“We Can't Raise Taxes for Transportation”

Thanks for this information....just one question...why don't you include any information about Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties? A lot of us come from way down yonder, and since our Boards like to meet in the middle of the week, it's hard to stay on top of these things!

Let's fill up the Rt. 17 lot and ease up on Mine Rd.!!

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Originally posted by JK 14 n G
[br]Thanks for this information....just one question...why don't you include any information about Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties? A lot of us come from way down yonder, and since our Boards like to meet in the middle of the week, it's hard to stay on top of these things!

Let's fill up the Rt. 17 lot and ease up on Mine Rd.!!

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Civics 301

This may be a long digression. Hit delete now before you fall asleep and your head falls on the keyboard.

Virginia is a Dillon Rule State.

Dillon Rule?

There are two philosophies on sharing authority from the state to local government. Home Rule and Dillon Rule.

In a Home Rule State, a local government can do anything it wants as long as the state does not prohibit it. Local Government can collect taxes, set up speed traps, red light cameras, slug parking, set the school curriclum, etc. Local government usually cannot impose the death penalty, establish independent traffic laws or duplicate a state function, such as highway patrol or VDOT.

In a Dillon Rule State, a local government cannot do anything unless the State specifically authorizes it.

A conflict on taxing policy is getting Virginia to authorize a local government to impose a tax and then getting the local government to collect that tax.

Virginia hesitates to authorize a local government to collect taxes, especially if the request for taxing comes from Northern Virginia. Once the authority is granted, the local government hestitates to use the new found power. Collecting the authorized tax makes the local politician look like a money grubbing crook. Let the state collect the taxes and then complain that there isn't enough tax money available for the school's football team or marching band. This is called putting the gold watch on the table.

Even if the local government collects the authorized tax, spending the money on what it was ostensibly collected for is impossible. It is too easy to "delay" spending and "borrow" against the asset represented by those collected assets. Besides, VRE and METRO are senior partners. Those two entities get paid first.

Cities in Virginia can have their own transportation (road) departments. Only two counties are authorized their own transportation deparments (Henrico and Arlington]. Suffolk, the one stand out ctiy that used VDOT to maintain its roads has opted to use their own transportation department.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/s­tories/story.cfm?story=85454&r­an=107659


The City [Suffolk]Council’s decision Wednesday to take over road maintenance from the Virginia Department of Transportation means there will be less money for other road projects across the state.


Suffolk’s share of state road maintenance money will jump from $7.2
million to $15.1 million next year because VDOT will classify the
city’s roads as urban – which means they are funded at a higher rate...

“When Suffolk takes over, that diminishes the overall amount available for other cities,” said Charles Miller, a VDOT assistant division administrator for management services in Richmond.


The takeover ends Suffolk’s reign as the only city in the state that
still relied on VDOT to maintain its roads. The city will now have to
create a road department, but will still get the majority of its
maintenance money from the state – city crews will just do the work.

I notice that many of you intrepid readers have a string of ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's on your screen, so I'll get off the soap box.

An example of Dillon Rule applied to transportation. If the Commonwealth Transportation Board doesn't OK it (like a slug line) it is most likely illegal. Just turns out there isn't any money to enforce squashing slugs. Most likely if CTB gets around to slugs, the answer will be HOT.

Why wasn't Stafford and Spotsylvania's tax information shown? Just a little too much research for a slow afternoon. The afternoon wasn't that slow. Too many ZZZZZZZZZZZZ's on the screen.



dickboyd@aol.com

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Originally posted by RobertLangDirect
[br]Dick;

It isn't an issue of new taxes. The issue is for a Government that pays for infrastructure first, that gets us to work more efficiently, that we earn more, and then -- AT THE SAME RATE TABLE AS TODAY == pay more taxes simply because we have more money.

NO NEW TAXES, NO ADDED TAXES, NO LOCAL INITIATIVES FOR OTHER TAXES!

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Good points, RLD. Yes, the issue is for government to spend the money the way the taxpayers think it should be spent. Even local governments in California are opting to do more of the local governing locally rather than depend on the state.

The structure of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) is a hinderance to slugs. Until slugs get a PAID representative on CTB, the status quo will remain just that. If you do what you did, you will get what you got.

In Virginia, one problem is that a local government can't do anything unless big daddy state says it is OK. The way the Delegates and Senators are set up, seniority rules. A career politician from Buchanan County will have more say so over how Northern Virginia tax money is spent than a northern Virginia politician that works up from School Board to Supervisor to Delegate to Federal representation.

Sadly, government officials don't think like you. Infrastructure investment is merely a way to spread the pork. Again, many governments are moving towards "enterprise" activities. Much like a water agency that charges for the number of gallons delivered, a public private enterprise will charge for services rendered while enjoying the monopoly protection of the state. Problem is public/private is merely a rehash of business as usual.

Be careful of what you ask for, you just might get it. Ask for transportation and I'm sure you will get trains and buses. But no slug parking.

dickboyd@aol.com

quote:

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Originally posted by JK 14 n G
[br]Thanks for this information....just one question...why don't you include any information about Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties? A lot of us come from way down yonder, and since our Boards like to meet in the middle of the week, it's hard to stay on top of these things!

Let's fill up the Rt. 17 lot and ease up on Mine Rd.!!

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For information on the Spotsylvania County Budget:
http://www.spotsylvania.va.us/departments/finance/budget/index.cfm

For a county of 90,000 people give or take a few ten thousand, the budget is extremely difficult to follow. Where does the money come from and where does it go? Hard to tell. I guess the people that live in Spotsylvania really don't care.

The budget does indicate that Spotsylvania is hiring a transportation engineer and that there is a Transportation Commission. FRED seems to be the center of transportation planning.

dickboyd@aol.com