Links To The Land: Farming And Elected Office Creates Some Disclosure Confusion

ABINGDON, Va. – At first glance, a lot of real estate is missing from public officials’ financial disclosure forms in Washington County.

In a more urban district, the unreported houses and land might raise red flags. But in an area that is heavily agricultural, houses go as seamlessly with the land as different-numbered parcels fit together to create fields and pastures.

Farmers too

“That’s a little house that was at one time a dwelling,” Kenneth Reynolds, chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors, said while pointing to one of the many old, wooden structures on his 550-acre farm. “We just store hay in it. We have for years.”

Reynolds is among a number of Washington County elected officials who are farmers, too. A majority of the members of the county’s Board of Supervisors are farmers, as is a majority of the county’s constitutional officers, who also receive salaries for their full-time county jobs.

“I think farming’s an honorable profession, and probably many of these people as young people grew up on farms and were raised around farming, and it’s basically in their blood,” said Sheriff Fred Newman, who grew up on a small farm in the Chilhowie, Va., area. “I totally enjoy it. I enjoy being out on the farm, the fresh air, doing things around the farm, working with cattle. It is aggravating sometimes, yes, but … we’re still a farming community.”

Newman said he sold a lot of his cattle when he was elected sheriff in 2000, so he could focus on law enforcement – but he’s kept about 50 cows because he enjoys working outdoors.

Treasurer Fred Parker said he got out of the tobacco business when he was first elected in 1985 – but he still raises hay, a less labor-intensive way to keep the land where he was raised.

Reporting differences

Whatever the reason, the combination of farming with elected office creates some confusion when it comes to filling out the financial disclosure forms that state law requires of all public officials. That was among the findings in a four-month review of the disclosure forms. The Bristol Herald Courier and News Channel 11 Connects reviewed about 700 forms in Virginia and Tennessee.

The review revealed that Reynolds and Newman are among the Washington County, Va., officials who own houses that show up in tax records but aren’t reported individually on the disclosure forms. The explanation is simple, the officials said – the assortment of houses and outbuildings are part of the farm, and if they thought more reporting was required, they would have done it.

“If you’re doing a form and just report on a farm, my theory is keep it simple and don’t get into a whole lot of details,” Reynolds said. “If you’re reporting on commercial buildings in a town or city or commercial businesses, that would probably be a little different.”

According to tax records, Reynolds owns three houses other than his residence, though, like several county officials, he lists simply “farm” to disclose his family business.

He said one house is home to someone who works for him on the farm, one is rented and one is inhabited by his grandson, a college student. He bought them only because they came with the farmland as he and his father expanded the family farm over the years.

“I guess I just consider them part of the farm tract,” said Reynolds, who added that the use of farm buildings changes constantly over time.

“These buildings, I’ll tell you, they’re getting old. … Give them another few years, and they’ll be totally deteriorated,” he said. “Over a period of time, you’ll have a house like that, you won’t use it as a living dwelling, but you’ll store things in it for a while.”

Newman said the second house on his farm, valued at $31,100, according to tax records, is his wife’s family homeplace – and, because it was left vacant by the death of older relatives, a family has lived there rent-free in exchange for keeping it up.

“If you’ve got a tax map and you look at the farm, you can pretty well see what it is,” said Newman, who pointed out that he did separately report a 10.6-acre tract that generates $450 a year in rent.

Requirements met

Newman said he would gladly amend the form if the rules require separate reporting for any of the parcels that make up his farm – though, as far as he knows, it’s not required.

Two statewide organizations of local government officials – the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia and Virginia Association of Counties – both said it’s up to county attorneys to advise their public officials on disclosure forms.

Washington County Attorney Lucy Phillips said so long as a real property interest is disclosed, the extent to which officials do so is “discretionary.”

“What they have written complies to the extent that it discloses whether they have real property interests,” Phillips said of the Washington County board members.

Listing several contiguous parcels of real estate as “farm” is enough to satisfy the legal requirements, she said, and the question of whether they must be reported separately has never come up.

“A lot of time, the parcels, you don’t even know where they are,” Phillips said. “Legally, it may have a specific identity, but physically and practically it’s just the family farm. So practically, identifying that they own the family farm would seem to be sufficient.”

Reynolds, Newman and Supervisors Paul Price, Phil McCall and Odell Owens simply wrote “farming,” while Commissioner of Revenue David Henry disclosed approximate acreage and number of homes, and Parker itemized his land parcels by map number.

Phillips said all of those methods are acceptable. She also said while all of the forms are in compliance, the county “will tighten up on guidance this year.”

Same basic skills

Separate from the forms, the farmers who hold office said their spreads are reflective of what’s still a largely agricultural community – and in tune with many walks of life.

Reynolds said the same management skills needed to run a successful farm are useful for public servants – especially since it’s tougher than ever to make a living farming and, seemingly, tougher than ever to stretch taxpayer dollars to cover public services.

“If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t be out here working like I do,” Reynolds said. “You’ve got to have it in your system to like it in order to sacrifice yourself as much as you do to make it a viable enterprise.”

Newman, too, said farming – like holding public office – is not something people do unless they don’t mind getting their hands dirty.

“It’s a different kind of work,” said Newman, who added that as sheriff he’s on call 24-7. But he likes the change of pace that comes with working on the farm, when he has spare time.

“If you’re in the office all day or you’re doing different things, sometimes going home in the afternoon and checking the cattle, maybe moving some hay and working around the farm is relaxing,” he said.

dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701