By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

A few weeks ago, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority was deciding how to spend $1.5 billion on easing the region's traffic gridlock. Now the agency is trying to figure out how to pay its bills.

NVTA officials met yesterday to debate whether to cancel their office lease and how to pay legal bills and office expenses now that the Virginia Supreme Court has stripped the panel of its authority. The court ruled last month that state lawmakers illegally shifted responsibility for raising taxes and fees to the NVTA. Although the authority is made up mostly of locally elected officials, none were elected regionally.

That leaves the NVTA with no power, no revenue and a stack of bills. The agency has spent $126,213 on administrative expenses, an amount that is expected to increase to $243,971 by the end of June. It also owes legal bills of $363,996, according to authority officials.

NVTA expenses so far have been paid from a $1 million loan from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Members said they are afraid that the state will want local jurisdictions to pay back the loan, a prospect that members rejected.

"No matter what happens, we are not eating those costs,'' said Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille (D).

The authority is waiting for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) to sign a bill that would authorize the refunding of $12 million the NVTA has collected since Jan. 1. Under the bill, state agencies and circuit courts would have until April 1 to detail how the refund process would work.

The bulk of the money collected on the NVTA's behalf came from a tax on housing sellers.

The authority is for waiting for action in Richmond to decide whether it can move forward with plans to supplement state road and transit spending or should close up shop. NVTA members are holding out hope that a special session to deal with transportation could be tacked onto the General Assembly's veto session scheduled for April 24.

Competing proposals from the House and Senate on how to fund transportation went nowhere before the legislative session ended.

Loudoun County Board Chairman Scott K. York (I), chairman of NVTA's Finance Committee, said the authority should continue shrinking until Richmond comes up with a solution.

York suggested that people who have paid any of the taxes and fees -- including those on car repairs, car rentals, hotel stays, new-car registrations and safety inspections -- keep receipts and check the NVTA Web site, http://www.thenovaauthority.org, for updates on refund policies.