Loudoun County will take its fight over new transportation taxes to the state’s highest court after losing a bond validation suit last week in Arlington County Circuit Court.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 8 to 0 to appeal the decision, setting up a critical test of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority’s system of seven taxes that is set to raise more than $300 million for long-awaited road and rail projects each year.

An appeal has been expected since the Judge Benjamin Kendrick’s verdict Aug. 28 found that the NVTA has the power to levy fees and raise taxes following the General Assembly’s passage of a new transportation package last spring. Loudoun County supervisors said Tuesday they feel the Supreme Court of Virginia will support their argument.

“I think they [NVTA] don’t have the standing to raise the taxes,” Vice Chairman Bruce Tulloch said Tuesday. “When everything is done, our view will prevail.”

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The NVTA wanted to address the legal questions before it began taking out multimillion-dollar bonds, and an appeal is part of that process, said David Snyder, a Falls Church City Council member and chairman of the NVTA legal committee.

“We're not surprised. It’s their right to do so,” he said. “We believe in the long term, the courts will affirm the statute and our ability to solve the transportation crisis in Northern Virginia.”

dgenz@dcexaminer.com