By Jim Tuttle
Smithfield Times Staff writer

Until they are satisfied that Isle of Wight’s newly contracted tax collection agency is operating legally, Smithfield officials will not piggy-back on the county’s contract.
“It appears to me … that he’s collected fees that are far in excess of what he is permitted to collect,” Town Attorney Bill Riddick said during a recent council meeting.
“Until this gets resolved, I would not recommend that the town enter into any agreement” with the company, he added.

By Diana McFarland
Smithfield Times News editor

Dendron resident Priscilla Thomas was frustrated when she received a thick envelope in the mail from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Rather than the standard 10-question census form, it was the 28-page American Community Survey.
“Oh no, not again,” Thomas said, adding that she had received the long form during the last census.
As Thomas looked through the questions, she was particularly concerned as to why the government wanted to know if she needed help bathing or had trouble concentrating.
“Obviously they want to find more ways to spend my tax money,” she said.