Politics & Government

For Stockman, All Things Lead to Taxes

Two decades after stepping away from the board, Stockman returns to run for county chairman.

Steve Stockman walked away from county politics 20 years ago, but with grown children emptying his nest he said he now has the time to focus on his greatest local concern – taxes. Stockman is seeking the Republican nomination for the at-large county chairman seat on the .

The owner of Stockman Title & Escrow said rising real estate taxes have him worried and, if elected, his primary message would go to all county employees or entities that receive checks from Loudoun.

“If you’re getting a check and it’s got the Loudoun County logo on it, it’s going to be subject to scrutiny,” he said. “We’re going to look at everything. No sacred cows.”

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Certainly, the tax issue is nothing novel for a political campaign, but for Stockman, that’s the primary focus; the point to which all other topics lead.

“Once you get the tax rate under control, it solves a lot of your other problems,” he said.

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Some issues of great concern to some candidates are of little concern to Stockman, such as transportation, which he considers “not that big” of an issue because people choose where to live.

“You can make improvements around the margins, but people will decide to live and commute based on their own individual choices,” he said. “You know, commuting, it’s all voluntary.

Stockman threw his name in for the nomination before County Chairman Scott K. York (At Large) announced plans to seek it. York has served two terms as an Independent, but previously served as a Republican supervisor. Stockman said he’s not worried.

“His campaign wants to look forward,” the candidate said. “If I had his record, I’d want to look forward, too. They’ve raised the tax rate 36 cents in three budget years. And this year, of course, they lowered it a penny and a half.” [Editor’s note: York voted against the budget this year, pushing instead for a lower rate.]

Stockman himself – who served on the Loudoun Board of Supervisors from 1983 to 1991 – ran as an Independent in his first campaign. As a Reagan appointee to the Department of Energy, Stockman said, he was not allowed to hold party affiliation. But he left government work to start his title company in 1986, which freed him politically. He points out, however, that he was appointed to a Republican administration.

“If you’re a Ronald Reagan appointee, you better be a Republican,” he said.

When Stockman served last, the board had just eight members. He said a large number of 4-4 tie votes led the board to add a ninth member, at-large chairman, rather than choosing a chairman among them.

Stockman pondered a run for the chairman seat, but his business was picking up and he had young children.

In addition, he said, when he left the board, taxes were relatively low.

“It used to be, ‘Oh, Loudoun County, we love it, a low tax rate.’ Now it’s high,” he said. “It’s getting to be an issue. We’ve overspent our resources. There’s just no way you can keep up these levels of spending with this many employees.”

When asked if using the tax rate exaggerated his point because of major shifts in the values of homes in the county, he said offered the example of the sales tax, saying it makes a difference whether its one percent or two percent, regardless on the market price of the item.

Part of his plan calls for luring new business to the county and easing the process of opening a business in Loudoun. “Right now, we put businesses through the gauntlet just to establish here,” he said.

Stockman opposes the idea of the state sending a portion of the income tax to localities and supports the existing system of basing the bulk of the local tax burden on real estate taxes.

Government, he said, should be wary of the impact of making adjustments to “save” people.

“In law, we have a saying: hard cases make bad law,” Stockman said, explaining further. “You want to help the widow, but the next thing you know, you’re making impingements on the rental contracts, and then the people start coming in and taking advantage of it, then landlords can’t make money, so they don’t repair their property. Next thing you know, there’s not even a place for that widow to move to when her house burns down. Yeah there are hard cases. You’re going to have to step up.”

While the current board of supervisors has signaled concerns about the Metro project – primarily that if the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority wants a more costly underground station, it should find the money without tolls or local tax dollars – Stockman is cool to the idea for other reasons.

“I’m not too enthusiastic,” he said. “I know we want it to [Dulles] airport and a lot of people think it’s going to be a godsend. I don’t think it is. I think that American people prefer to have private transportation. Mostly, right now, Metro’s running at a deficit. "

When Stockman last served on the board, supervisors permitted private construction of the Dulles Greenway with permission from the state. And while he once worked for U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) on the campaign trail, he adamantly disagrees with the congressman about Greenway tolls, which Wolf calls “highway robbery.”

While the tolls are the source of ire for many commuters, Stockman pointed out that the owners – now Australia-based McQuarie Group – must turn the road back over the state after 50 years.

“So they have to make their money now,” he said, adding that it’s the cost of convenience. “People can go free on Rt. 7. They’re trading off time for dollars.”

As for his disagreement with Wolf, Stockman still supports the man, but said, “He wasn’t responsible for the complaints we had on Rt. 7. Just look what’s happened to Leesburg, Broadlands. All that has been developed and grown up because there is a Greenway.”

Stock recently moved to the Dulles Town Center area after living in Lansdowne for many year. He graduated from the University of Michigan and received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center before joining the Department of Energy.

Besides York, Democrat Tom Bellanca also plans to run for the seat.


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