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Local Officials Buoyed by Court Ruling
House Speaker William J. Howell sought to play down the ruling.
(Bob Brown - AP)
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But some local elected officials in Northern Virginia said the court ruling should reopen the discussion about who should pay for improvements.
"They attempted to avoid their responsibility on transportation," said Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large). "They need to go back to the drawing board and fix it in a real and constitutional way."
The Supreme Court's decision was bittersweet for Loudoun, which, along with anti-tax groups and Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), had challenged the right of the transportation authority to levy taxes. Although the county triumphed legally yesterday, the decision imperils tens of millions of dollars in road improvements slated for Loudoun over the next several years.
"I have mixed feelings, because we all know we need major improvements to our transportation network here in Northern Virginia," said Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott K. York (I), Loudoun's representative on the transportation panel.
"But the solution has to be constitutional. We simply need to go back to the drawing board and go forward in a way that is within the confines of the law."
Staff writers Kristen Mack, Bill Turque, Eric M. Weiss and Anita Kumar contributed to this report. Somashekhar and Kumar reported from Richmond.
