Two bills that seek to address a situation in the Town of Purcellville emerged from a conference committee and passed the General Assembly late last week. The conference reports for HB 505 (McAuliff) and SB 648 (Perry) essentially combine the provisions of both bills as passed by their chambers of origin.
As passed, the bills now provide that any member of a local governing body who has been employed by a governmental agency that is a component part of and which is subject to the ultimate control of the governing body is considered to have a continuing personal interest in the agency for two years after terminating employment.
Additionally, and only applying to the Town of Purcellville, based on … any town in Planning District 8 with a population between 8,000 and 10,000 according to the latest United States decennial census, the following shall apply:
- Require that in the event of a criminal proceeding against any officer of the town, the court of appropriate jurisdiction is to suspend the officer pending the resolution of the proceeding and may appoint someone to act in the officer’s place.
- Require the town to conduct a study, by July 1, 2027, of its debt and other liability risks and adopt a plan consistent with the study to address such town’s needs in a fiscally appropriate manner that does not jeopardize the town’s bond rating.
- Require that the town council shall only take votes on matters that have been (i) properly published at least three days prior to the vote as part of a town council agenda or (ii) otherwise approved as additional agenda items or as amendments to existing agenda items by a three-fourths vote of all the members of the council at the start of the meeting.
- Any resident of the town shall have standing in the general district court of the county in which the town is located to challenge a town council vote in conflict with this section or the provisions of § 2.2-3112 of the Code of Virginia, and such case shall take precedence on the docket. Any prevailing resident filing such case shall be entitled to attorney fees.
- Require the town manager to be a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia unless the town council waives this requirement. (NOTE: This provision was added in conference.)
It is important to note that the provisions specific to the Town of Purcellville will expire on July 1, 2028.
VACo Contacts: Joe Lerch, AICP, and Katie Boyle