Northern Virginia officials said they may have trouble paying what they owe Metro and the Virginia Railway Express because of errors in the collection of gas taxes that were supposed to cover those costs. Auditors determined $6.4 million in gas tax revenues were sent to the wrong jurisdictions by the gas distributors who pay the tax. But that amount may be only a tiny fraction of the money misappropriated, because the audits included only seven of about 150 taxpayers over the past two and a half years, according to Jay Fisette, chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.
The errors were caused when gas distributors, who pay the tax on gas sold at gas stations, incorrectly identified the jurisdiction in which the gas was sold. Revenues that are supposed to go to Falls Church, for instance, may be mistakenly sent to Fairfax County, officials said.
The result is that communities counting on the revenue to pay their share of Metro and VRE are not getting what they expect and are waiting for the mistakes to be fixed.
The 2.1 percent gas tax is a special levy imposed in Northern Virginia specifically to help fund the commuter rail systems.
Local officials worry the problem will only get worse.
“The rate they do the audits is not sufficient,” said Gary Skinner, a supervisor in Spotsylvania County, which lost revenue because of errors. “Our biggest concern is that from here the timeline for us to get that money that’s been sent to the wrong location will expire.”
State law requires that many of the errors be corrected by January, but that may not be enough time for state auditors to check all necessary records, officials warn. If the deadline isn’t met, jurisdictions could lose millions.
Making matters worse for local officials, the state is switching responsibility for overseeing the gas tax allocations from the Department of Taxation to the Department of Motor Vehicles. That could cause further delays, they said.
“It’s frustrating to know that the errors are persisting,” said Richard Taube, executive director of the Transportation Commission.
The DMV tried to reassure Northern Virginia officials it would complete the audits as quickly as possible.
“[We] will assure your tax dollars are adequately protected,” DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb wrote.
