WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The Virginia Supreme Court ruling wiping out $300 million in transportation taxes threatens to jeopardize hundreds of fees raising revenue for parks, sewers and economic development districts.

“The decision casts a giant shadow on those types of entities,” Arlington County Attorney Steve MacIsaac said.

Northern Virginia Transportation Authority leaders on Thursday considered asking the state’s high court to reconsider the decision over concern for other boards, but decided the potential problems were not theirs to raise.

“I think the Supreme Court ruling could be interpreted in a fairly sweeping way that could be injurious to services for citizens throughout the commonwealth,” Fairfax County Chairman Gerry Connolly said. “There is a fear that this ruling was not drawn as narrowly as it could, or perhaps, should have been.”

Loudoun County Chairman Scott York disagreed, saying that fees directly corresponding to a service, such as park fees paying for park upkeep or sewer fees for new pipes, would withstand a legal challenge.

“These boards are using fees to someone receiving that service for capital improvements to the services, which is entirely different,” York said.

Analysts said the court’s ruling does not directly address the issue, leaving it somewhat unclear.

The ruling could result in future litigation or opinions from the Virginia attorney general to clarify the fee-levying power of government authorities, said John Dinan, a Wake Forest University professor who wrote a book about Virginia’s constitution.

“Could you read this and say it doesn’t apply to park authorities or others setting fees? No, you couldn’t say that,” Dinan said.

However, Joseph Henchman, a counsel with the Washington-based Tax Foundation, said fees that pay for directly related services would not be affected by the decision.

“As long as the revenue is going solely to the services that are underneath them, it’s constitutional,” Henchman said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com