Alcohol Beverage Control reform bills advance
SB 1110 (Reeves) and HB 2634 (Hurst), which seek to reform one of Virginia’s foremost alcohol beverage control laws, have each advanced in their respective chambers. The bills, introduced by Senator Bryce Reeves and Delegate Chris Hurst, seek to allow the sale of mixed beverages by licensed restaurants and the sale of alcoholic beverages by […]
Broad equal taxing authority measure defeated; cigarette tax study continued
SB 1127 (Favola), legislation introduced at VACo’s request, was heard in the Senate Finance Committee on January 23. The bill would have equalized taxing authority between counties and cities and towns, effective July 1, 2020. In the intervening time, a work group convened under the auspices of the Division of Legislative Services would determine any […]
VACo opposes bill mandating every school division provide alternative education program
VACo spoke in opposition to HB 2387 (Bulova) that would require local school boards to provide alternative education programs for suspended students and assign licensed instructional personnel for such programs at division-wide ratios of students to full-time equivalent teaching at a ratio of 10 to 1. Though the provisions of the bill would become effective […]
VACo working to improve food truck legislation
SB 1425 (Dunnavant), as reported by the Senate Finance Committee on January 16, would provide that a food truck would only be subject to license taxes in the locality in which it is registered and where its owner pays personal property taxes on the truck. Other localities in which the food truck conducted business would […]
Tree conservation/replacement bills fail to advance
Two bills that would authorizes a locality to adopt an ordinance exceeding the minimum tree canopy requirements for tree preservation, planting, or replacement during the development process failed to advance out of subcommittee on January 23. Currently, only a locality in Planning District 8 with a population density of 75 persons per square mile and […]
Authority to re-examine property tax exemptions for certain nonprofits remains with the state
A Constitutional amendment approved by the voters in November 2002 allowed localities to grant real or personal property tax exemptions by ordinance, within certain categories set by the General Assembly. Prior to passage of this amendment, property tax exemptions were granted only by the General Assembly. Exemptions granted by the legislature before the Constitutional amendment […]
Trash receptacle screening bills canned for the year
SB 1155 (Black) and SB 1635 (Boysko) were scheduled to be heard by the Senate Local Government Committee on January 22, but ultimately Senator Richard Black and Jennifer Boysko asked that the bills be stricken from the agenda. The legislation would have authorized a locality, by ordinance, to require that trash, garbage, refuse, litter, and […]
Local flood plain regulation bill passes House
HB 2310 (Hayes), which provides greater authority to localities to regulate flood plains, passed the House of Delegates on January 24. The bill, an Administration bill introduced by Delegate Cliff Hayes, authorizes any locality to, by ordinance, regulate the activity on, or use or development of, a flood plain in a manner consistent with any […]
Legislation helps to address problem of misassigned voters
Several bills have been introduced to address a problem that surfaced after the 2017 elections, when it was discovered that some voters may have been placed in incorrect districts. Some of these situations stemmed from human error in the manual assignment of voters to districts within the state’s voter registration system, and some were the […]
Budget Amendments Introduced at VACo’s Request
VACo worked with patrons in the House and Senate to introduce a package of budget amendments to address major priorities of local governments. All member amendments were due to the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on Friday, January 11, so that staff could review them for any necessary technical corrections and prepare […]
Patricia O’Bannon
Henrico County Supervisor Q1. You’ve served on the Board of Supervisors since 1995. What are some of your “lessons learned” from your time in elected office? Has your approach to leadership changed over your time on the Board? Pat O’Bannon: I have learned to listen more to understand. The more input you have on any […]
Visit Botetourt County and the Apple Orchard Falls Trail
The Apple Orchard Falls National Recreation Trail leaves Sunset Fields at milepost 78.4 on the Blue Ridge Parkway and winds down Apple Orchard Mountain generally following the headwaters of North Creek. Hikers will follow the coursing stream, enjoying the gurgling waters hopping over and pushing through boulders as it travels down the mountain. Along the […]
Read VACo’s Capitol Contact
The 2019 General Assembly session will span from January 9 to February 23, and legislators will deliberate on many issues critical to local government, including taxes, the state budget, education funding, economic development, public safety, and other policy matters. VACo will continually provide updates during the session through Capitol Contact. To ensure that you are […]
Financial Facts
GASB is moving to provide relief to certain governments with multiple-employer defined benefit pension plans that are struggling to comply with the board’s new pension standards for state and local governments. The proposal would focus employer accounting and financial reporting requirements for pensions on information that is obtainable for those governments. The proposal would establish […]
Budget Amendments Introduced at VACo’s Request
VACo worked with patrons in the House and Senate to introduce a package of budget amendments to address major priorities of local governments. All member amendments were due to the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on Friday, January 11, so that staff could review them for any necessary technical corrections and prepare […]
Legislation affecting valuation of machinery and tools set for further consideration later in the week
VACo opposes HB 2640 (Byron), which would change a long-standing interpretation of one of the methods of valuation of machinery and tools currently specified in statute. Current Code provides that machinery and tools shall be valued by means of depreciated cost or “a percentage or percentages of original total capitalized cost excluding capitalized interest.” Several […]