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Beach's taxman wants to do away with city stickers
VIRGINIA BEACH - If Phil Kellam has his way, waiting in line for a city car decal will one day be just an unhappy memory.
Kellam, the city's Commissioner of the Revenue, said Wednesday that the stickers are outdated and unnecessary, but the city's chief financial officer isn't so sure.
"There's really not a need for them anymore," Kellam said. "I stopped using the decals for the prime source of taxing."
Kellam's vow to scrap the decals coincided with his announcement on Monday to run for re-election. He was elected in 1997, and has been working in the tax office since 1982.
The city collects about $7.5 million in property taxes each year through the decal program, Virginia Beach Finance Director Patricia Phillips said.
Residents generally either pay their taxes through the mail and receive a sticker and a receipt, or they do it in person. Phillips said that eliminating the decal program might cost the city money although how much is unclear.
"We are looking at various alternatives," Phillips said, "but we have not determined how we're going to do it and what the impact will be."
City stickers were created decades ago as a receipt to signify the registration of a taxpayer's personal property and payment of taxes.
Kellam said he's been depending on information collected by the state to verify tax payments for a while. Making citizens submit the same information to the city and state is redundant, he said. Eliminating decals would shed a layer of bureaucracy, he said.
If Kellam gets his way, it would mean an end to the dreaded annual ritual for motorists who neglect to get their decals and must stand in line on deadline day to bring their records up to date.
"You'll save some time for sure," he said.
Kellam said he relished being able to tell people the car sticker might be history. As a tax commissioner, he said, it was rare to have good news.