A local legislator on Tuesday criticized Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine’s changes to the Northern Virginia transportation funding package, saying the amendments place a hefty financial burden on drivers.
Del. David Albo, R-Springfield, said he “much prefers” the original proposal he crafted to the Democratic governor’s rewrite of a 105-page transportation bill lawmakers approved last month.
House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and other GOP lawmakersalso oppose the bill’s tax and fee structure, which includes provisions that could increase vehicle registration fees by $30 in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads and $20 in the rest of the state.
“He replaced the commercial real estate tax with a bunch of new charges on owning an automobile,” Albo told The Examiner. “I don’t like it, but he’s the governor and there is not much I can do about it.”
Kaine’s amendments, released Monday, raise money from new taxes and fees instead of relying on increasing commercial real estate property in Northern Virginia. Albo’s plan relied on the commercial real estate tax for about half of its annual revenue ($200 million), while the governor’s proposal taxes hotel rooms, rental cars and vehicle repairs and raises fees for automobile registrations and safety inspections.
“The commercial real estate tax in the bill when it was sent to me was a nonstarter for local governments,” Kaine said.
Albo said he is researching his options to see if he can shoot down Kaine’s changes to the Northern Virginia section without jeopardizing the entire bill when the legislature convenes April 4 to consider the governor’s amendments and vetoes.
Local officials also complained that state lawmakers are sidestepping politically tough votes by requiring the jurisdictions to impose the higher taxes and fees. Kaine did not change that provision. If the General Assembly imposed the new levies, future legislatures could divert Northern Virginia’s locally raised transportation money to unrelated programs.
“The non-negotiable rule has always been that no one can touch the money we raise in Northern Virginia for transportation,” Albo said. “To do that, it has to be enacted by the locals. The governor lived up to that non-negotiable rule. We would have walked if he didn’t.”
At a glance
Under Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine’s amendments to the transportation funding bill, Northern Virginia localities can generate $320 million to $340 million a year for transportation by imposing the following taxes and fees:
» A new tax on property sellers (40 cents per $100 of assessed value)
» 2 percent motor vehicle rental tax
» 2 percent hotel and motel room tax
» $10 vehicle safety inspection fee
» 1 percent tax on first-time vehicle registrations
» 5 percent sales tax on auto repairs
» $10 fee on all vehicle registrations
