A group that mounted an abortive lawsuit last year to undo a Fairfax County tax district that helps fund the Dulles Rail project expects to start another legal challenge, the group’s leader said Monday.
Dulles Corridor Users Group founder Chris Walker, a developer and long time opponent of extending rail to Washington Dulles International Airport, has drafted a petition seeking to scrap the sprawling district and refund the about $74 million in taxes collected under it since 2004. While the petition appears to be largely symbolic, Walker said it could be a precursor to a lawsuit if it is rejected
by the county Board of Supervisors.
Dulles Rail’s future hangs in the balance while the Federal Transit Administration decides whether to fund a key $900 million. Talk of refunding the tax district money has intensified since the FTA said earlier this year the rail is too expensive and problematic to meet the agency’s standards. No final determination has been made.
Walker was on the verge of suing Fairfax County last summer but said he backed off after his lawyer withdrew. The thrust of his argument remains the same, however: That the tax district was set up unfairly and has since expired.
“We maintain that this thing was sold on a certain set of premises, and the premises aren’t there,” he said.
To reverse the tax district, owners of 51 percent of the property in it would need to sign the petition, said Jim McGettrick, assistant Fairfax County attorney. The district takes up large parts of Tysons Corner and Reston.
The level of opposition to meet that threshold does not exist currently, said Tony Calabrese, an attorney with Cooley Godward Kronish who represents Tysons landowners.
“I don’t think the will is there at the moment,” he said. “It may be a very different story if the governor and the FTA discussions do not prove fruitful.”
Landowners aren’t as spooked as they were when the FTA released a letter detailing itsqualms with the project in January, said Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Bill Lecos.
“I don’t see the angst that existed four weeks ago,” Lecos said. “I think folks are now waiting to see how it settles out and what the plan is for moving forward.”
