School Construction Financing Bills Pass Senate
On January 23, the full Senate passed SB 1408 (McClellan & McPike) on a bipartisan vote of 26-10. As previously reported, this bill would permit any county or city to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to 1 percent, if initiated by a resolution of the local governing body and approved […]
School Board Unexpended Funds Bill Falters
On January 24, the House Education Committee’s K-12 Subcommittee acted on HB 2399 (Simonds). As originally drafted, this bill would permit any school board to establish a capital reserve fund as a savings account into which it exclusively deposits the local operating funds that remain unexpended at the end of the year for future school […]
Restoration of Recordation Tax
Starting in 1993 and up until 2020, localities across Virginia received a portion of state recordation tax revenue. Localities were yearly slated to receive $20 million, apportioned amongst the various counties and cities and could use these funds for transportation or public education purposes. In the 2020 General Assembly Session, this revenue was redirected towards […]
An Overview of Relevant Workers’ Compensation Bills
As in past session, several bills have been filed that would amend the Workers’ Compensation Act, specifically impacting county employees and insurance systems. A brief overview of such legislation is listed below. HB 1631 (Bulova) / SB 1088 (Ebbin) would allow dispatchers to claim workers’ compensation benefits relating to post-traumatic stress disorder under the Workers’ […]
VACo supports bill giving additional authority to localities with appointed school boards
On January 24, the House Education Committee’s K-12 Subcommittee took action on HB 1574 (Walker), which allows the governing body of a county, city, or town to file a petition with the circuit court of the county or city or of the county within which the town or the greater part thereof is located asking […]
Environment/Ag Bills Start Being Heard
HB 1406 (Anderson) seeks to eliminate the requirement for citizens in a locality to pay a licensing fee for registering their dog or cat with the locality. Further, this legislation would eliminate the misdemeanor penalty for failing to pay this licensing fee. VACo believes this legislation eliminates existing authority held by localities while curtailing a […]
2023 VACo Legislative Day Bulletin
Grocery Tax Legislation Returns
HB 1484 (McNamara) and SB 850 (Suetterlein) propose to eliminate the 1 percent local option sales and use tax on groceries and essential personal hygiene products, effective July 1, 2023. Under the bills, the state would backfill lost revenue in the form of a supplemental school payment. Beginning July 1, 2023, and until July 1, […]
School construction financing bills to be heard in Senate Finance and Appropriations tomorrow
On Wednesday, January 17, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee intends to meet at 9 a.m. and take up two bills supported by VACo pertaining to school construction financing. SB 1408 (McClellan & McPike) would permit any county or city to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to 1 percent, if […]
Legislation proposes significant change to valuation of business personal property and machinery and tools
HB 1402 (March) proposes a major departure from longstanding tax policy by requiring tangible personal property that is employed in a trade or business, and machinery and tools, to be valued according to the federal Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS), which is a method of recovering the costs of business or income-producing property through […]
VACo supports local regulation of speed limits bill
HB 1939 (Plum) would allow the governing body of any locality to reduce to less than 25 miles per hour, but not less than 15 miles per hour, the speed limit of highways that are part of the primary and secondary state highway systems. The bill further states that these roads must be in a […]
Emergency medical services bills with liability concerns tabled or altered to address VACo concerns
On January 13, the House Counties, Cities, and Towns Committee’s Subcommittee #1 voted to table HB 1472 (Fowler) by a vote of 6-4. This bill would deem emergency medical services “essential,” but it would also change existing code language that currently requires local governments to “seek to” provide emergency medical services to a mandate that […]
VACo Supports Bills Extending Annexation Moratorium
HB 1676 (Hodges) and SB 1185 (Lewis) extend the moratorium on city annexations until 2032. Counties provide the same type of urban services (such as police, transit, water, and sewer services) that independent cities do. This makes city annexation of county land problematic, particularly because it results in the erosion of the necessary tax base […]
Several Constitutional Amendments Under Consideration, Including Proposed Elimination of “Car Tax”
Several Constitutional amendments have been introduced this session, as this year is the traditional beginning of the two-year Constitutional amendment process. Any Constitutional amendments that pass this year would need to pass in identical form again in 2024 before being placed on the ballot in November 2024. HJ 462 (Anderson) is a Constitutional amendment that […]
Helpful legislation on jail funding introduced
SB 966 (Peake) provides that the state must compensate local jails for the actual cost of incarcerating state-responsible offenders, as calculated in the Compensation Board’s annual Jail Cost Report. VACo supports this legislation. Currently, in addition to state support for jail staffing provided through the Compensation Board, the state provides a per-diem payment to assist […]
Visit Craig County and the Craig County Historic Courthouse
Location: 303 Main Street / Court StreetBuilt: 1851 – 1852Style: Greek RevivalArchitect: Scuyler W SmithContractor: Stokes Pusey & Company of Roanoke County Description: The building faces southeast and is a two story red colored brick structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of New Castle. The southeast front has a large […]