Ruling Raises Worries About Local Boards

Connolly said his board has privately discussed the court ruling, which he says reiterates that fees are taxes and that taxes must be imposed by an elected body.

Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said his board met privately with the county attorney after the Supreme Court ruling to discuss the fate of several boards, including the Prince William County Service Authority.

The authority, which collects $62 million a year for water and sewer services, is run by an eight-member board appointed by the supervisors.

"I think the Supreme Court ruling could be interpreted to include those boards as well," said Stewart, who is running for lieutenant governor next year.

But Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), who opposed last year's transportation bill and was later among those who challenged it in court, said legislators are raising the concern only so they can justify asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling.

Marshall, who is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, said local boards act as "collection agencies" for others, such as the county boards of supervisors, and do not impose the fees.

"It has nothing to do with that," he said.

Patrick M. McSweeney, a Richmond lawyer who argued the case before the Supreme Court, agreed. "I think they are creating concern where none exists," he said.

McSweeney said "traditional user fees" such as water rates are different from taxes that are designed to raise revenue.

Officials at the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which last year collected $25 million on four toll roads in the Richmond area, said they are not worried about the court ruling.

Spokeswoman Linda McElroy said that drivers make choices about whether to use toll roads and that a toll is a "user fee," not a "tax that pays for road maintenance."

"This does not apply to the authority," she said.