Loudoun County news in brief

Waxpool Road, parkway intersection again tops most-accident -prone list

The intersection of Waxpool Road and the Loudoun County Parkway in Ashburn remained atop the list of the most crash-prone intersections in Loudoun last year, according to statistics compiled by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. The intersection had 84 crashes in 2009 and 86 in 2008.

The intersection of Harry Byrd Highway (Route 7) and Belmont Ridge was tied with the intersection of Route 7 and Potomac View Road as the second-most crash-prone. Each intersection had 73 crashes last year.

The statistics do not include crashes handled by Virginia State Police or the Leesburg Police Department. Other top 10 crash-prone intersections on the sheriff's list are: Route 7 at Ashburn Village Road, Sully Road at Waxpool Road, Sully Road at Sterling Boulevard, Sully Road at Old Ox Road, Route 7 at Sterling Boulevard, Route 7 at George Washington Boulevard and the Route 7 bypass at Charles Town Pike.

County stops mailing forms for property tax declarations

To cut costs, Loudoun County will not mail annual personal property tax declaration forms this year. The county usually issues the forms in January. Instead, the county wants taxpayers to go online to fill out the forms. The personal property tax forms cover cars, trucks, boats, planes, trailers, campers and other vehicles subject to taxation in the state.

Robert S. Wertz, the county commissioner of revenue, said the move has saved $40,000 in postage costs. A year ago, the county sent 230,000 declaration forms.

"We're looking at all of our expenses and seeing where we can cut, since we are in a tight financial situation in the county," he said. "This is one area where we thought we could save a little bit of money and make the process more efficient."

Residents without Internet access can call 703-777-0260. Declarations are due Feb. 1.

Commuter park-and-ride lot scheduled to open Jan. 25

Loudoun County plans to open a permanent park-and-ride lot at 19730 Sycolin Rd. on Jan. 25. The lot will be open to carpoolers and riders of the county's commuter bus service. The facility replaces a lot on Catoctin Circle. The new lot has 691 parking spaces, 21 bicycle lockers and six bus shelters. There are also designated spaces for the disabled and for motorcycles.

The new lot will have the same commuter bus schedule arrival and departure times as the old lot on Catoctin, a county news release said. The Catoctin lot, known as the Barber and Ross lot, will close Friday.

State launches Web site to connect landlords and tenants

The Virginia Housing Development Authority is launching a free online housing service to make it easier for Virginia landlords and prospective tenants to connect. So far, more than 890 landlords have provided information on 51,000 rental units across Virginia. The site is at http://www.virginiahousingsearch.com.

-- Compiled by Sholnn Freeman