2010 General Assembly Session Convenes

The 2010 session of the Virginia General Assembly convened on Wednesday, January 13. This year’s session commenced with even more fanfare than usual, as a new Governor and his cabinet, along with 20 new Delegates and two new Senators, took office. After a special election in March to elect a new delegate from Northern Virginia, there will be a total of 23 freshman legislators in the General Assembly. Read more

Democrats Gain Senate Seat in Special Election

Two special elections were recently held to fill open seats in the Virginia Senate vacated by Senators Ken Cuccinelli and Ken Stolle. In November, Cuccinelli was elected Attorney General, and Stolle was elected Sheriff of the City of Virginia Beach. Read more

2010 General Assembly Session Convenes

The 2010 session of the Virginia General Assembly convened on Wednesday, January 13. This year’s session commenced with even more fanfare than usual, as a new Governor and his cabinet, along with 20 new Delegates and two new Senators, took office. After a special election in March to elect a new delegate from Northern Virginia, there will be a total of 23 freshman legislators in the General Assembly. These new legislators, when combined with the 19 freshmen who took office in 2007 and four more who were elected in intervening special elections, make a total of 46 members who will have served one term or less-- nearly one-third of the legislature. This changing of the guard means there will be a lack of legislative experience and seniority at a time when the Commonwealth faces significant challenges, not the least of which is a $4 billion budget deficit.

The General Assembly, though, has kicked off with its typical fevered pace: over 3,700 pieces of legislation have been introduced thus far.  AOBA’s government affairs team maintains a full-time presence in Richmond during the General Assembly session, closely monitoring all proposals which may affect the interests of commercial and multifamily property owners and managers. Already, more than 200 individual bills have been identified as having some direct implications for the commercial and multifamily real estate industries, and AOBA will be weighing in on them, as needed, to protect members’ interests.

A few notable proposals on which AOBA will be engaging legislators:

• Fair and Reasonable Real Property Tax Assessment Reform:  Local government property tax assessors continue to apply inconsistent and sometimes improper methodologies;  yet, both the burden and standard of proof for overturning an assessment are extremely high, and often prove insurmountable for property owners appealing their assessments. Real property operated as affordable rental housing, for example, continues to be overvalued and excessively taxed, in spite of direction previously given to local assessors by the General Assembly.  Some properties have been effectively taxed out of business and forced into foreclosure, resulting in a net loss of affordable housing; others are operating at a loss, and could face a similar fate if the assessment problems go unaddressed.  Many market rate properties face similarly difficult circumstances.

  Responding to this situation, AOBA asked House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith (R-Salem) to introduce H.B. 430, a bill conceived by AOBA and which we have already organized an impressive coalition in support of. The legislation would expand the information that local assessors must disclose to taxpayers regarding the valuation of a property, and prohibits assessors from introducing such information in an appeal hearing if the information has not first been provided to the property owner. It would make the standard of proof a more reasonable “preponderance of the evidence” for property owners who appeal. It would address the sometimes punitive and intimidating element of the appeals process—fear of an assessment increase, rather than reduction-- by requiring a local assessor or Board of Equalization to provide an independent appraisal supporting any increased assessment being proposed in an appeal decision. The bill would also prescribe qualifications and training required for service on a local Board of Equalization.

  In regard to assessment of affordable housing properties, the legislation would require that local assessors consider deed and income restrictions on a property’s current use, rather than its “highest and best use” if it were a market-rate property.  It would require that actual income and expense data for such properties be used, when provided by the owner, and  that training provided by the State to assessors and local boards must address methods for evaluating such properties.

• Sharp Increase in Court Fees: Senator Richard Stuart (R-Montross) has again introduced a measure seeking to increase the filing fee on any civil action (i.e. unlawful detainers and judgments) in General District Court, from the current $27 to $100. This bill would not only substantially increase costs for housing providers, but would also create an unnecessary burden on tenants who presumably are already struggling with economic difficulties. Last year, AOBA testified in subcommittee against the bill, and it was ultimately passed by indefinitely. A difficult budget situation this year, however, may increase the bill’s appeal to lawmakers in search of ways to help close the deficit.

• Substantial Increases in Fees for Building Code Violations: Prince William County has had three separate measures introduced to significantly increase fees for building code violations of any type. The bills would increase, from $100 to $200, the fee for any initial violation, and the fee for any subsequent violation would rise from $150 to $500; the total allowable penalties arising out of a single set of circumstances would increase from $1,500 to $5,000. The County has characterized the measures as simply an effort to bring these fees in line with those charged for zoning violations, and to increase penalties which have not been increased in several years. However, no justification has been given for the proposed doubling of fees for initial violations (which a property owner has had no opportunity to remedy); nor has evidence been submitted to show that lack of compliance with building codes has been a major problem for County inspectors and that no other remedy exists.

• Transportation Funding: Members of the Northern Virginia delegation, in particular, have introduced several measures to restore a broad-based package of revenues to support construction of critical new transportation infrastructure. AOBA members have a significant vested interest in this effort, as the commercial real estate tax surcharge remains the only local revenue source left standing after other parts of the 2007 transportation package were ruled unconstitutional. AOBA has heard of one possible proposal, which has yet to surface in actual legislation, that would 1) require every Northern Virginia locality to adopt a commercial real estate tax surcharge of 12.5 cents per $100 of assessed value (only three have done so since 2007), and 2) mandate that the surcharge, after four years, must increase to 25 cents per $100 of assessed value. Members can be assured that we are not waiting for a bill to surface before informing legislators of AOBA’s opposition to such a ham-fisted approach.

Democrats Gain Senate Seat in Special Election

Two special elections were recently held to fill open seats in the Virginia Senate vacated by Senators Ken Cuccinelli and Ken Stolle. In November, Cuccinelli was elected Attorney General, and Stolle was elected Sheriff of the City of Virginia Beach.

As expected, the Republicans retained Stolle’s Virginia Beach seat with an overwhelming majority. Jeff McWaters, a former accountant and health care company executive, was sworn in this week, along with his colleagues, as the General Assembly session commenced.

In the Northern Virginia race for Cuccinelli’s seat, Delegate David Marsden narrowly pulled off an upset victory over former Fairfax County School Board member Steve Hunt. Marsden has been a friend of our industries, and AOBA can look forward to working with him going forward. Marsden’s victory gives the Democratic Party a 22-18 majority in the Senate and, at least for the time being, quiets speculation that Governor McDonnell might try to pull a Democratic senator into his administration in order to reverse party control of that chamber.

Marsden’s victory also necessitates yet another special election in order to fill the Fairfax County seat in the House of Delegates that he vacated. Outgoing Governor Tim Kaine called a special election for March 2, giving interested candidates a January 29 filing deadline.