DAN McFARLAND
Orange County has reached a settlement with American Press over back taxes owed by the now-defunct company, once one of the county's larger employers.
A settlement agreement filed in Orange County Circuit Court on Oct. 22 showed the county had received $100,000 to settle its claim for unpaid taxes.
American Press ceased operations in August 2011, after decades as a specialty magazine and catalog printer in Gordonsville. It employed some 120 people.
Company president Charles Pettygrove, whose father, Marshall, founded the family-owned concern, issued a statement at that time saying, "The economic conditions during the last three years in this country and in our industry have resulted in the American Press no longer being financially viable."
Creditor Bank of America disassembled and sold the presses as scrap last year.
In February, the county filed suits against American Press, as well as Charles and Marshall Pettygrove, for delinquent machinery and tool taxes that exceeded $200,000.
Since then, the amount owed, including delinquency and interest charges, has grown to approximately $250,000.
American Press filed counterclaims challenging the county's amortization schedule of the assessed value on its 30-year-old printing machinery, but a judge upheld the validity of that schedule in early September.
The agreement settles all claims and counterclaims by both sides in the matter. It includes an agreement that neither side will discuss, disseminate or voluntarily disclose its terms. The agreement was obtained through a Virginia Freedom of Information Act request.
Dan McFarland:
Email: dmcfarland@freelancestar.com