Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerald Connolly said he wants the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to move with “all deliberate speed” to vote on a broad set of fees that would raise hundreds of millions for regionwide transportation projects.
Connolly’s call for urgency signaled his almost certain vote of approval for the proposed levies that accompany H.B. 3202, the first major Northern Virginia road and transit funding package to pass the General Assembly in decades.
The NVTA, a regional entity charged with administering the new funding, is scheduled to vote July 12 on approving the fees. When fully implemented, the increase are expected to raise $300 million annually. A public hearing is also set that day at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church.
“All indications from the public are that’s the No. 1 issue, and I think we need to move with all deliberate speed to address that issue,” he said. “The General Assembly and the governor have given us an opportunity to raise a significant [revenue source].”
To pass, the fees must be approved by enough NVTA board members to account for two-thirds of the population under the authority, according to the structure of the bill.
That means the fees cannot pass without the approval of Connolly, who represents a county with about half the overall population.
