The Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission is a 31-member body created by the 1999 General Assembly. Its mission is the promotion of economic growth and development in tobacco-dependent communities, using proceeds of the national tobacco settlement. To date, the Commission has awarded 1,514 grants totaling more than
$876 million across the tobacco region of the Commonwealth, and has provided $309 million in indemnification payments to tobacco growers and quota holders. Click on Who are We at the left to learn more.
The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (“the Commission”) will begin the 2012 distribution of Phase I Indemnification payments to eligible Virginia flue-cured and burley producers and quota owners in June 2012.
Verification for Payment Forms and Applications for Payment will be mailed on or before April 13, 2012 to all eligible flue-cured and burley producers and quota owners. Payments to flue-cured and burley producers will be based on the 1998 crop year. Payments to flue-cured and burley quota owners will be based on the 1999 crop year.
If you were a flue-cured and/or burley quota owner as of July 1, 1999 and/or have received payment in previous years but do not receive a 2012 Verification Form by April 23, 2012 please contact the Phase I Program as soon as possible. For those eligible claimants who do not receive forms, the Phase I Program will assist you in completing the necessary paperwork to participate in this year’s program.
The 2012 Phase I payment rates established by the Commission are:
Flue-Cured Quota Owners 6.01 cents per pound of Basic Quota
Flue-Cured Producers 4.93 cents per pound of Basic Quota
Burley Quota Owners 7.03 cents per pound of Basic Quota
Burley Producers 6.36 cents per Payment Pound
The verification procedure for qualified tobacco producers and quota owners is similar to the one established by the Commission for the 2000-2011 Phase I payments. Completed and signed Verification for Payment forms and Applications for Payments must be returned by the May 18, 2012 deadline in order to be eligible for the June 2012 payment.
Since 2000, the Commission has made available $309 million to Virginia’s tobacco growers and owners, thereby fulfilling its statutory obligation. In January 2012, the Commission announced that it has reached the end of its indemnification obligation. The 2012 payment will be the final distribution of Phase I Indemnification funds. At that time, the Commission will have satisfied its statutory obligation to indemnify burley and flue-cured producers and quota owners.
Claimants who need additional information may contact Troutman Sanders LLP, Phase I Tobacco Indemnification Program at 1-888-629-7682 or 804-697-1869 from outside of Virginia. Information is also available on the Program’s web site at www.vatip.com.
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