.

Some facts: Based on Virginia law, BPOL is a community’s only means for licensing businesses. Once licensing occurs, localities can levy a tax on different categories of business based on the gross receipts of that business in any given year.

Licensing allows us to know who sets up shop here. Wouldn’t reputable firms feel better about doing business in a community that requires a license?

The supervisors can and should make sure the rates are fair.

They did give special care to protect small businesses. A small retail business grossing $500,000, for example, would only pay $240 in BPOL taxes. The state requires that with passage of BPOL the current Merchant’s Capital Tax be eliminated.

One of the main advantages of BPOL is to capture a percentage of revenues that corporate giants like Target or Wal-Mart take in from county sales. The “big guys” expect to support the county here just as they do in other locales across the country.

BPOL provides for diverse revenue sources with the ultimate goal of taking the burden off homeowners. That’s a good thing.

Alane Callander is a south Stafford resident active in many local causes. Reach her at info@staffordcountysun.com.