Minutes 04/15/1958 - Laserfiche WebLink

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r , ~ REPORT OF THE TAX STUDY ADVJBCRY GROUP FOR THE CITY OF iiARTINSVILLE, VffiGINIA November 12, 1955 To The i1ayor and City Council of the City of Hartinsville, Virginia: Gentlemen: r. f Your Tax Study Advisory Group was appointed by the Mayor by letter dated August 26, 1954 with instructions therein contained, lIin order that Council may determine anew whether all segments of our citizenry are receiving equitable treatment Yfith respeot to tax requ:.reroonts, II to report whether business classifications in the present ordinance are equitable from a tax spread relationship. Your COIlunittee has met on several occasions, and has heard long and ardent discussions by various individuals and groups. The Comrnittee has assembled, as best it could, inforrnation and statistics from various sources. The Committee has attempted to assemble and digest this information and knowledge and, of necessity, has heard discussions of many pha.ses of the city's economic status and activity as related to the assessment of taxes anc the raising of revenue for city governmental purposes. One of the characteristics of the rals::.nQ; of revenue is a beginning vlith an arbitrary figure. The Comnittee has some knowledge of the history of this city's embarkation upon the plan of license tax assessnent in 1947. One of the striking features about the begimling of the tax "ras the arbitrary establishment of figures in many instances, and your Conunittee feels this must be indulged in to some extent in almost all attempts to set a series of license tax rates to be established as a plan. Your Connnittee is somewhat startled by the fact that the City of Martinsville, by its ovm published information of reliable fig;urcs obtained from the State Chamber of Commerce, shows that the cities of the Commonwealth are dvided into four groups reflecting the true tax rate on real estate in the state of Virginia, and by these figures l1artinsville is in the lovrest group with a true tax rate on property of $.68 per $100.00 fair market value- while Martinsville, by available figures, is in many instances by far the hiGhest city in the state with its license tax rate on business, trades and professions carried on in this city. The figures show that Martinsville raises annually from all its real estate $453,000.00 -- this is the revenue derived from 5,331 homes and business sites; while at the same time the city raises from 924 businesses, trades and professions $223,764.00. The total property tax in Martinsville is $633,000.00, which includes $160,000.00 tax on personal property, which includes machinery and tools, inventories and supplies of businesses and manufacturers. The amount of property tax received from public service companies such as railroads, telephone companies, etc., is $20,000.00. The entire revenue from all property in the city is $633,000.00; while the entire revenue from the 924 license ta."'Ces, which number is only the number whose license taxes are based on gross revenue, is equal to $223,764.00. Thus, it is seen that Martinsville imposes an unusually high license tax burden on those subject to this type of tax in proportion to the amount of tax borne by the O\vners of property of all kinds. This Committee finds it difficult to be happy with this state of circumstances. Why, for instance, should the City of Martinsville be bracketed with communities like Buena Vista, Falls Church, Colonial Heights and Radford in the property tax bracket, while its license tax provisions in some (1)