BACK TAXES

BUCKINGHAM
Since he was first elected in 1991, Buckingham County Supervisor Joe N. Chambers Jr. has voted on how to raise and spend millions of local taxpayer dollars for schools, public safety and other local government services.
But records indicate that Chambers doesn't always pay his share into the county pot.
He currently owes the county four years' worth of unpaid real estate taxes and a year of delinquent personal property taxes, according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
In total, he owes the county he serves more than $4,500 in back taxes, penalties and interest, according to records.
Parts of the debt have been outstanding so long that Buckingham officials would be within their rights under state law to seize his land and sell it at auction.
And the local politician's financial troubles don't end there. Court records show Chambers has a history of bad debts, lawsuits and other unpaid taxes.
In addition to his local tax debt, both state and federal tax officials
have filed tax liens against him, claiming  he did not pay tens of thousands of dollars in owed taxes.
Chambers has also been sued numerous times over the past three decades, and has had several judgments against him. Some of the lawsuits were filed by local business owners who accuse him of running up credit accounts and not making good on his debt.

A popular figure
Chambers, 60, is the president of the Joe Chambers Jr. Logging Co., which he has owned and operated since 1970, according to a biography posted on the county Web site.
That biography also identifies him as a minister at First Baptist Church in Covesville and as a former Marine who served in Vietnam.
Chambers is a popular figure in his district, which stretches from the border at Scottsville nearly to Dillwyn. In November, he garnered more votes than any other candidate running for the Board of Supervisors, easily fending off a write-in candidate.
Fellow Supervisor Danny R. Allen, who was elected in November, declined to comment on Chambers' unpaid taxes, but said Chambers' long tenure and lack of election opponents implies he is serving the county well.
"Nobody runs against him," Allen said. "He's been in there a long time, so I guess he's doing a good job."
Allen is overdue in paying $1,968 in 2007 real estate and personal property taxes, according to county records. In a phone interview, Allen said he pays his local taxes each year after he receives his state and federal tax returns.
Other members of the Board of Supervisors, including Chairman E.A. "Bill" Talbert, declined to comment for this story. A records check showed that the other board members have paid their local taxes.
Chambers also declined requests for an interview, saying several times that he would have to consult his attorney, J. Robert Snoddy III.
Buckingham County Circuit Court Clerk Malcolm Booker, who has known Chambers for 30 years, said the supervisor has had a string of bad luck.
"Joe is a good man, and I think he tries to do everything legal and above board," Booker said. "He just got caught up in debt, like some people do, and it's difficult to clear the record."
During a brief conversation outside the Buckingham court complex, Chambers said that his debts have been settled. He did not elaborate.
"Why are you picking on me-" he said. "You need to check your facts."

Local taxes unpaid
County records show that Chambers owes taxes on four pieces of Buckingham real estate. Such taxes are due twice each year in Buckingham, and the revenue they generate makes up a significant portion of the county government's income.
Records indicate that Chambers owes for two payments per year on each parcel dating to 2004. The 2008 bills have not gone out yet.
He currently owes $3,035 in outstanding real estate taxes.
By law, Buckingham County officials can seize a property and sell it at auction once real estate taxes have gone unpaid for three years, according to county Treasurer Christy Christian. Each of Chambers' four delinquent properties falls into that category, Christian said.
"They are in jeopardy of legal collection methods," Christian said. "Those methods can range from bank liens to garnishment and ultimately to auction."
Christian declined to comment on whether such collection methods are being pursued against Chambers.
Chambers also owes $1,563 in personal property taxes that were due in August. Christian did not say what types of personal property Chambers owes taxes on, though such taxes are typically levied on cars.
"Tangible personal property taxes can be levied on vehicles, boats, trailers and other types of personal property," Christian said.
Chambers' tax troubles don't end at the local level. State and federal authorities have filed court paperwork claiming that he owes far larger amounts of money.

Liens placed
The federal government uses tax liens to get money from people who haven't paid. According to the Internal Revenue Service Web site, liens are sent only after a formal notice and demand for payment elicits no response.
In January 2001, the IRS filed two income tax liens against Chambers. The first was for $59,544. The second was for an additional $9,020 and named both Chambers and his wife.
Both liens are included among public records in Buckingham Circuit Court. However, an IRS spokesman said privacy laws prevent the department from revealing whether the debts have been settled.
However, the full amount of the lien remains a public record until it is paid in full, according to the IRS Web site.
In 2002, officials with the Virginia Department of Taxation filed their own $21,863 lien against Chambers, claiming he owed unpaid income tax from 1995 to 1998.
Joel Davidson, a spokesman for the state tax department, said he is prohibited from revealing the status of that lien. However, he said a notice is filed in court when it is paid. No such record exists in Chambers' file in Buckingham Circuit Court.
But an inspection of Buckingham court records revealed more problems for Chambers: He has a history of lawsuits in his home county stretching back to the 1970s.

Diesel debt
In the fall, the sign in front of the Lucky Convenience Store in Dillwyn wasn't being used to advertise sandwich specials or the price of gasoline.
Instead, the lettered message said: "Joe N. Chambers Jr. owes Tom England $3,700 for diesel."
England, the store's owner, said he put up the sign and filed a small-claims lawsuit after Chambers didn't settle a credit account he had opened there for his logging trucks.
The two were also at political odds during the past election, with England supporting then-Sheriff Danny Williams and Chambers supporting eventual winner Billy Kidd. But England said his decision to put Chambers out on the marquee had nothing to do with politics.
Beginning in the winter of 2006, Chambers' diesel debt rose to more than $4,000, England said. Then the storeowner stopped the line of credit and asked Chambers to pay. He said Chambers paid $500 in April 2007, but didn't pay after that. England said he asked him about the debt in June.
"I asked if two months was enough. He said yes," England said. "I said 'I'll give you three.'"
When the time expired, England said he put up the sign and filed a small-claims lawsuit to recover his money. In late January, just days before the suit was set to go to trial, Chambers came into the store and settled up, England said.
England dropped the suit, and said he is again doing business with Chambers. He also changed the sign.
Since 1998, there have been several judgments against Chambers in Buckingham County General District Court totaling thousands of dollars, according to online court records. Several more suits were filed and dismissed, records show.
Also, handwritten entries in ledgers housed in the Buckingham Circuit Court building indicate small claims lawsuits dating back to the 1970s, though efforts to obtain copies of most of those suit records were unsuccessful.
Shields Anderson, the owner of Anderson Tire Co., has taken Chambers to court several times over the years. In 1985, Anderson sued Chambers and won a $593 judgment. Six years later, he asked for and was granted a garnishment on Chambers' wages to secure the unpaid balance of that debt, which totaled $772 after interest.
"You get judgments and you go to court and they pat him on the back and let him out," Anderson said.
Like England, Anderson says that Chambers ran up credit accounts that he did not pay off, but says he still does business with him.
"He has to pay upfront," Anderson said. "He's COD with us."

A history of being sued
A landowner is also suing Chambers for up to $315,000, claiming that he logged without permission on a piece of Buckingham County property.
Charlottesville resident H.D. Bruns II filed the suit in April 2006, claiming that Chambers cut timber on 49 acres of a property called Selma, a 336-acre tract along the James River.
In an interview with The Daily Progress in the summer of 2006, Chambers said he did not intentionally take trees from the property.
"We cut by a plat" on a neighboring property, he said. "They say we crossed a line."
The lawsuit is still open in Buckingham County Circuit Court, but there has been no activity on it and there are no hearing dates scheduled.
Attorney John W. Zunka, who represents Bruns, confirmed that there are no upcoming hearing dates for the suit and said it is still open, but declined to comment on its status. Efforts to reach Bruns were unsuccessful.
After discovering the missing trees, Bruns contacted officials with the state Department of Forestry, who inspected his property for environmental damage and asked a judge to issue a civil penalty against Chambers.
In April 2006, the department had a hearing to determine if Chambers had violated a 2005 order to pay his civil penalties.
In the 2006 interview, Chambers said the size of the penalties was politically motivated, and that the fine increased at a rate of $3,920 a day after he and a forestry official agreed to reduce a $105,000 penalty to $2,320 if he paid it by early March 2006.
"I paid the state forester $2,320," Chambers said at the time. "He said [the agreement] was void because I was a few days late."
In August 2006, the forestry department took Chambers to court and secured two judgments ordering him to pay a total of $221,727.
Forestry department spokesman John Campbell would not comment on the current status of that debt, but did say that Chambers is making payments to the state forestry department.