1953-04-15N2. O3
WHEREAS as a result of this delay the tax assessors for the County of Albe-
maple were not able to begin their work on January lst;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the BoArd of County Supervisors of Albe-
marle County, Virginia, that the State Department of Taxation be and is hereby re-
quested to grant an extension of thirty days to the citizens of Albemarle County,
Virginia, for the filing of tangible personal property tax returns.
Claims against the County amounting to $173,778.23 were presented, examined, and allowed and
certified to the Director of Finance for payment and charged a~ainst the following funds:
General Fund
School Fund
Dog Tax F~d
Crozet Fire District Fund
Crozet Sanitary District Fund
Joint Health Department Fund
School Construction Bond Fund
Albemarle Central High School Fund
Shop and Stores Construction Fund
Commonwealth of Virginia Current Credit Account
Total
$ 27,778.67
68,331.68
222.72
138.33
7,776.36
3,927.68'
6,388°58'
41,119.07
8,407.36~
$173,778.23
Upon motion, the meeting adjourned to reconvene at 2:30 P.M. on April 21~ 1953.
Chairman
April 15, 1953
In accordance with request of Mr. D. A. Robinson who has been requested by this Board to resig~
on or before J~me 30, 1953, a Public Hearing was held in the Court House on the above date at 7:30
with the following members present: Messrs. C. Purcell NcCue, E. H. Bain, Ho Ashby Harris, Edward L.
Smith, J. W. Williams and W. W. Wood.
The Commonwealth's Attorney outlined the procedure to be follow~ in this Hearing stating thai
Mr. Robinson and his counsel would require approximately one hour and that the public would be allotted
approximately one hour, giving persons who desired to speak approximately ten minutes each.
The Cle~x read the Board's resolution setting forth the bill of particulars.
Mr. Harry Michael, Attorney for Mr. D. A. Robinson, then addressed the Board and the public,
setting forth the reasons for this public hearing and presenting Mr. Robinson's case. Mr. Nichael gave
a lengthy talk touching upon Mr. Robinson's duties as required by law, and upon his ability to assess an~
collect taxes, and stated that the Board's statement did not give so£ficient reason for requesting Mr.
Robinson's resignation. He stated that so far as he could determine, the only reasonswhich had been give
were given by the Daily Progress as follows: (1) Taxation of StUdents in 949,
1 · (2) Garnishnnents; (3)
Changing of assessments without notice to the taxpayer; and (4) General dissatisfaction over the matter
of personal property assessments. After several comments on the foregoing reasons, ~r. Micha~!~called
upon Mr. Robinson to make a statement regarding these fo'~ reasons.
Mr. Robinson stated his cass on this matters in the order stated by Mr. Michael as follows:
(1) Mr. Robinson stated that he came to work for the County in 1948 in the middle of the
assessment year an6~ found many students filing and assuming their share of the tax buraen but requesting;
information as to why others were not. He stated that he made up his mind that if he were to carry out
obligations of his office he would prosecute the matter in fairness to all. He sought counsel of th~
the
Commonwealth's Attorney and the State Tax Commissioner and they had reached mutual agreement that the
personal property of students occupied the sams status as that of other persons.
(2) In the matter of garnishments he stated that to the best of his knowledge he had never
2O4
(3) As to changing personal property assessments without notice to the taxpayer, Mr. Robinson
stated t~hat this had been done as far bact: as 1936. He read an' excerpt from an Attorney General's opinic
giving Commissioners of Revenue power to change ret~trns for the purpose of uniformity.
(4) -In the matter of personal property assessments, he stated that he has a~tempted in every
way possible to carry out the policy of the Board and still treat all taxpayers fairly ~and alike.
Mr. Robinson concluded by stating that his prime consideration~ in accepting the position with
the County had been his interest in ~our form o.f local government and %hat he was-a% a loss~ to obtain a
clear understanding of the meaning of the bill of ~particulars. He~ stated that he had· been deeplh mind-
ful of public trust and~ had always tried to give the same ¢ou'~-tous service to all persons and that his
records stood open 'to inspect'ion and question.
Mr. H. Ashby Harris then mover that the the Board's confidence in Mr. Robinson be reaffirmed
and that Mr. Robinson remain County .Executive and Director of Finance, which motion was seconded by Mr.
W. W. Wood. The following is the re'corded vote on this motion:
Bain - No; H. Ashby HarriS - Yes; E. t~. Smith - No; J. W: Williams - No; W. W. Wood - Yes. Mr. McCu~
then cast. his vote as "No" for the sake of harmony-on the Board but stated that ~ did not concur in all
of the things that had been brought about against Mr. Robinson.
Mr. Gordon ScarbOroUgh of the State Tax Department appeared and ~6 to the Board and th~
Board ths splendid record which Mr. RobinSon had in connection with the' collection of State taxes.
There followed a lengthy discussion by members 0f the audience in which the following persons
were recognized by the Chairman and who expressed opinions and statements in favor of Mr. 'Robinson:
Mr. B. B. Moon, Mr. A. Gaines Fray, Mr. E. M. Allen, 'Mr. Cecil Maupin, Mr. Daniel Witt, Mrs. Alice
Hughes, Mr. E. J. Ballard, Mrs. Wiley Beal, Mr. Floyd Johnson, Mr. W. H. Brown, Mrs. Alice Kern, Mr.
W. P. Beal, Mrs. Dorothy Johnson, Mrs. R. L. Allen, Mr, Harry ~Grissinger, and several others. The
following persons also presented expressions not in Mr. Robinson".s favor: Mr, Morrison Willis, Mrs.
Morrison Willis and Mr. Joe Henley.
Mr. E. H. Bain Stated that it is never a pieas.a.m~ .task to ask a person to resign-and that-the
Board has acted only after serious consideration of all circumstances. He further stated that the Board
cannot be expected to ~etain-one who is dissatisfied, that the .official .family .of the County must wore
as a team and when an officer .won't work~ with the members it cannot function- as a team.
After giving everyone an opportunity to be heard, the 0hairman advised that-the hearing was
adjourned.