Roads Bill Would Slight Rural Areas, Leaders Fear

Butler and other local officials from across the state have made their feelings known to Kaine, who last week completed a series of meetings to solicit reactions to the Republican transportation plan.

After a recent meeting, Kaine raised concerns that the state could split into "haves and some have-nots."

Kaine, who has until March 26 to suggest amendments to the plan, is vowing to make changes to help address the needs of rural Virginia.

Even so, some political scientists wonder whether the regional tax districts in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are a good idea in a state already divided over cultural and social issues, such as gun control, gay marriage and abortion rights.

"It's a slippery slope," said Sean T. O'Brien, executive director of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. "First it's roads, then maybe schools, then maybe something else. There are enough people in Northern Virginia who want to have more autonomy and more authority who might see this as the first step of gaining that."

Taxpayers in Northern Virginia are known as "donors," meaning they give more money to the state then they receive back in services. The region has about 25 percent of Virginia's population, but its taxes fund about 40 percent of the state budget. For every dollar a Northern Virginian sends to Richmond, only 66 cents returns to the region in services, Albo said.

The rest of Northern Virginia's money flows elsewhere in the state to fund schools, social services and roads.

"As long as they depend on Northern Virginia, they should be grateful we have found a way to solve our own problem," said Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-Fairfax).

Davis, Albo and other Northern Virginia Republicans met in 2005 to discuss how to raise revenue to relieve traffic. The group concluded that their rural GOP colleagues, who controlled a large bloc of votes in the House of Delegates, would never agree to raise taxes.

"I said, 'Look guys, it is never going to happen,' " Albo said. "The rest of Virginia is never going to send us the money."

The only option, Albo said, was to create a regional tax district -- a concept that isn't new. The General Assembly has added a 2 percent surcharge to gasoline in Northern Virginia to help pay for Metro.

But Harris, Roanoke's mayor, wonders what incentive Northern Virginia lawmakers will have to help his region in the future if they are allowed to solve traffic problems on their own. Government, he said, should fund services for the common good.

"That is why you keep all the money on the table from everyone across the state," Harris said. "This just puts the state on a trajectory that . . . leads to policymakers who are really not looking out for the commonwealth. You will have an even greater divide between the haves and have-nots."

Davis replied: "I would say to the rest of the commonwealth, how much more do you want to pay for our roads?"