Download A digest of news from the General Assembly of interest to local

A digest of news from the General Assembly of interest to local governments
Feb. 22, 2011
Budget | Education | Eminent Domain | Environment | Finance/Taxes | FOIA |
Human Services | Land Use | Local Authority | Personnel | Public Safety |
Retirement/Benefits | Transportation | Miscellaneous
Budget
Make one last try to influence budget amendments
It seems unlikely that budget conferees will reach an agreement by the deadline of
midnight tonight, but the General Assembly is still expected to adjourn on time Saturday,
or close to it. With every seat in the legislature up for grabs this year, many delegates
and senators are anxious to being raising money and campaigning.
If you haven’t gotten in touch with your delegate and senator in support of
funding for HB 599, the Comprehensive Services Act, public education and the Water
Quality Improvement Fund, please do so at once. If you’ve already made that contact,
please do so again, particularly for your member(s) of the House of Delegates. More
details, including talking points, are included in the Action Calls posted on the General
Assembly index page of the VML website.
Rallies being held around the state to emphasize the importance of adequate state
funding for K-12 education continue to drive home the importance of the Senate budget
prevailing on this issue. Harrisonburg City Council Member Kai Degner represented
VML at a rally held last Friday in Harrisonburg while Roanoke Mayor David A. Bowers
and Roanoke Council Member Anita Prices spoke on behalf of their city and VML at a
rally held Feb. 21.
Staff contacts: Janet Areson, [email protected]; Neal Menkes,
[email protected]; Joe Lerch, [email protected] and Mary Jo Fields, [email protected].
Local involvement in providing veterans benefits
issue could resurface in budget deliberations
Even though the House Appropriations Committee tabled a bill on Monday that
could have led to local governments shouldering some of the cost of providing services to
veterans, the issue is not dead. The provisions in SB 1357 (Stosch) could reappear in the
budget that is still to be worked out between House and Senate conferees.
SB 1357 authorized the commissioner of the Department of Veterans Services to
establish a pilot program with a city or county, in which the locality would hire at least
one Veterans Services Officer to help veterans and their families file claims to obtain
public benefits. State funds, as appropriated, would be used (temporarily, at least) to pay
for the staff position(s). A report on the success of such a program would be completed
by Nov. 30, 2012; the bill has a sunset provision of July 1, 2013.
Del. Roslyn Dance told fellow members of the Appropriations Public Safety
Subcommittee that she knows how programs such as this one get started by the state and
end up becoming a local mandate. Dance, a former mayor of Petersburg, said it would be
difficult to explain to localities that “this is good” for them.
The subcommittee, and later the full committee, agreed to table the bill. It was
made clear that the language could instead end up in the budget. Going this route makes
the issue a negotiating chip for Sen. Walter Stosch, the bill’s patron who serves as a
Senate budget conferee.
Staff contact: Janet Areson, [email protected].
Eminent Domain
Senate approves constitutional amendment on
eminent domain
Significant restrictions on the use of condemnation authority are included in a
constitutional amendment approved today by the Senate 35-5. The definition of just
compensation under HJR 693 (Joannou) was amended on the Senate floor to include the
value of the property taken, lost profits and lost access, and damages to the residue
caused by the taking. The floor amendment struck the language that included business
goodwill in the definition of just compensation. The floor amendment also deleted
language that provided protection and potential damages to adjacent property owners.
Finally, the floor amendment also states that the General Assembly would define the
terms “lost profits” and “lost access.”
It is anticipated that the Senate amendments will be accepted by the House of
Delegates. The measure will then have to be passed in identical form during the next
session and be submitted to the voters for final approval at the November 2012 general
election.
This constitutional amendment is likely to increase the cost of projects that
require condemnation of land, including transportation projects.
Staff contacts: Randy Cook, [email protected]; Mark Flynn,
[email protected].
Environment
Compromise reached on bill that affects local
water quality programs
SB 1099 (Hanger) was amended in a House committee last week after lengthy
negotiations amongst stakeholders, including VML, resulted in a compromise. As
originally drafted, local governments that have water quality improvement programs that
are funded with payments made by developers would have seen those payments go
elsewhere. The bill was amended to protect the local programs provided that payments
can only be for existing water quality improvements.
Many local governments accept payments from developers that are used to pay
for water quality improvement projects in those jurisdictions, but not on the site that is
being developed. For example, the developer of a small strip shopping center would have
the option of making a cash payment to a city or county in lieu of constructing
stormwater control measures to limit the release of harmful phosphorus at the site.
Instead of making every possible improvement at the site, the developer instead pays into
a fund that is used to pay for stream restoration or stormwater improvements elsewhere in
the jurisdiction.
The introduced bill would have developers pay the money, but it would go
elsewhere. Instead of going to the local government to pay for water quality
improvement projects, the money would instead go to the private developers of what are
known as “mitigation banks.” These are wetlands that have been restored, created or
enhanced within a few areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Virginia law allows
developers to purchase credits from these private bankers to offset phosphorus pollution
or the disturbance or destruction of wetlands and streams.
The amended bill now clarifies that developers can purchase credits either from
local government or private bankers so long as the water quality improvements being
purchased have already been established. Additionally the amended bill allows for
existing local government programs that accept payments for improvements yet to be
constructed to continue to do so until June 30, 2014. This is important because some local
governments have designed their programs to allow for payments to accrue so that larger
restoration projects can be capitalized when sufficient funds are available.
The amended bill passed the house and will now head back to the senate for their
consideration.
Staff contact: Joe Lerch, [email protected].
Finances/Taxes
Property tax bills advance; measures implement
changes to constitution
The two identical measures -- SB 987 (Puller) and HB 1645 (O’Bannon) -- codify
the constitutional amendment adopted by voters in November 2010 that provides for a
property tax exemption for veterans who have a 100 percent, service-related disability.
The constitutional amendment requires the General Assembly to enact the exemption in
general law.
The Senate unanimously passed an amended version of SB 987 on Friday. The
next stop is the governor’s office. The amended version of HB 1645 will pass this week,
and then go to Gov. Bob McDonnell for his signature.
Under the two bills, a county, city or town will provide by ordinance the real
property tax exemption for the qualifying dwelling and the land. The amount of land
eligible for tax exemption cannot exceed one acre unless the locality already exempts or
defers from real property taxes more than one acre of land as part of an elderly or
permanently and totally disabled tax relief program. In such cases, the amount of land
exempted for disabled veterans will be the same as the elderly or disabled program.
SB 1073 and HB 2278 authorize local governments to establish annual income or
financial worth limitations as a condition of eligibility for real property tax relief for the
elderly and permanently and totally disabled. The bills implement the amendment to
Article X, Section 6 (b) of the Constitution of Virginia that limits the General Assembly's
ability to establish the limitations and allows the General Assembly to authorize local
governments to establish the limitations. Both bills take effect upon passage.
SB 1073 is on its way to the governor after the amended version unanimously
passed the Senate last Friday. HB 2278, in an amended form, will pass the House this
week. Under the bills’ provisions, any county, city or town can provide exemption or
deferral of real property taxes if the qualifying dwelling and the land, not exceeding ten
acres, upon which the dwelling is situated.
Senate panel thwarts measure to restrict issues
that can be addressed in budget bill
The Senate Finance Committee voted 8-7 on Monday to pass by indefinitely HJ
615 (Janis), which would have prohibited any appropriation act from containing (1) any
provision that imposes, continues, increases, or revives any tax, fee, or fine or (2) any
provision that reduces, suspends, or eliminates any credit, deduction, or exemption
associated with any tax, fee, or fine.
The proposed constitutional amendment had sailed through the House of
Delegates by vote of 80-15 and the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections by vote
of 13-2. However, the Senate P&E committee ultimately decided to re-refer the proposed
constitutional measure to Senate Finance. It is likely that the Finance Committee viewed
the measure as overly restrictive in terms of reducing the General Assembly’s ability to
balance the state budget.
House sinks constitutional amendment granting
partial property tax exemption for boats
The House of Delegates torpedoed a constitutional amendment today that would
have allowed localities to partially exempt boats from personal property taxation.
Floor debate centered on the argument that the purpose of SJR 344 (Stuart) was to
encourage owners of expensive yachts to dry dock them in Virginia, instead of relocating
them to other states to avoid tax liability. Proponents said this would produce jobs for
people working on the boats during winter.
The amendment, however, quickly took on water when it was painted as tax relief
for yacht owners. Efforts by proponents to bail it out and keep it afloat were
unsuccessful. It ran aground 19-78.
Staff contact: Mary Jo Fields, [email protected].
Local governments are collateral damage in
political one-upmanship
Chapter 1
This cautionary tale holds a lesson for every elected official and the citizens who
believe good government should prevail over partisan politics.
Earlier this session, the Senate passed SB 980 (Whipple), which would extend the
sunset date for the additional transient occupancy tax in Arlington County from Jan. 1,
2012, to Jan. 1, 2015. Current law requires that the revenues from the tax be designated
and spent for promoting tourism and business travel in the county. This tax was first
enacted in 1990, and has been re-enacted in seven succeeding legislative sessions. The
General Assembly is familiar with the issue. The Senate approved the bill 29-7.
Last week a House bill -- HB 1452 (Scott) -- to add Accomack, Brunswick,
Madison, and Washington Counties to the list of localities that are currently authorized to
impose a transient occupancy tax at a maximum rate of 5 percent came up for vote in the
Senate. Apparently piqued at some of the senators who either opposed SB 980 or did not
vote on the Senate measure’s final passage, Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw
succeeded in tacking on a floor amendment to HB 1452 that would eliminate the
authority of certain cities, counties and towns from imposing any transient occupancy tax.
The affected localities included the cities of Colonial Heights, Danville, Harrisonburg,
Radford, Salem, Virginia Beach, and Winchester along with the counties (and towns
therein) of Botetourt, Caroline, Clarke, Essex, Fauquier, Franklin, Frederick, Hanover,
King and Queen, King William, Middlesex, Page, Pittsylvania, Rappahannock,
Shenandoah and Warren.
The floor amendment prevailed 24-15 and the Senate passed the amended HB
1452 along party lines: 22 (Democrats) to 18 (Republicans).
Chapter 2
Today, the House rejected the Senate amendment to HB 1452 by an
overwhelming vote of 88-9. The choices before the Senate now are to accede to the
House position or force creation of a conference committee to debate the measure.
But this tale is not over. Whatever happened to SB 980, the bill that started this
story? The House defeated it today 54-42. Was this a tit for tat because of how the
Senate treated the House bill? Or, perhaps, this is not Arlington’s year to get anything in
the General Assembly.
Stay tuned. Chapter 3 is in the works.
Staff contact: Neal Menkes, [email protected].
Personnel
‘Whistleblower’ bill moves to Senate floor
A bill that allows state and local employees who claim they were fired in
retaliation for “blowing the whistle” on a boss who was committing fraud was amended
and reported unanimously by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee Monday morning.
HB 1399 (Janis) will lead to new lawsuits being filed against local governments
by employees who were fired, no matter what the justification was for the dismissal.
Counties, cities and towns will spend sizable amounts defending cases and, if employees
are successful, paying the attorney’s fees of the fired employees. The bill allows
employees to recover twice the amount of back pay.
The committee did amend the bill to prohibit a public employee from being
awarded back pay in a grievance and then recovering the double back pay award in court.
The amendment requires the court to reduce the judgment by the amount received in the
grievance procedure.
HB 1399 could be voted on by the Senate as early as Wednesday. It passed the
House 99-0. Should the bill pass the Senate, the House is likely to agree to the Senate
amendment.
Staff contact: Mark Flynn, [email protected].
Retirement / Benefits
Defined contribution plan dies in committee; issue
remains alive in budget negotiations
The Senate Finance Committee passed by indefinitely on Monday the House plan
included in HB 2410 (Putney) to establish a defined contribution plan. The committee
also rejected an amendment by Sen. John Watkins to delay the bill’s effective date to
2013.
The version of the budget adopted by the House of Delegates includes the
language from HB 2410, establishing a defined contribution retirement plan for state and
local employees, including teachers. The establishment of this plan, therefore, remains a
subject for budget negotiations.
Staff contact: Mary Jo Fields, [email protected].