Dan Genz, The Examiner
2008-06-11 07:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority is preparing for two extremes — an influx of hundreds of millions of dollars for new transportation projects or a near-complete shutdown.

The first assumes a special General Assembly session will raise taxes to pay for transportation projects. That would require $1.2 million for the NVTA to hire six staff members and administer hundreds of millions of dollars in new road and rail improvements across the region.

The other option uses about $350,000 to pay off debts and close shop, assuming the General Assembly is unable to replace the $336 million in tax dollars the Virginia Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in February.

“Our fate is in the hands of other people,” NVTA Chairman Chris Zimmerman told The Examiner.

“If they give us the go-ahead, we’ll get right on it, but if we don’t get the money the region needs, this thing will be mothballed, and traffic will continue to get worse.”

Local lawmakers are not optimistic the General Assembly will approve tax increases to pay for road and rail improvements in the region in the special session, which starts June 23.

The organization, formed in 2001, would continue holding regular meetings without new money, but would eliminate the staff, consisting of Executive Director John Mason, pay off the accumulated lawyer and accounting fees, and terminate the Fairfax office lease.

The General Assembly last year gave the NVTA the authority to levy seven taxes and fees, but the Virginia Supreme Court ruled the plan unconstitutional just over two months into collecting the new taxes, prompting millions of refunds still under way.

Though lawmakers including Del. Dave Albo, R-Springfield, are developing their own transportation tax plans, “They’re all dead unless people can figure out how to get the [leadership] on board,” he said.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, and Republican House Speaker William Howell, R-Fredericksburg, have sharply different philosophies on solving the transportation tax gridlock.

A stalemate is bad for everyone, said Del. Adam Ebbin, D-Arlington. “With gas over $4 a gallon, the public does not want to continue to sit in traffic.”

dgenz@dcexaminer.com