4The Daily Tar HeelWednesday, November 29, 1989
State and National
Amnesty
By ALAN MARTIN
Staff Writer
The state of North Carolina is going
to lose a small measure of its Southern
hospitality Dec. 2 when the amnesty
period for paying back taxes ends, and
the Department of Revenue will pursue
offenders with renewed vigor and
harsher penalties.
The amnesty legislation provides for
a. 90-day period ending at midnight
December 1, 1990, according to Dewey
Sanders, project manager of tax am
nesty at the N.C. Department of Reve
nue. Anyone who files and pays their
House agrees to
By KARI BARLOW
Assistant State and National Editor
V-The U.S. House of Representatives
approved a pay raise of almost 30 per
cent for its members on Nov. 16, but
some N.C. lawmakers say the public
doesn't understand the rationale behind
the increase.
;i: ;The pay raise was actually a part of
the Government Ethics Reform Act of
.1989 that has been developing all year,
said Rachel Perry, press secretary for
;Rep. David Price, D-N.C.
Board to review 91 1 service charge
By JENNIFER BLACKWELL
Staff Writer
''.'The Wake County Board of Com
missioners is considering a proposal to
Charge Wake County telephone cus
tomers as much as 22 cents on their
monthly phone bill to pay for the 9 1 1
Emergency system.
Zr Wake County recommended a 16--cent
fee to cover the county's cost,
;hile the city of Raleigh requested a
22,-cent fee to help cover the city's cost,
said Sharon Spence, governmental af
fairs director for Wake County.
T-The Board of Commissioners held a
public hearing on Nov. 20 to investi
gate the proposal. The commissioners
referred the matter to staff for more
research and recommendations, Spence
said. The proposal will come before the
-Board again Dec. 4.
- The commissioners referred the
matter because of questions concern
ing Raleigh's additional fee request
and use of the fee, according to Com
missioner G. Herbert Stout. Raleigh
wants to use the money to pay for initial
costs from the creation of the system,
but some commissioners feel the money
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tax period oears
back taxes by this date will be excused
from all criminal, civil and filing penal
ties. Anyone who failed to report or
underreported the amount of taxes they
owed can file amended returns and pay
the tax by the Dec. 1 deadline, thus
avoiding late filing fees of up to 25
percent of the tax owed. Debtors will be
required to pay interest of 9 percent per
year, he said.
Beginning Dec. 2, 1990, the crimi
nal penalty for tax evasion increases
from a misdemeanor, with a possible
Under this plan, members of the
House and federal judges will receive a
cost of living raise of 7.7 percent in
1 990 and a 25 percent increase in 1 99 1 .
The $89,000 salary of congressmen
will increase to about $125,000.
However, most lawmakers claim the
plan's critical point was the ban on
honoraria or speaking fees.
In 1991, members of the House will
be banned from receiving speaking fees
from special interest groups. This pro
vision will take affect after the new
should be used just for ongoing costs.
"I personally don't think it's appro
priate" to use the funds to pay for past
costs or computer equipment, Stout said.
The referral probably will result in a
reduction from the 16-cent request, he
said.
S ince the 9 1 1 service is now paid for
through tax revenues, the question
facing the board is whether to pay for
the 91 1 service out of property taxes or
to transfer the cost to telephone bills, he
said. The proposal is "a fair way to
offset the costs of 9 1 1 (since) it is an
extremely valuable service," Stout said.
The fee would cover the installation
cost of the 911 system, recurring
monthly fees and line charges and
possibly some capital costs, including
an automatic number identification
system and automatic locater identifi
cation system, according to Spence.
The charge would be applicable to
210,000 lines that are serviced by the
Wake County 911 system, including
about 6,200 lines in surrounding coun
ties that are not paying for the service
since they do not pay Wake County
taxes. Residents of Cary and callers
with the prefixes 528 and 544 would
not be affected since they are served by
a different emergency system.
The 1 6-cent fee would raise $33,403
a month while the 22-cent fee could
raise $45,700.
The proposal is a result of legislation
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prison term of two years and indetermi
nate fines, to a felony with a possible
prison sentence of five years and up to
$25,000 in fines, Sanders said.
The one-time amnesty period was
created by the legislature to give past
offenders "one last chance to get right
with the state before the penalties be
come more severe," Sanders said.
The new tax legislation also allows
for increased detection and enforce
ment of existing laws and deadlines for
paying taxes. "In essence, after the
deadline (Dec. 1) the penalties for tax
salary raise, ban on speaking fees
House is elected in 1990.
The raise actually serves as a re
placement for speaking fees, Perry said.
The ban on honoraria will not have a
negative effect on House members,
Perry said.
"I do not expect members of Con
gress to make fewer speeches because
they're not getting paid for it."
In an age where ethics have come
under much scrutiny, many lawmakers
said this type of plan was long overdue.
"It's a wide range and complex leg
by the N.C. General Assembly author
izing local governments to impose this
fee. In order for the fee to be adopted,
legislation requires that the county hold
a special election or a public hearing.
The hearing last Monday satisfied this
part of the bill.
"I think that cities and counties are
having to look more at user fees; this is
a type of user fee for the 9 1 1 system,"
Spence said. The county has received a
few complaints from people about the
new plan, but the proposal "on the
whole has been pretty well accepted."
If the proposal were turned down,
there would not be any change in the
9 1 1 system, she said.
If the proposal is accepted, it will go
into affect after a 120-day waiting pe
riod, said Stout.
Several other counties, including
Rowan, Moore, Orange, Pender and
Craven, are considering similar pro
posals. The proposal will come before the
Orange County Board of Commission
ers on Dec. 4, said Ellen Liston, assis
tant county manager. The requested fee
of 50 cents reflects that Orange County
has to buy a lot of necessary equipment,
in addition to paying ongoing costs, she
said. The cost would probably be re
duced after the first few years.
"The reception has been very posi
tive it's a very good program," Lis
ton said.
Chapel Hill
with candle
By JULIE CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
Chapel Hill and Carrboro are getting
into the Christmas spirit as the area
gears up for the Christmas parade, which
starts at 10 a.m. Saturday in front of the
Morehead Planetarium.
Sherrie Powell, communications
manager at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Chamber of Commerce, said about 100
groups would participate in the event,
which is promoted as "A Dickens of a
Christmas."
Fifteen commercial floats sponsored
by area businesses and some "home
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end, penalties to
evasion are increasing, and the state
says the chance of cheaters getting
caught is also going to increase dra
matically," said Richard Hill, a certi
fied public accountant (CPA).
The legislature funds 135 additional
employees in the compliance and en
forcement divisions. "This will include
new auditors, tax collectors, enforce
ment officers and clerical support staff.
We will also be improving and updat
ing our computer system to help detect
cheating", Sanders said.
"The honest citizen who struggles
islative package," Perry said. "I think
there's been a great deal of concern
about the ethics problem. There is no
question that Congress needed to tighten
up their ethics rules."
David Murray, press secretary for
Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C, said, "The
press and others have made it a pay
raise vote when in reality it was an
ethics vote and hidden in that vote was
a pay raise."
Ballenger had hoped to amend the
plan and eliminate the pay raise, but he
Strike in Czechoslovakia
may predict national reform
By JANNETTE PIPPIN
Staff Writer
Czechoslovakia is the latest link
in a chain of eastern European coun
tries to denounce Communist Party
rule, and many specialists say
Monday's strike is a strong indica
tion that the country could have a
completely restructured government
by early 1990, if not sooner.
"There is fast-paced change, and
though there may be some leftist,
socialist group remaining, the cur
rent government is going to be
reshaped so that Communist Party
rule is gone," said Christiane Lemke,
UNC visiting professor and special
ist in eastern European affairs. "With
the opposition, there is a new quality
of resistance to the old Stalinist rule."
On Monday, sirens sounded and
church bells rang in Prague and other
major cities throughout the country
to mark the start of a two-hour gen
eral strike. During that time, a crowd
of 200,000 swelled into Wenceslas
Square and the streets of Bratislava,
the industrial mining center of Os
trava on the Polish border, demand
ing an end to the Communists' 40
year monopoly on power.
prepares for holidays
lighting, town parade
made" floats will participate in the
parade, she said. "There will be some
walking groups, decorated horses,
dance groups, bands, baton twirlers,
scout troups and more. Clowns from all
over North Carolina will be there."
The floats in the parade will be
competing in a float competition, and
they will be judged on Christmas spirit
and originality, she said.
The UNC Marching Band is the only
group from the University that will
participate. "I tried to get groups like
sororities and fraternities to enter the
parade, but I was not contacted by any
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with the tax forms and pays his taxes
every April deserves the justice of us
pursuing those citizens who gain finan
cially from being less honest," he said.
Most CPAs who do tax work have
probably had numerous calls from
concerned cheaters and several new
clients who want to file for amnesty,
Hill said. He has handled several re
quests for more information from people
who have evaded taxes in the past and
want to apply for amnesty but are still
loath to call state offices, he said.
It is hard to estimate now how effec
did not have that option, Murray said.
Basically, House members knew the
pay raise would not go through unless
tied to an ethics package, he said.
Another significant provision in the
plan was the elimination of the grand
father clause which allows congress
men elected before 1980 to convert
their campaign funds to personal use
upon retirement, Murray said.
In 1993, any campaign funds raised
after the plan was adopted cannot be
converted to personal use, he said.
Shaken by shouts of "We don't want
you anymore!" and 1 1 straight days of
demonstrations, the government has
ousted party leader Milos Jakes and
three other party hardliners and has
lifted most forms of press censorship.
But the pro-democracy opposition is
still calling for the end of one-party rule
and for free elections.
"Especially in Czechoslovakia where
there has been such strong governmen
tal oppression, the opposition has tre
mendous momentum right now and
can force political reform," Lemke said.
"This means freedom, guarantees of
civil rights and free elections."
Prospects for reform in Czechoslo
vakia are good right now, Lemke said,
because there are people outside gov
ernment with notions of democratic
reform, and the opposition groups,
underground for the last 1 0 years, have
emerged because of similar pro-democracy
movements in Hungary, Poland
and East Germany.
The pro-democracy movement is
linke to developments in surrounding
countries, according to Doug Seay,
Eastern European pol icy analyst for the
Heritage Foundation in Washington.
"With the rapid changes in places
UNC group," she said.
Marching Band Director James Hile
said the whole marching band would
participate in the parade. "I think only
about 50 members were in it last year."
The band started practicing for the
parade when the UNC football season
ended, and it will play a medley of
Christmas tunes, he said.
UNC groups and any other area
organizations can participate in
Saturday's parade by calling Powell at
the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of
Commerce.
Powell said there would also be a
candle lighting ceremony Friday night
at the post office on Franklin Street.
"We will hold candles and sing. Hot
cider and cookies will be served."
Merchants put lights around their
doors and windows and agreed to wait
until Friday night to illuminate them.
'This is the first year businesses have
done anything like this," Powell said.
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increase
tive the program is going to be and how
many cheaters will comply. In other
states that have held a similar amnesty
period, the number of applications has
increased dramatically in the final week,
Hill said.
Sanders confirmed this observation.
"We have accepted 5,006 applications
and generated $1 1,672,775 in revenue
as of Nov. 27. However, the inquiries
and bulk of applications have risen in
the last couple of days. We have 10
incoming phone lines and people are
having a hard time getting through to us
all day long."
Some members of Congress voted
against the entire plan because they
opposed the pay raise.
Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C, voted
against the pay raise because he thought
too many other fiscal problems needed
to be addressed, said Ed McDonald,
press secretary for Coble. ;
Rep. Charlie Rose, D-N.C, voted
against the bill because constituents in
his district voiced dissatisfaction with
the pay raise, said Keith Pitts, legisla
tive director for Rose.
like Poland, Hungary and East Ger
many, Czechoslovakia couldn't help
but follow. Under the circumstances,
a strike is very effective."
The underground opposition reared
its head Nov. 20 in a massive protest,
the largest ever in the communist
nation, as demonstrators shouted "It's
the end, Milos!" referring to party
chief Jakes. The peaceful protest dis-.
persed after being barred from tirade
cany Castle, a national symbol and
residence of President Gustav Husak.
But, despite small government
appeasements, the demonstrations
have only heightened and there is still
a call for democracy.
"My personal opinion is that there
will be an end to Communist Party
rule," said William Harkins, profes
sor at the Columbia University East
Central European Institute. There is a
motivational factor that was not seen
in the other movements, he said.
'The Prague Spring Movement in
1968 promised a brilliant future of
liberalism and economic prosperity,
and then the Communists came in
and betrayed the people. This time
they won't let them take their vic
tory." from page 1
spot closer to the floor at the end of the
court.
The push for additional Smith Cen
ter seats began in spring 1989, Frye
said. "It was decided last semester that
the athletic department would ensure
we had 2,000 seats in the lower level."
The 120 new seats, plus an addi
tional 50 or more seats to be added later
at "various locations in the lower level,"
will put the total above 2,000, she said.
Frye also described some measures
that will be taken to allow for the 50
future seats. "They'll take out some of
the armrests in some of the rows and
scoot seats together."
Jack Archey, basketball co-director
of Carolina Fever, said the extra seats
would not affect the position of Fever
members. They will keep their 100
seats behind the band.
Both Frye and Archey thought the
additional seats were beneficial to stu
dents. "There would be extra tickets for the
students," Archey said. "I'm sure a lot
of students are happy about that."
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