Va. funding plan’s impact on region disputed

The plan allows cities and counties in Northern Virginia to raise about $420 million a year for local projects. To get the money, the local governing bodies need to enact a series of tax and fee increases, such as a $100 charge the first time a new resident applies for a driver’s license and surcharges on rental cars and hotel rooms.

“It will mean more money for transportation in Northern Virginia than anything else in history,” said Del. David Albo, R-Springfield.

Legislators disagree about whether the local officials will actually vote for those increases, however.

“We need a real solution to our transportation problem, not smoke and mirrors,” Del. Vivian Watts, D-Annandale.

Local officials have warned legislators they are unwilling to enact the hikes and think the General Assembly is foisting the decisions on them to avoid politically unpleasant votes for tax increases. But Albo and other supporters say that unless the localities raise the money themselves, the funds would go to the state and could be diverted for other purposes in the future, especially if the economy sours.

“I have heard from plenty of members of county boards of supervisors and city councils,” said Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, “and none of them have told me they will vote for this.”

Gov. Tim Kaine, a former Richmond mayor, said he would rather see the legislature enact the higher taxes and fees. That provision will be among the issues he considers over the next month as he draws up amendments that he has promised to propose.

Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, R-Vienna, thinks local governments will hear from constituents fed up with trafficand decide to support the increases. Elected officials will not want to anger voters, who according to published polls, heavily favor paying more for roads and mass-transit projects, she said.

“If they don’t vote for this,” Davis said, “I think they will have a very difficult time with their re-election campaigns.”

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