SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY Slhoii 82nd Year No. 35 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C, ORD 5 > WEDNESDAY arena uthfr Agricultural Cantar. ? A market iamb show a ciMyiuled for 7 p.m on Fri day, to br folio ?d br an auc ion sale of 0 priied animals at 8:30 p.m. This will be the first year for this event. A total of 70-75 prize beef steeri and heifers from several 'western counties will be exhibited by rural youth of the area on Saturday. the show will start at 9 a.m., followed by an auction sale of the fed steers at S p.m. The event is being spon sored by the N.C. Agricultural Extension Service, vocational agriculture teachers and the beef cattle commission of the Western North Carolina i. Awards, trophies and rib bons will be presented to win ners in both the cattle and lamb shows. These are being provided by the beef cattle commission in cooperation with area business firms. Commission members raised nearly tt.000 from an auction sale at a recent m< > img anct individual donations to help on show expenses. Area far iniii virta&n) at halter will amount to $230.00 and the same for the Iambi. Fitting and showing awards Cor the steers, heifers and lambs will total $240.00, with first through fifth ptacings in each. Heifers commission at a recognition luncheon on Saturday at noon. Charge tar all others will be $1.00 each. Gay Snelson and Brace Sheison of Leicester will be the auctioneers far the event G.E BWdix Jr.. Buncombe | Report Criticizes t Tax Collector The operation of Madison County Tax Collector Harold Wallm's office was criticized at a Friday night meeting of the county commissioners. The criticism came in a report to the commissioners delivered by James Skidmore of the accounting firm of Green, Skidmore and Smith. The county commissioners had hired the firm to audit the operations of the county tax collector as they prepare to crack down on delinquent tax payers. Skidmore told the commis sioners his Arm had identified 4,06? delinquent taxpayers dating back to 1973. Statements were mailed to all the delinquents on Aug. 24. Ad ditional statements to tax payers delinquent for personal property taxes were mailed out on Aug. 31. The accountant told the commissioners that in addi tion to preparing the tax statements, his firm has prepared a year-by-year list of delinquent taxpayers and a se cond alphabetized list of delin quents. Skidmore told the commissioners that his firm has identified <711,949 05 in taxes and interest penalties owed the county. In summing up the work his firm has done, Skidmore said, "We've now built a foundation on which you can follow up." Concerning the operation of the tax collector's office, Skid more said, "Some of these duties have not been perform ed and these omissions have contributed significantly to the problem of delinquent taxes. As a result of this lack of compliance, the county has a substantial amount of un collected taxes and has writ ten off an uncollected average of over $16,000 each year for the past four years." Skidmore cited North Carolina General Statute 105-349 which calls for the tax collector to make a settlement each year of all uncollected taxes. The statute, according to Skidmore, requires the tax collector to foreclose on pro perty owned by delinquent taxpayers. Contacted on Saturday, Wallin defended his actions saying, "I've made a settle ment every year by listing the delinquents. Skidmore also said the law requires the tax collector to sign a statement each year testifying that he has collected all taxes to the best of his abili ty. In his report to the com missioners, the accountant said he did not find any such statement available. On Saturday, Wallin said he had signed such a statement each year. The accountant recom mended that Wallin make a settlement of all delinquent accounts no later than Dec. 31. In completing his report, Skidmore told the commis sioners that his office has presented Wallin with a copy of the revised Machinery Act of North Carolina. The act covers "laws governing the listing, appraisal and assess ment of property and the col lection of taxes on property " Skidmore cited the act in telling the commissioners that they are empowered to ap point a tax collector to oversee the collection of overdue taxes. The collector of delinquent taxes, Skidmore said, would serve under the direction of the county commissioners. In urging the commissioners to appoint such a tax collector, the accountant added that he "should be familiar with foreclosure law, probably an attorney." Without officially appoin ting him as delinquent tax col lector. the commissioner had earlier asked county attorney Larry Leake to "take any and all actions necessary to collect delinquent taxes " In commenting on the report, commission chairman James Ledford said, "It's caused a lot of questions. It's not fair for some people to pay their taxes while other don't." Although statements have been mailed to all delinquent taxpayers, not every delin quent taxpayer has received notice. Postal employee Ray mond Stines, who was in the audience, told the commis sioners, "We've done everything we can to deliver the notices, but we must've returned a hundred of them to day." Ralph Rice also addressed (Continued on Page 5) Marshall Owes Most Taxes According to figures releas ed in a Madison County Tax Collector's office accounting repert; Marshall has the largest number of tax delin quents with 602. Marshall delinquents owe the county $84,122.04. Mars Hill ha^i total of 434 delinquents, owing the county $44,695.81. Laurel township has 395 delinquents and owes a total of 173,939 45. The Petersburg township accounts for 342 delinquents, owing a total of $58,809.16. Beech Glen has 410 delin quent taxpayers, owing a total of $58,272.03. Walnut's 276 delinquents owe a total of $65,082.83 while Hot Springs has 372 delin quents and a tax bill of $40,003.45. Wolf Laurel has the fewest delinquents with 183 and owes the county a total of $40,003.45. Spring Creek has the smallest amount of debt with only $35,765.26 owed by 220 delinquents. Business and utilites also account for a large portion of - the tax debt with 295 accounts owing $123,714.60. All the above figures include advertising cost and interest penalties. Clarke Opposes Paraquat In a telegram to the White House, 11th District Con gressman James McCiure Clarke expressed opposition to the Administration's plans for aerial spraying of paraquat on marijuana fields in North Carolina and 39 other states. "I strongly object to any possible aerial spraying of paraquat in Western North Carolina," Clarke said in his telegram. "I request adequate prior public notice and further consideration of less dangerous, less expensive forms of marijuana eradica tion." On Aug. 12, the Drug En forcement Administration (DEA) sprayed the highly tox ic herbicide from two helicopters on marijuana fields in Georgia's Chat tahoochie National Forest. Their purpose was two-fold ; to test their aerial spraying system to destroy marijuana fields on federal lands and to film the test to persuade Col ombia to use paraquat on their own marijuana fields. Colom bia produces about 80 percent of the marijuana sold in the U.S. "It seems to me that the spraying of paraquat has been done by the Drug Enforce ment Administration to en courage Latin American coun tries, like Colombia, to use paraquat down there. I don't think this is a good enough reason to spray a dangerous herbicide near campgrounds and tourist facilities," Clarke said. "We certainly ought to do all we can to stop the illegal grow ing of marijuana. But it ap pears that the Administration's present methods are very expensive and extremely dangerous We need to explore cheaper and safer ways to stop this pro blem without risking the health and safety of innocent people." Survey Results Compiled i ? Although reader survey forms continue to filter in, we have compiled findings based on those . forms received before Aug. 19. Readers are encouraged to fill out the form and send it along. During the five weeks we conducted our survey, 104 readers completed and return ed the survey form. Two com pleted forms, obviously the work of pranksters, were discarded. Asked how often they read The News Record, 96% of our respondents reported they read the paper each week. Three percent reported they read the paper occasionally, and the remaining one percent said they almost never read it. Of those who read it every week, 71% reported that they are subscribers while 25% purchase the paper at one of our rack locations. The re maining four percent report they read a friend's copy, in gles on the Marshall Bypass, Big D's Fast Stop and Lay's Discount Mart in Mars Hill were the rack locations most often cited. One respondent, Mrs. Ralph Chandler, reported that she has subscribed to The News Record since 1887. News Record editorials, the society page and 62% con sult the Church News page each week. 59% of respondents report they read recipes and 55% read Steve Ferguson, Dot Shupe's, "Just A Woman's Observations and the sports page. Walnut Notes is read by 48% of our readers. Those responding to the survey overwhelmingly reported they wanted The News Record to report more farming news. 41% wanted more farming news, and we're doing our best to comply with your wishes 25% asked that we publish an advice column and 32% asked for? #?"" crossward puzzle* Four last m: nite surveys from the Hough family in Mars Hill zle total. 19% wanted us to pre chasing the publishing rights to comic strips is prohibitive, we'll try to comply with as many of your requests as possible. Regarding our editorials, 83% reported they believe News Record editorials are fair. Another 7% said they thought they were unfair. Hie remaining 10% described our editorial positions as "bland," "stupid," and "biased." Several others said they were sometimes fair and other times not. Asked how much they believe. 17% th^y believe