GOP Plan Would Raise N.Va. Taxes for Area Roads

RICHMOND, June 26 -- People who live or work in Northern Virginia would pay steep new fees and higher taxes under a $578 million transportation plan being circulated by six Republican delegates from the region.

Having voted for months to block statewide tax increases that were pushed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and the Republican-controlled Senate, the House members said their constituents will gladly pay more as long as the money raised is used only for road and rail projects in their area.

"All but my ardent anti-tax people are like, 'If everyone's paying and 100 percent stays here, I'm in,' " said the plan's sponsor, Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax).

Under the plan, which the lawmakers presented to Northern Virginia business executives in a private meeting Monday, annual registration on automobiles in the area would more than double, from $29.50 to $59.50 for a typical passenger car.

Those who buy new vehicles or move vehicles into Northern Virginia would pay a higher tax. Tourists who rent cars and book hotel rooms would pay more. Home developers would be charged higher fees on their projects, and property taxes for office buildings would rise.

Lawmakers are scheduled to give final approval to the state's $72 billion budget Wednesday, without substantial new funding for roads. They are likely to return to Richmond for a broader discussion about transportation in early September.

That fight could be as contentious as the budget fight. Senators have said they will continue to push for a statewide tax increase to pay for road maintenance and major road improvements in all parts of the state. House leaders have repeatedly said that their members will not accept any plan that includes a statewide tax increase.

Under the regional plan, the new fees and taxes would generate about $450 million a year. It also envisions diverting back to the region about $127 million from existing taxes on the sale of new homes that is now spent elsewhere.

"We'll be arguing we have some acute problems," said Del. Joe T. May (R-Loudoun). "Am I sounding like an evangelist on this? Just call me Elmer Gantry."

The other GOP delegates who have signed on to the plan, according to Albo, are House Appropriations Chairman Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (Fairfax), Michele B. McQuigg (Prince William), Thomas Davis Rust (Fairfax) and L. Scott Lingamfelter (Prince William).

Albo, May and the others say they will press for their plan as a compromise that would provide relief to the region without raising general taxes on goods, incomes or homes. But they said it may run into trouble in the legislature.

"This is not like selling Bibles door-to-door," May said. "This frankly is going to take some genuine selling."

Even though they have begun floating their ideas to local business leaders, the GOP lawmakers have not yet reached out to Northern Virginia's Democratic legislators, said Del. Brian J. Moran (D-Alexandria).

"Obviously, we need a solution, so we welcome any ideas they have, even if this late in the game," said Moran, chairman of the Democratic caucus. Moran said it will be up to Northern Virginia's Republican legislators to persuade their party's leadership to do what they have been unwilling to do for months: endorse a plan that would raise new revenue.

"I'd hope they could persuade their leadership that the people in Northern Virginia are exasperated at the lack of response in Richmond," he said. If they cannot, he said, "then we would need more persuasive legislators."

Senators, meanwhile, insist that the transportation solution must be statewide. Otherwise, said Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), in just a few years, money needed for construction projects in Northern Virginia will be sent to maintain roads in other parts of the state.

Saslaw accused the GOP lawmakers of offering a plan that is unlikely to be passed in order to appease constituents who are angry about the lack of transportation funding in the state budget.

"This is strictly an exercise in gamesmanship to cover their fannies," he said.