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Vol. 40, No. 6 -- June 2005
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By Linsey Martin
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1940 - 1949
A look back at some of the events that shaped Virginia local government over the past century
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CCC workers transplanting trees in Shenandoah National Park circa 1935. |
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World War II
The onset of World War II drastically affected the lives and lifestyles of Virginians. More than 300,000 served during the war, while more than 7,000 lost their lives. Like World War I, industrialization and urbanization resulted from war – this time on a more permanent scale. Between 1940 and 1943, Virginia’s civilian population increased by 9 percent with areas such as Hampton Roads increasing by 60 percent; Arlington and Alexandria by 46 percent; Radford by 35 percent. The military and civilian population boom created difficulties as direct cooperation between local and federal governments did not exist at the time. Slow but steady progress was made through the war years to enlist federal aid to localities affected by the influx of military personnel. In 1942, Virginia declared a state of emergency due to the war and established local defense councils in all counties, cities and towns to oversee civilian defense.
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Norfolk housing circa 1940s.
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Public housing and slum clearance
To address the housing shortage in expanding defense-oriented industrial cities, Congress passed the Lanham Act in 1940 granting localities money for housing. Many Virginia cities received funding, including Norfolk, Newport News, Bristol and Hopewell. After the war, these former military housing projects were converted to low-cost public dwellings. Throughout the years following the war, local and federal attention turned to the growing slum problem in many municipalities. In 1949, the federal Housing Act granted aid to local governments for locally planned slum clearance and urban renewal projects. The act also gave federal money for 810,000 new units of low-income public housing. In 1949, Norfolk was one of the first two cities in the nation to receive an allocation to construct public housing. The city built 3,000 units.
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| A 1949 Virginia Municipal Review cartoon illustrated the conflict between urban and rural parts of Virginia. |
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Local taxation
To address the serious fiscal difficulties resulting from both the Great Depression and World War II, the 1948 General Assembly established the Virginia Tax Commission to review extensively all state and local taxes, revenues and receipts. Because localities had control over their individual real estate tax rates and business license taxes, many public officials grew concerned over the lack of uniformity across the state. Additionally, many cities complained that the revenues from their local taxes were not sufficient to fully fund their local governments. Rural versus urban taxation became a concern as many cities found themselves paying higher taxes, such as the gasoline tax, while rural localities received the bulk of state aid.
