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After
30
years,
Victor
Breeding
announced
he
will
retire
as
Buchanan
County's
commissioner
of
revenue.
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Breeding
Announces
Plan
To
Retire
at
End
of
2007 |
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by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor
After
30
years
as
Buchanan
County's
commissioner
of
revenue,
Victor
Breeding
has
announced
he
will
retire
effective
December
31,
2007.
Breeding,
a
native
of
Buchanan
County,
has
served
as
Buchanan
County's
chief
tax
assessment
officer
since
he
was
first
elected
in
1977
to
fill
the
unexpired
term
of
Dr.
Tommy
Street.
At
that
time,
Breeding
had
worked
in
the
commissioner's
office
for
six
years
as
a
deputy
commissioner
for
Russell
V.
Presley
and
Street.
"It's
time
to
step
aside
and
let
somebody
else
take
over,"
Breeding
said
in
making
the
formal
announcement
Monday.
Breeding,
a
resident
of
the
Davenport
area,
ran
unopposed
for
three
of
the
eight
terms
he
was
elected
to
serve.
Despite
the
lack
of
opposition,
however,
he
said
he
still
worked
as
hard
in
seeking
re-election
as
if
he
had
been
opposed
out
of
a
desire
for
the
voters
to
understand
he
really
wanted
their
vote
of
confidence.
"I
wanted
the
job
and
I
was
willing
to
work
for
it,"
Breeding
said.
Other
than
11
years
working
in
Ohio
for
Ford
Motor
Company,
where
he
served
as
shipping
foreman
supervising
a
group
of
40
employees
on
two
rail
loading
docks,
Breeding
has
lived
and
worked
in
Buchanan
County.
He
said
the
office
of
commissioner
is
an
administrative
office,
as
opposed
to
a
policy
making
office
and
he
noted
his
guiding
principals
in
serving
the
people
of
Buchanan
County
have
been
"to
provide
Buchanan
County
residents
with
the
best
service
possible
and
to
treat
people
with
respect."
"Most
people
don't
have
problems
with
paying
their
fair
share
of
taxes,
but
they
want
to
understand
what
you
are
taxing
them
on,"
Breeding
said.
"We
wanted
the
taxpayers
to
understand,
and
hopefully
over
the
years,
we
have
been
able
to
help
them."
Since
Breeding
became
commissioner,
the
office
has
gone
from
one
operated
chiefly
with
typewriters,
pens
and
paper,
to
one
in
which
computer
record
keeping
is
the
norm.
In
his
tenure
as
commissioner,
Breeding
has
overseen
the
implementation
of
computerized
records
management,
including
state
of
the
art
real
estate
and
mineral
depletion
software
and
improved
access
to
state
agencies
such
as
the
Department
of
Motor
Vehicles,
the
Department
of
Taxation
and
Technology,
the
State
Compensation
Board
and
the
State
Corporation
Commission.
The
challenge
was
always
there
for
meeting
record
processing
deadlines,
such
as
the
deadlines
for
having
state
taxes
deposited
and
processed
timely,
as
well
as
to
properly
report
estimated
taxes
to
the
tax
department
on
time
and
in
a
timely
manner,
he
said.
He
credited
his
staff
and
colleagues
for
their
work
in
meeting
those
challenges.
Breeding
noted
he
always
strived
to
stay
abreast
of
changing
tax
issues,
adding
he
had
gone
through
continuing
education
sessions
throughout
his
career
for
that
reason.
Breeding
is
married
to
Carol
and
they
have
two
sons,
Gregory
and
David;
and
four
grandchildren.
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Forensics
Project
Is
Stalled
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by
Cathy
St.
Clair
News
Editor
Plans
to
establish
a
private
forensics
lab
in
Buchanan
County
have
been
put
"on
the
back
burner,"
according
to
North
Grundy
Board
of
Supervisors
Chairman
Carroll
Branham.
Branham
noted
that
while
some
have
characterized
the
project
as
"dead,"
that
terminology
is
not
entirely
correct;
although
Buchanan
County
Industrial
Development
Authority
Board
Chairman
Jay
Rife
said
he
thought
there
was
"a
90
percent
chance
it
won't
be
resurrected."
"We
talked
to
Frank
and
told
him
to
hold
off
on
it,"
Branham
said,
referring
to
former
assistant
county
attorney
Frank
Kilgore,
who
has
been
working
on
the
project
in
the
past
on
behalf
of
the
board.
The
Buchanan
County
Board
of
Supervisors
previously
requested
Kilgore
explore
the
feasibility
of
establishing
a
private
forensic
lab
in
association
with
the
University
of
Appalachia
and
to
recruit
a
regional
college
to
offer
a
four-year
degree
program
in
forensic
science
as
a
learning
component
to
the
lab.
Feasibility
and
economic
impact
studies
done
on
the
proposed
project
showed
the
demand
for
forensic
lab
work
is
high
in
the
state
of
Virginia
and
the
surrounding
Central
Appalachian
area
in
both
the
private
and
public
sectors.
Rife
said
one
thing
that
appeared
to
have
hurt
the
project
locally
was
the
inability
to
get
a
firm
commitment
from
the
governor's
office
to
help
with
the
project
on
the
state
end
of
things.
A
couple
months
ago,
a
lab
was
opened
in
central
Virginia
and
Rife
indicated
that
heightened
local
concerns
related
to
the
project
here
which
was
only
in
the
planning
stages.
"We
couldn't
see
a
$1.5
to
$2
million
investment
with
no
commitments
from
somebody
to
run
it,
or
(commitments
for)
business
to
keep
it
going,"
Rife
said
of
developing
the
project.
"The
IDA
did
not
feel
it
was
worth
the
risk."
Branham
said
the
county
board
of
supervisors
had
not
addressed
the
topic
recently,
but
he
said
in
looking
at
the
project,
the
Buchanan
County
IDA
had
become
concerned
that
the
forensics
lab
project
might
stretch
Buchanan
County
CEDA
funds
too
thin.
A
$1.4
million
loan
for
the
project
was
authorized
by
the
Coalfield
Economic
Development
Authority
in
July
2006.
The
funds
were
initially
planned
to
be
used
to
develop
the
lab
and
classroom
space
at
the
University
of
Appalachia
location
in
the
Buchanan
Information
Park
at
Slate
Creek.
CEDA
Director
Jonathan
Belcher
said
the
funding
was
approved
and
allotted
against
future
Buchanan
County
receipts,
which
essentially
saw
the
funds
earmarked
for
the
forensics
project
based
on
future
revenue
streams,
as
the
county
did
not
have
enough
at
the
time
in
its
CEDA
county
fund
to
use
for
the
project.
Belcher
said
the
loan
was
never
closed,
nor
did
the
county
ever
draw
down
on
any
of
the
funds.
Branham
said
there
were
concerns
by
some
county
officials
about
the
monies
being
a
loan,
as
opposed
to
a
grant
and
he
added,
there
were
concerns
by
some
about
the
low
number
of
jobs
likely
to
be
created
through
the
establishment
of
a
forensics
lab
in
relation
to
the
amount
of
money
to
be
spent.
"At
this
point,
everything
is
hypothetical,"
Branham
said.
"We
are
trying
to
lay
out
the
most
jobs
for
the
best
dollars
and
at
this
point,
you
could
say
we
are
exploring
our
options."
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