Local Governments Working Together Since 1905
Legislative Bulletin

February 16, 2007

General Assembly enters last week of session

The 2007 General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn one week from tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 24. Please contact your delegation on the bills covered in today's Legislative Bulletin. All House members. All Senate members.

Senate Finance Committee kills property tax notification, meals tax bills

The Senate Finance Committee killed several bills opposed by local governments, including one introduced on behalf of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling that would have required localities to mail each property owner a notice of their public hearing on the budget.

The notice would have included the current year’s real estate tax levy for each individual parcel and the proposed tax levies for the upcoming tax year. The proposed tax levy would have been based on the budget proposed by the local administrator or manager.

As local officials know, the proposed rate is not necessarily the final rate, and is often lowered by the governing body. Del. Tim Hugo worked with VML and VACo to address some of their concerns, but local governments ultimately opposed the bill because of the requirement for individual notices based on a proposed rate. The bill died for lack of a motion.

The other bills:

HB 2315 (Welch) would have required all cities to go to public referendum for any meals tax increase for rates higher than 5.5 percent. The bill died for lack of a second to the motion to report.

HB 1937 (Purkey) would have expanded the definition of “idle equipment” to include the idle equipment of research & development firms, technology, high tech and nanotechnology firms. The bill would have created a loss in business personal property tax revenue for localities, estimated at more than $30 million statewide. The bill died for lack of a motion.

HB 2806 (Byron) would have required commissioners of the revenue to deny or revoke business licenses for people who cannot provide legal documents indicating that they are legally eligible to be employed in the United States. Byron and representatives of the commissioners of revenue worked (albeit unsuccessfully) to find mutually acceptable language. The bill died for lack of a second to the motion to report. A similar measure by the same patron -- HB 3130 -- also failed to report in the committee.

Homestead exemption goes to House floor; call delegates in support

Delegates will vote next week on a constitutional amendment on homestead exemptions. The House Privileges & Elections Committee reported SJR 354 (Rerras), which authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation that will allow localities to exempt or defer real property taxes up to 20 percent of residential or continuous-habitation farm property that is the owner’s primary dwelling. Please call your delegate in support of SJR 354.

Here are some talking points:

1. This measure would give local officials the ability to provide real estate tax relief to homeowners.

2. In many jurisdictions, residential assessments have increased at a far more rapid pace than commercial real estate; therefore, simply cutting the real estate tax rate does not result in enough tax relief for homeowners.

3. The measure is optional for localities to use.

4. If enacted, SJR 354 will have to be adopted in an identical form in the 2008 session of the General Assembly before going to the voters in the November 2008 general election.

The House Privileges & Elections Committee also reported SJR 340 (Devolites Davis), which would allow local governments to exempt from personal property taxation motor vehicles owned or leased by a member of the armed forces serving in an area of military conflict. The committee defeated a constitutional amendment that would have placed redistricting in the hands of an independent redistricting commission.

Text book bill dies; measure reported permitting public and private schools to cooperate on transporting students

The Senate Education and Health Committee passed by indefinitely a bill that would have ensured that textbooks and workbooks were available for use by students at home -- HB 2556 (Frederick). Some school divisions felt the bill carried a potentially costly price tag as they interpreted the bill to require the purchase of double sets of textbooks.

The committee reported HB 2302 (Cole), which permits local school boards to enter into agreements with nonpublic schools in the school division to provide student transportation.

Post employment benefits bill amended, reported

A substitute of the bill that authorizes localities and other political subdivisions to establish trusts in order to pre-fund post employment benefits sailed out of a House Appropriations subcommittee and will be voted on by the full committee later today (Feb. 16). The substitute to SB 789 (Stosch) does not include the language that would have permitted local governments to contract with the Virginia Retirement System to serve as money manager for the trusts.

Local governments still support passage of the remainder of the bill, which will at least make it clear that political subdivisions can establish these accounts. New standards issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board require that governments recognize the cost of benefits promised to retirees during the time period that the employee is on the payroll, as opposed to when the employee actually retires. Larger local governments must start recognizing the cost of these post employment benefits in their audits for FY07; all local governments will be subject to the standards by FY10.

The most common post employment benefit is health insurance for retirees; local governments may wish to establish separate trust funds in order to keep the funding and accounting for these benefits separate from the medical benefits offered current employees.

LEOS legislation trimmed

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Compensation and Retirement approved a slimmer version of the bill granting sheriffs’ deputies enhanced retirement benefits. SB 1166, introduced by Del. Ken Stolle of Virginia Beach, increases the retirement rate for state police from 1.70 percent to 1.85 percent and grants local governments the authority to raise the retirement multiplier for local law enforcement officials to that higher rate as well. The bill does not require localities to give deputies the enhanced retirement benefits under the Law Enforcement Officers Retirement System. The House Appropriations Committee will vote on the bill Saturday.

Both the House and Senate budget address the issue of retirement benefits for deputies.

The House budget adds $3.8 million for increased retirement contribution rates for deputies, and allows localities that have not already extended enhanced benefits to their deputies to have the option of putting deputies under either LEOS or the less expensive Virginia Law Officers Retirement System (VALORS). Up until now, this program has been available only to state employees. The House budget also increases the maximum retirement contribution rate reimbursed by the Compensation Board for deputies included under LEOS or equivalent programs from 5.74 percent to 7.77 percent. Localities may raise the multiplier for public safety officers to 2 percent.

The Senate budget includes $11.5 million to provide some state funding for each sheriff’s deputy position based on the local stress index, requires localities to put deputies under LEOS, establishes an increased multiplier for sheriffs with the amount increasing for each year of service beyond the age of 55, and allows localities to increase the multiplier in the same way for other public safety officers.

Status of transportation packages

The two transportation packages -- HB 3202 (Howell) and SB 1101 (Williams) -- are now to be worked out by a conference committee. The conference committee members are: Dels. Morgan Griffith, Terry Kilgore, Kirk Cox, Chris Jones, Tim Hugo and Algie Howell and Sens. Martin Williams, Frank Wagner, Phillip Puckett, Thomas Norment and Kenneth Stolle.

The House version, in SB 1101 provides that VDOT will cease to accept new subdivision streets – the Senate version in HB 3202 provides that VDOT is to develop regulations on which subdivision streets will be accepted into the state system. The Senate version also directs the Secretary of Transportation to work with selected counties to evaluate how counties could take over road maintenance – including state funding. One or more pilot programs could be developed.

The House version makes it possible for the six counties with a population over 90,000 and which don’t maintain their roads to impose impact fees on by-right residential development in agricultural zones. The Senate version deleted this provision, but contains a study by the money and land use committees of the funding sources for local infrastructure, including impact fees, cash proffers and others.

The House version retains the urban transportation service district piece, that provides for counties to create special tax districts and to take over road maintenance in the districts. The state would pay any county creating a UTSD the urban maintenance amount plus the difference between that amount and what VDOT currently spends on maintenance. The Senate stripped that language from HB 3202.

Please refer to VML’s Feb. 14 Legislative Bulletin for a more complete description of the land-use provisions of the two bills.

In addition to major differences over land-use matters, the Senate’s version in HB 3202 removes $250 million in general funds from the transportation-funding piece passed by the House. The Senate replaced the general fund money with a one-time $150 vehicle registration fee that could raise about $300 million annually.

Counties, Cities and Towns Committee reports land-use measures

The House Counties, Cities and Towns Commitee reported the following bills involving land use:

SB 1351 (Wagner) will provide that underground distribution facilities of power companies and gas companies will be exempt from the comprehensive plan review process in Va. Code § 15.2-2232. The bill reported by the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee is a version worked out by VML, VACo, several localities and public utilities representatives.

SB 955 (Quayle) is a useful step in amending the affordable dwelling unit statute. It will allow several localities that are now attempting to begin or improve their affordable dwelling unit programs to move forward. The authority of localities to require the dedication of affordable housing is expected to be studied by the Housing Commission after the session. This may lead to further amendments to the law in the 2008 session.

SB 838 (Devolites Davis) amends the provision in land use law that permits localities to require applicants for land use approvals to disclose any business dealings with members of the locality's governing body or planning commission. The bill specifically allows a locality to require the disclosure of business relationships in comprehensive plan amendments. Current law is limited to rezonings and other actions. The committee reported the bill.

Localities concerned about delays in WQIF funding

Amendments agreed to by the Senate Finance Committee in HB 1710 (Callahan) may result in delay, not progress. As amended, the legislation provides no new money for the Water Quality Improvement Fund. Language providing $250 million in the initial version of the legislation was eliminated. And local governments are concerned that existing funding could be delayed, because the bill defers grant reimbursement until 75 percent of the local share of the project cost has been expended. VML is working with the patron and interested organizations, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Virginia Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies, to resolve these problematic amendments. The HB 1710 Senate substitute will now go to the full Senate. The House Appropriations Committee reported a related bill on Feb. 16. The House Appropriations Committee substitute for SB 771 includes language requiring the General Assembly to provide $500 million for grants to fund nutrient removal technology. That measure will go before the full House.

Other transportation bills

The House Transportation Committee reported legislation helpful to local governments. At its Feb. 15 meeting the committee approved SB 924 (Ticer), which provides that local law enforcement vehicles used in conducting funeral escorts, wide-load escorts, or dignitary escorts are considered emergency vehicles and are exempt from obeying regulations such as speed limits or traffic signs and signals. Also reported was SB 1181 (Williams), delineating the process whereby subdivision streets can be taken into the state secondary highway system.

The Senate Transportation Committee denied a measure that would have eliminated local governments’ option of requiring that tow truck operators obtain a second written authorization from the owner of the property from which the vehicle is towed. Local governments opposed HB 2260 (Rust) because it would hinder local efforts to regulate so-called predatory tow truck operators.

Senate Transportation Committee reports photo-red bill

The Senate Transportation Committee voted 13-2 to approve a House bill that would allow all localities to use automated cameras to photograph motorists running red lights. HB 1778 (Cosgrove) spells out that the fine for being convicted is $50 per violation.

House fails to take up billboard bill for fourth day in a row

The House of Delegates passed by SB 1102 (Williams) for the fourth day in a row today (Feb.16). The bill would allow the owner of a billboard situated on land acquired due to widening, construction or reconstruction by purchase, or by exercise of eminent domain, to relocate the billboard to another location on the same property and adjust the height or angle of it.

Although SB 1102 was defeated initially in the House 45-51 on Tuesday, supporters of it invoked a legislative prerogative that will allow it to be reconsidered. As a result, the supporters have been working hard since Tuesday afternoon, when the bill was passed by for the first time, to convince delegates to switch their votes.

Please contact your delegate, if you have not already, in order to voice opposition to the bill. List of all delegates. Each time the bill is passed by another day, votes can switch. It's essential that our opposition is fresh in the minds of delegates when they finally vote on this bill.

Shooting range bill to be heard Monday in Senate Courts Committee

The Senate Courts Committee will consider a House bill on Monday that takes away local authority to impose a one-half mile safety zone for shooting around a subdivision. If you have a senator on the committee, please urge him or her to vote against reporting HB 3109 (Janis). An Action Call was e-mailed on Feb. 9, which lists additional concerns VML has with the bill and some talking points.

Bill prohibiting weapons in law enforcements facilities killed

A subcommittee of the House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee killed SB 1007 (Saslaw), which would have allowed localities to prohibit weapons in the lobby of law enforcement facilities.

Costly CSA bill amended; referred

SB 1332 (Devolites Davis), which would expand the mandated population for the Comprehensive Services Act to include children with mental health needs, was amended, reported and sent to the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday (Feb. 15). VML opposes the bill, but accepted the amendments to it, which included a re-enactment clause (which means the bill will not go into effect this year, and must come back before the General Assembly next year for passage if it is to go into effect). The bill's patron indicated to the House Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee, where the bill was heard and acted upon, that she supported the amendments to the bill, including the re-enactment clause.

The bill will be heard by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Resources on Monday morning, and by the full committee that afternoon. VML supports language in the proposed House budget that addresses the issue in the bill without creating a fiscal impact on local or state government.

Senate committee defeats bill on public benefits

The Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services defeated HB 2937 (J.H. Miller), which would have forbidden any organization receiving state or local funds to use those funds to provide any benefits or assistance to persons who are otherwise ineligible to receive them (i.e., illegal aliens).

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