Gov. Tim Kaine changed the transportation-funding bill last week to make implementing $400 million in higher taxes and fees easier for regional officials skittish about supporting a tax increases in an election year. The amendment, which lawmakers approved Wednesday, means Northern Virginia residents will be required to pay higher taxes and fees even if their county board of supervisors or city councils oppose the increases.
The bill requires affirmative votes from just six of the nine elected officials representing the localities on the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to implement the higher taxes and fees across the region.
The version of the transportation bill lawmakers approved in February required the governing bodies of the Northern Virginia counties and cities to each vote to impose the increases before they would take effect. Kaine’s amendment means every local official in the area will not have to go on record with a vote on the tax-and-fee package.
The new levies are expected to generate $400 million a year for roads and mass transit locally. Under state law, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, plus Alexandria, Manassas, Falls Church and Fairfax City make up Northern Virginia and have seats on the authority’s board of directors.
Kaine changed the Northern Virginia provision to mirror the bill’s section creating revenue for Hampton Roads to increase the chances the increases would be approved region-wide and generate the maximum amount of revenue.
“That was one of the recommendations we heard from the elected officials we talked to,” Kaine spokesman Kevin Hall said. “It was offered in the spirit of coming up with a regional framework that would actually be implemented.”
Del. Robert Marshall, R-Prince William, voted against the legislation Wednesday because he said the state constitution requires that boards or councils impose higher taxes on their citizens, not the authority. But Del. David Albo, R-Springfield, who helped write the bill, pointed out that Article VII Section 2 of Virginia’s constitution allows the legislature to give powers including taxation to a “regional government,” such as the transportation authority.
“It may not be the right thing to do but it is right there in the constitution,” said Albo, an attorney.
The General Assembly created the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority in 2002 to coordinate the region’s transportation plans and priorities and develop policies to reduce air pollution. The authority will also determine how much of the $400 million raised by the higher taxes and fees will be spent.
