Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 14, 1991                   TAG: 9104120341
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-19   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: JOE TENNIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

RADFORD STUDENTS WHO PARK IN CITY MUST PAY TAX ON CARS

Reciting Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia on Taxation, Cassie Turner said personal property taxes must be paid where a vehicle is principally parked.

Cars do not necessarily have to be registered with the Division of Motor Vehicles in the city of Radford. That means a student's registration can remain in their parents' name, Turner said.

"People think they have to pay personal property where it's registered and that is not state code."

Radford City Council discussed encouraging college students to pay personal property taxes in Radford rather than their hometowns at its March 25 meeting.

Bonnie Hurlburt, Radford's dean of students, said paying the tax rate in Radford would help out the city. "One way or another, the city has to generate revenue."

Turner is requesting of council that the city's new personal property tax rate be $2.14 per $100 of valuation - making one of the lowest rates in the state.

"If parents knew the rate was lower, they would be more prone to voluntarily pay the tax here," she said.

A controversy concering the personal property tax arose earlier this year in the college town of Lexington. Some Washington and Lee University students said they would rather park their cars outside city limits than pay Lexington's rate, which at $5.50 per $100 valuation is one of the highest in the state.

But this does not seem to be the case in Radford, according to interviews with some students.

"I've got no problem helping out with it," said Jeff Buchanan, a senior from Hampton, where the rate is more than twice Radford's - $4.40 per $100. Buchanan said he never considered paying the tax in Radford since his car is registered in his parents' name.

Other students also said they thought the tax had to be paid where a vehicle was registered with the DMV, not where it's principally parked.

Jennifer Bowers, president of Radford's Student Government Association, said Radford students should take advantage of the low rate. Bowers called paying the tax to Radford "a wise thing to do . . . I think people may go hyper at first until they understand that it is a savings."

After paying the tax in Radford, students or their parents should inform the tax office in their hometown that the tax has been paid, Turner said. That way, the personal property would not be double-assessed by two localities.

Students or residents who have questions about the personal property tax rate in Radford should call Cassie Turner at 731-3613.