Blacksburg among towns named in suit

The Town of Blacksburg is one of numerous municipalities facing a class-action suit for the way they classify businesses for taxing purposes.

The complaint is brought by the S.C. Self Storage Association and S.C. Association of Personnel and Staffing, individually and on behalf of all members and entities similarly situated. In the complaint, it refers to the methods the Town of Blacksburg uses to calculate the business license fee rate as random, arbitrary, and capricious.

Continued from Page 1A Municipal Association of South Carolina (MASC) Executive Director Howard Duvall Jr. said the MASC has contacted the plaintiff's attorneys and requested a list of all municipalities being named in the suit. He said similar complaints have been filed against South Carolina cities and towns in 35 counties and the total number of municipalities named may reach into the hundreds.

The MASC has recommended the rate system used by these municipalities. MASC has hired Columbia attorney Danny Crowe of the Turner, Padgett, Graham and Laney Law Firm to represent the MASC and its member cities like Blacksburg.

"The suit challenges the methods used to classify businesses for taxing purposes under the business license," Duvall said, adding that the MASC is studying the suit further.

Blacksburg Town Clerk Dell Bagwell said the "Standard Industrial Classification" (SIC) rate system used by the town is "legal, well written and has passed the test for all these years."

The SIC ordinance was passed in 1991 and business license rates in Blacksburg have not been raised since.

Currently, business license fees are based on ability to pay and national averages of gross sales by business types and are calculated and renewed yearly.

The plaintiffs are represented by the Lewis and Babcock, L.L.P., and the Beard Law Offices.