On February 1, VACo spoke in support of SB 363 (Stuart) and SB 512 (Suetterlein), which would have reestablished the distribution of $20 million of state recordation tax revenue to counties and cities to be used for transportation or public education purposes. Legislation (HB 1726/SB 1038 and HB 1414/SB 890) enacted by the 2020 General Assembly included changes to the distribution of state recordation tax revenues to cities and counties which effectively eliminated $20 million in existing recordation tax revenues distributed to cities and counties. These revenues were instead redirected to support Hampton Roads Regional Transit. This funding was distributed quarterly and could be used by counties and cities for either transportation or public education (K-12) purposes. Prior to the 2020 General Assembly session, a portion of recordation tax revenues had been distributed to localities since 1993 and localities had direct control over the transportation and education use of these funds.
VACo supported a solution whereby these funds could be restored to localities while also holding Hampton Roads Transit harmless, as was the case with several member budget amendments during the 2021 session. The House version of the bill, HB 978 (Durant), has an accompanying budget amendment also supported by VACo that would do just that. Senator Suetterlein and Senator Stuart also had placeholder budget amendments. The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee voted to incorporate SB 512 into SB 363 and passed the bill by indefinitely on a vote of 12-4. HB 978 has been referred to the House Finance Committee but not yet assigned to a docket.
VACo Contact: Jeremy R. Bennett