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Interest in collecting payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) from charitable nonprofit organizations is likely to grow as cash-strapped municipalities seek additional revenue, according to a new report by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. But cities and towns should collaborate with colleges, universities, medical facilities and other nonprofits that are exempt from paying property…
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review a ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that allows restrictions on alcohol-related advertising in college publications in Virginia. However, arguments against the restrictions will continue in the lower courts. “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court decided not to hear this important First Amendment…
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Emmett Toms of Dominion Power recently presented a grant awarded to the Valley Alliance for Education for Darrell Steege’s project, “Bobwhite Quail Restoration Conservation Project.” Stuarts Draft High School students will be working on this project, which will examine the role that land use has played in the decline of the bobwhite quail locally.
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“Cut My Taxes!” Americans have heard this cry for years – and we’ve heard it shouted angrily in recent months. We hear that we pay too much in taxes, that government makes poor use of our money, and that our prosperity would rise if only taxes would fall. But in reality our taxes have fallen…
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I have not endorsed any political or social movements coming out of the state of Florida in many years, but I have just learned of one that I can enthusiastically support: the Milk Party movement. I first learned about the Milk Party from an article by John Morgan, executive director of Voices for Virginia’s Children,…
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The so-called New START, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, is poised for an historic ratification vote in the Senate this year. Three more major international treaties are also lined up on President Obama’s ratification to-do list: the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and CEDAW,…
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After 11 years and an ACLU lawsuit, the Virginia Department of Corrections confirmed today that it was finally allowing prisoners with long hair or beards out of segregation. The ACLU lawsuit, filed in 2003 on behalf of Muslim and Rastafarian prisoners, claimed that DOC’s policy requiring inmates to be clean shaven and to keep their…
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As a certified public accountant and business owner, I know the impact of taxes up close and personal. And the claim that ending Bush-era tax cuts on income over a quarter of a million dollars will hurt the economy, reduce employment and burden small businesses is patently false. Let’s take a look at the evidence….
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A new program involving state government and a group of Virginia banks and credit unions aims at protecting consumers and financial institutions from fake-check scams. Sixty-one banks and credit unions participating in this effort will hand out a brochure created by Consumer Federation of America about fake-check scams and similar frauds to every consumer who…
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I’m still waiting for somebody to tell me why I’m wrong to think that we don’t need a federal Department of Education. Contrarian by nature that I am, I’ll give it the ol’ college try myself. Here’s my case against the Department of Ed in a nutshell: The money that makes its way from Washington…
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