County investigates change in zip codes

Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer The addresses of patrons at the post office at Midlothian Turnpike and Pinetta Drive and others may change if the county pursues Chesterfield zip codes.

Chesterfield County residents with a Richmond address could one day have to change their address labels. The county is meeting this week with U.S. Postal Service offi cials to discuss how to change the location identities for Richmond zip codes 23224, 23225, 23234, 23235, 23236 and 23237, Colonial Heights 23804, and Petersburg 23803 that serve Chesterfield residences and businesses.

Henrico County recently went through the same process, but it's likely to be more difficult in Chesterfield and generate less tax revenue.

The county's favored option is to change the name of those cities to Chesterfield, according to Deputy County Administrator Becky Dickson. Henrico's recent zip code change was relatively easy because the 11 Richmond zip codes could be changed to Henrico, VA. Chesterfield already has Chesterfield zips 23832 and 23838 and isn't allowed to use that name again.

"There can't be any post office that [already] holds that name," said Cathy Boule, communications coordinator for the United State Post Office in Richmond.

Postal regulations specify that "a city name is deemed acceptable if the locality has an established legal identity, such as a state charter, legal description of the boundaries, elected or appointed governing body."

Chesterfield's second option appears even less likely to succeed - realigning the post offices so there isn't any overlap over city/ county jurisdictions. Post offices in Chesterfield would only serve homes and businesses in Chesterfield.

Spotsylvania County near Fredericksburg is considering a third option that Chesterfield might emulate: have the county board identify certain areas so the zip code can remain the same. For example, the zip code area 23235 could be named Bon Air with a mailing address of Bon Air, VA 23235.

Though county staff has been working on this issue for some time, the matter has not yet been brought to the board of supervisors for a briefing. According to Henrico spokesperson Steve Knockmus, his county worked on the problem for six years and involved 84,000 residents and businesses with a Richmond zip code.

"We are pursuing it," said County Administrator Jay Stegmaier, "not just for the money but also for identity. Some citizens are concerned that their geographic location is different from their mailing address."

While the focus of the Henrico change was to recover an estimated $5 million in sales tax revenue paid to Richmond that belonged to Henrico, Chesterfield's loss is estimated to be less, according to Commissioner of Revenue Joe Horbal. The lost revenue also includes residents who erroneously send their personal property taxes to the wrong locality.

"If we are able to change the name of certain postal areas to more accurately reflect their communities, that would be helpful to the taxpayers and businesses," explained Horbal. "But we have methods to discover those businesses or persons who are paying their taxes erroneously."

When companies out of state collect the 5 percent sales tax for the Virginia Department of Taxation, some of them mistakenly report the jurisdiction where the sale was made based on the zip code. For example, companies with retail stores in Chesterfield Towne Center that have Richmond zip code 23235 transfer the sales taxes to the state, but might report the sales were made in the city when the 1 percent local sales tax should be credited to Chesterfield.

Chesterfield has about 43,000 residences and 2,800 businesses with a Richmond address. Approximately 7,600 homes and 1,440 businesses are in Chesterfield with a Petersburg or Colonial Heights address.

Henrico is expecting to switch over to the Henrico, VA address by year's end after the post offices have updated their databases. Mail will still reach the recipient regardless of whether the address is Henrico or Richmond as long as it carries the zip code.

"The vote established Henrico as the preferred mailing address, but Richmond is an acceptable alternative," said Knockmus.

The post office required approval by residents and businesses, and the Henrico switch was favored by 61 percent of those who returned the simple postcard asking for a yes or no vote for Henrico, VA. Henrico spent about $80,000 to persuade its impacted constituents. Most of the advertising was allocated to direct mail and fliers inside of utility bills, but some money was spent on print advertising and television.

About 35 percent of the postcard ballots were returned. Richmond countered with its own advertising effort unsuccessfully.