<b>Property Taxes Due</b>
The second half 2007 real estate tax deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 5. Payments postmarked after Dec. 5 will incur a 10 percent late payment penalty. The penalty date will not be extended for bills where assessment questions have been filed with the Equalization Board. Additional interest at the rate of 10 percent per annum will be added Dec. 6.
Payment cam be made at either Treasurer’s Office location: 1 Harrison St., S.E., first floor, Leesburg, VA 20175; 21641 Ridgetop Circle, Suite 104, Sterling, VA 20166.
Payments can also be made at the 24-hour depository located outside each office; online at www.loudoun.gov, select "Pay Taxes & Decals," by mail: County of Loudoun, P.O. Box 1000, Leesburg, VA 20177-1000 or by calling 703-777-0280 to pay using Visa, Mastercard or Discover.
For information concerning real property tax relief for the elderly or disabled persons contact the Tax Relief Division of the Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office at trcor@loudoun.gov or 703-737-8557 or visit www.loudoun.gov/cor/tred.htm.
Contact the Loudoun County Treasurer's Office at 703-777-0280 or e-mail taxes@loudoun.gov if you have not received your bills.
<b>Fire Destroys Vacant Sterling Building</b>
A fire destroyed a vacant house located at 102 Locust Lane in the Sterling area the night of Friday, Nov. 30. The fire is being investigated by the Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office. Damage is estimated at $50,000. Units from Sterling, Fairfax County and Dulles Airport were on the scene for approximately two hours. There were no injuries reported during the 2 a.m. call.
<b>Teens Invited to Leadership Seminar</b>
Teenagers in Loudoun County are invited to attend a leadership seminar with James Malinchak, author of "Teenagers: Tips for Success" and co-author of "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul." The event will take place from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 8, at Dominion High School, 21326 Augusta Drive in Sterling.
Admission is free and the first 500 participants to arrive will receive a free copy of "Teenagers: Tips for Success." Following his presentation, Malinchak will sign books and pose for photographs. A complimentary breakfast and snack will be served. There is no registration required to attend this event. The seminar is sponsored by the Loudoun Youth
Initiative Youth Advisory Council.
<b>Public Input Sought</b>
Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS) will hold a series of public input sessions beginning Thursday, Dec. 6. The meetings will offer residents an opportunity for input regarding the department’s strategic plan and major objectives. PRCS manages 25 parks including two regional facilities, 10 community centers, one recreation center, two senior centers and two senior activity centers, two adult day-care centers, a nature preserve, a farm museum, a teen center and a visual and performing arts center. The department also operates licensed child-care and preschool programs, adaptive recreation programs for people with disabilities, youth outreach and prevention programs, youth and adult sports programs and after school programs for elementary and middle school age students.
The meeting on Dec. 6 begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Leesburg Senior Center located at 215 Depot Court, S.E., in Leesburg. Meetings are also scheduled on Jan. 10, at 7 p.m., at the Claude Moore Recreation Center, 46105 Loudoun Park Lane, in Sterling and Jan. 24, at 11 a.m., at the Carver Center, 400 Willie Palmer Way, in Purcellville. Call 703-777-0343 or visit www.loudoun.gov/prcs.
<b>Marker Installed at Morven Park</b>
Historic Morven Park announces the installation of a new Virginia Civil War Trails interpretive marker on its 1,000-acre property off Old Waterford Road in Leesburg.
The marker, the third one located on the grounds at Morven, commemorates the role of the plantation in the early months of the war, when it was home to Confederate troops of the 17th Mississippi Regiment in the winter of 1861/62.
To visit the new Civil War Trails marker, one of more than 700 in the multi-state program, follow Old Waterford Road to the Southern Planter Lane entrance. The main drive will lead to the marker, located on the lawn below the mansion. The Southern Planter Lane entrance is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through winter. Interpretive tours have ended for the 2007 season and will resume in April 2008. In addition to the new marker, there are markers located along Tutt Lane, off Route 15 North at the Morven Park International Equestrian Center. For more information, call 703-777-2414 or visit www.morvenpark.org and www.civiltrails.org.