A key to the House transportation compromise is legislation that would create transportation authorities in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads and allow them to raise revenues to fund regional road projects. Hampton Roads would have power to impose tolls highways, increase vehicle registration and inspection fees, and boost the commercial real estate tax — and slap a $5-per-night fee on hotels rooms.
As Tom Holden with the Virginian-Pilot reports, a Hampton Roads transportation authority would require support from at least six of the 11 Hampton Roads cities or counties. A letter from Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf to the region’s General Assembly delegation suggests that the region’s most populous localities has doubts about the plan.
The tax, said Oberndorf, would have “an exceptionally negative effect on our ability to compete for conventions.”
Del. Kenny Melvin, D-Portsmouth, who voted against the House compromise last week, suggested that the regional financing plan was doomed even if passed into law. “I don’t believe there are six jurisdictions that will buy into this package.”
Update: Of course, there are local Republicans in Northern Virginia raising hell, too. Marc Fisher with the Washington Post interviews Corey Stewart, the new chairman of the Prince William County board of supervisors, who is mad as hell at statewide Republicans and isn’t going to take it anymore. Other than orchestrating a moratorium on rezonings and trying to pry a larger share of state transportation revenues out of Richmond, he doesn’t offer any solutions that address underlying problems — at least none that appear in Fisher’s column.
