By Taylor Boyd
The JEB Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust Inc., a Laurel Fork nonprofit organization, is expected to lose its tax-exempt status July 1 under a state law targeting organizations connected to the Confederacy.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed HB167 into law in April, which removed the tax-exempt status for real estate and personal property owned by organizations connected to the Confederate States of America.
Noting the bill was brought up during the General Assembly the past two years, Ronnie Haynes, president of the trust, said the group expected it to be passed this year with the new Democratic majority.
“I don’t know all the details yet, but I do know it takes effect July 1. We’re going to be discussing … what our options are at our next meeting” on May 12, he said.
As a 501(c)3 organization, Haynes said the group receives no state or local government funding.
“Everything we get is through membership, donations, merchandise sales, fundraisers, and once in a while, we get a small grant,” he said.
Haynes said the biggest impact of this change will be paying the real estate tax for the site.
“We own 75 acres. We’ve got several buildings and outdoor structures, and a small visitor’s center. Anything that we would build in the future would be subject to the personal property tax. We really don’t know the amount it would cost us per year,” he said.
However, Haynes doesn’t expect the change to financially ruin the organization.
“It’s just an unnecessary burden. It’s an unfair burden that was put on us and the other groups that were targeted. It’s clearly unconstitutional, and there are a number of groups on the Virginia Code list, there’s dozens of them that are just like us, non-profit, but they were not affected,” he said, adding that to his understanding two other Confederate-themed groups will remain tax-exempt.
Haynes said most of the organizations affected by the change, such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, are located in and around Richmond.
“I guess they do have more assets, but why us? It’s a mystery,” he said.
Even after losing its tax-exempt status, Haynes said the group has no plans to shutter its doors or disband.
“We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and keep fundraising and hopefully, add to our park. We’re not going anywhere, not by any means,” he said.
Haynes said the Laurel Hill-site also offers more than just Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and Civil War history.
“We’ve got a diversity of history. People can claim what they want, but those who passed this bill really don’t know anything about us. I think they just saw the name and decided, ‘we’ll target them too,’” he said.
To help with the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the organization will hold an event at the William Letcher gravesite on June 29.
“He was a Revolutionary War veteran killed there on the property. He was Jeb Stuart’s great-grandfather, and he was a patriot killed towards the end of the Revolution, in 1780, I believe it was. It’s the oldest marked grave with an inscription in Patrick County,” Haynes said.
Donations to the group may be mailed to JEB Stuart Birthplace Trust Inc., P.O. Box 1210, Stuart, Va, 24171.
For more information, visit www.jebstuart.org, email laurelhill@jebstuart.org, or call 276-251-1833.
