FREDERICKSBURG — A Fredericksburg judge on Monday allowed the U.S. National Slavery Museum more time to prepare its challenge to the city’s efforts to sell off the museum’s property to pay off more than $300,000 in back taxes.
The city had asked for the hearing in order to get permission to sell off the 38-acre parcel of land off Interstate 95 that was donated in 2002.
Del. Joseph D. Morrissey, D-Henrico, who said he was hired as the museum’s lawyer last week, requested a delay because he only recently started representing the museum.
Circuit Judge Gordon F. Willis rescheduled the hearing for May 28.
Morrissey also argued that the tax bill is incorrect based on a recent appraisal of the property.
The city has assessed the property at $7.63 million, but an appraisal done in January values the property at $1.7 million. The change is due, in part, to a series of restrictions that limit how the property can be used.
Morrissey said it was “unconscionable” that the city would proceed to recoup taxes based on the previous assessment, and that he would not allow former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the museum’s founder, to be “kicked around.”
Asked if the museum could pay a discounted tax bill if a judge agreed with his client, Morrissey said he could not discuss the issue.
Fundraising for the museum project, attorneys say, has been hampered by notoriety from the court cases.
John Rife, a partner with Chesterfield County law firm Taxing Authority Consulting Services which is representing Fredericksburg in the matter, said the appraisal was done not as a tax assessment but to determine the value of the property in order to sell it.
But despite the potential selloff and a pending federal lawsuit, the museum’s attorneys claim that plans for a National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg are alive and well.
“The governor continues to see this project as [viable], and the goal is to see it to fruition,” Morrissey said, referring to Wilder.
Wilder, who appeared in court and shook hands with bystanders, referred all questions from the media to Morrissey.
Fredericksburg Treasurer G.M. “Jim” Haney said the museum had time to protest the tax assessment. “They had time to complain or have it changed,” he said. “That time has passed.”
Rife said the museum has the right to challenge the assessment, but it’s a separate issue from the city’s attempt to collect back taxes.
“They’re not saying that they shouldn’t owe any tax at all, they’re saying it ought to be lowered. That’s fine,” he said. “It’s just a shame its taken five years for them to come up and say anything about it.”
In addition to its fight with the city of Fredericksburg, the museum is being sued in federal court in Richmond by Pei Partnership Architects. The New York City firm designed the museum and claims it is owed more than $6 million.
The company filed a lawsuit in Richmond challenging the deed restrictions placed on the property. Pei argues the restriction shouldn’t be enforceable if the property is sold.
“If Pei Partnership is successful in this new case, the property can be sold at auction at a much higher price, or it may even lead the way to the museum selling or mortgaging the property to clear its just debts,” said Paul Prados, Pei’s attorney.
Celebrate Virginia South, which donated the property to the museum with the restrictions, will ask a federal judge Friday to dismiss Pei’s lawsuit.
The National Slavery Museum filed for bankruptcy in September 2011, but the case was dismissed in August.
At the time, the museum’s attorneys said an unnamed donor had agreed to directly pay the real estate tax lien by the city of Fredericksburg.
LLLovio@timesdispatch.com
(804) 649-6348 ___
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Baja Ari ona
Left-leaning Ari onans attempted to a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/10/baja-ari ona-state_n_859954.html” target=”_hplink”get a measure on the ballot/a in 2011 that would create a new bastion for liberals in the state. Though ultimately unsuccessful, the measure would have given voters a choice to decide whether to chip off Pima County from the rest of Ari ona, creating another state: Baja Ari ona.
It’s an idea that’s long been discussed, but emThe Tucson Sentinel/em a href=”http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/070111_baja_indepedence/baja-ari onans-declare-independence-from-phoenix/” target=”_hplink”reports/a that the most recent action was spurred by a desire for greater control over local issues and discontent with proceedings at the Phoenix statehouse.
“Every bill we’ve heard about here is either anti-abortion laws or anti-Mexican laws. These are not laws that are geared toward solving the real problems that we have,” David Euchner, treasurer of a href=”http://startourstate.com/” target=”_hplink”Start Our State/a, the group behind the secession push, a href=”http://a starnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_c2787d7e-fbcb-501f-af4b-c85d4da7ac62.html” target=”_hplink”told/a the emAri ona Daily Star/em.
Maine vs. Northern Massachusetts
Republican Maine State Rep. Henry Joy brought forth a href=”http://www.asmainegoes.com/content/rep-joy-proposes-plan-divide-maine-two-states” target=”_hplink”legislation/a in 2010 to divide northern and southern Maine into two autonomous states.
According to Joy, the move was necessary because of a a href=”http://www.restore.org/Maine/overview.html” target=”_hplink”proposal/a that would have turned millions of acres of northern woodland into a nature preserve, leading to the forced relocation of residents in the area. While that measure never passed, Joy was apparently not keen on the prospect of being removed from his home turf.
Joy’s bill, which eventually a href=”http://failuremag.com/index.php/failure_analysis/article/proposal_to_divide_maine_into_2_states_fails/” target=”_hplink”failed/a, would have allowed the northern portion of the state to retain the name Maine, while the southern section would have been ordained Northern Massachusetts.
Joy proposed a href=”http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/02/27/maines_split_personality/” target=”_hplink”similar legislation/a in 2005, which also failed.
Utah
Democratic Utah State Rep. a href=”http://congress.org/congressorg/bio/id/8481″ target=”_hplink”Neal Hendrickson/a submitted legislation in 2008 for the a href=”http://le.utah.gov/~2008/bills/hbillint/hjr006.htm” target=”_hplink”creation of a new state within Utah/a.
Hendrickson contended that “citi ens in the more populated areas of northern Utah have many interests that stand in stark contrast to the interests of southern rural areas of the state, which feel they do not have the influence on state policymaking that citi ens along the Wasatch Front enjoy.”
His bill, which he said would “provide the citi ens of what is presently southern Utah increased access to their state government,” didn’t pass.
The Republic Of Texas
When Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) a href=”http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/04/15/37587/perry-texas-secession/” target=”_hplink”signed/a onto a non-binding resolution claiming constitutional overreach of the federal government in 2009, some may have thought it was simply a symbolic display meant to show solidarity with a right-wing base disgruntled after the passage of President Barack Obama’s stimulus package.
A day later, however, Perry took his rhetoric to another level, implying that Texas might a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/15/gov-rick-perry-texas-coul_n_187490.html” target=”_hplink”secede/a if “Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people,” by strapping his state with unsustainable taxation, spending and debt.
Tennessee
Rep. ach Wamp (R-Tenn.), a Republican primary candidate for governor, piggy-backed off Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s secession comments last year, a href=”http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/07/health_care_law.php” target=”_hplink”telling/a iHotline on Call/i in a discussion about federal mandates in the health care law that states such as Tennessee might be “forced to consider separation from this government” depending on the outcome of the elections.
Wamp eventually a href=”http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/governor-races/112993-rep-wamp-loses-gov-primary-to-mayor-haslam-” target=”_hplink”lost/a the gubernatorial primary to Knoxville mayor and eventual winner Bill Haslam.
Delmarva
In 1998, Republican Maryland State Sen. Richard Colburn a href=”http://mlis.state.md.us/1998rs/billfile/sb0564.htm” target=”_hplink”filed a bill/a that would have paved the way for the Eastern Shore of his state, as well as parts of Delaware and Virginia, to branch off into a separate entity called Delmarva.
a href=”http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/012100/012158/pdf/post12feb1998.pdf” target=”_hplink”Upset with regulations/a being forged in Annapolis and passed down to the Eastern Shore, Colburn encouraged Maryland’s coastal residents to work toward a referendum that could get the measure on the ballot. It never passed muster.
New York
Lawmakers across New York have long floated secession as a potential way to rectify what they see as imbalances in the burdens of taxes and other economic factors.
From a href=”http://www.nysun.com/blogs/culture-of-congestion/2008/01/secession-new-york-city-as-polis.html” target=”_hplink”local proposals/a to split New York City off into its own state, to pushes to turn a href=”http://www.ppinys.org/reports/2004/letupstate.pdf” target=”_hplink”upstate New York/a or a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/22/nyregion/22secede.html” target=”_hplink”Long Island/a into their own sovereign entities, all efforts at secession have failed.
Block Island
The tiny Rhode Island enclave of Block Island made a stir in the 1980s when its residents pursued secession after a href=”http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20088188,00.html” target=”_hplink”being invaded/a by a population of moped-riding mainlanders.
The state senate and supreme court initially refused to allow the island’s governing body to regulate the offending mopeds, which resulted in a a href=”http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20088188,00.html” target=”_hplink”successful vote/a to declare independence from the rest of Rhode Island. Massachusetts and Connecticut a href=”http://www.projo.com/specials/century/month10/02733011.htm” target=”_hplink”reportedly/a reached out during the process in the interest of annexing the island.
Weeks later, the Rhode Island legislature a href=”http://www.projo.com/specials/century/month10/02733011.htm” target=”_hplink”approved a bill/a giving Block Island regulatory control over mopeds on the island, which sufficiently appeased residents.
West Virginia
Republican West Virginia Delegate Larry Kump a href=”http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x746672958/Delegate-admits-W-Va-secession-bill-a-long-shot” target=”_hplink”floated a proposal/a earlier this year to let a number of his state’s panhandle counties secede and rejoin Virginia.
Citing a href=”http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/01/west-virginia-legislator-hatches-plan-rejoin-virginia” target=”_hplink”economic concerns/a, Kump said his longshot legislation was an attempt to alleviate pressure brought on by the state’s struggling manufacturing sector. It failed to gain support both among West Virginians and state legislators.
Slavery Museum"s Saga Takes New Turn
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