NVTA adopts refund plan

The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority yesterday adopted a resolution stating its intention to refund $11.7 million collected for regional transportation projects, but the board was also warned that returning the money could be an expensive proposition.

Last week, the state Supreme Court struck down the transportation authority’s power to raise taxes, and the cost of returning money collected since January has not yet been calculated.

But a memo distributed at yesterday’s meeting said refunding the money “may be an expensive exercise” and indicated that “cost estimates could be in the hundreds of thousands” of dollars.

“We have to do everything we can to get the money back to those people,” said Daniel Maller, a Falls Church City Council member who sits on the transportation authority.

“It’s an expensive proposition, but I think it is realistic because it has to happen. The Supreme Court spoke loudly and clearly and the NVTA takes it very seriously,” he said.

Asked whether the cost of issuing refunds could approach the roughly $11.7 million generated through the taxes and fees, Martin Nohe, Prince William County supervisor and NVTA member, said, “I hope not, but it is theoretically possible.”

Staff members with the NVTA, an unelected body composed of 14 members from nine Northern Virginia jurisdictions, provided a rough outline of who should refund the taxes, agreeing that it should be a mix of state, NVTA and local responsibilities.

They also said it should be either a “partially centralized approach” with selected taxes and fees refunded by the commonwealth treasurer or a “decentralized approach” involving a greater role by NVTA and localities.

The meeting did not provide a clearer picture of when people would receive the refunds.

According to the memo, “Although a significant amount of funds will be refunded in the early months, NVTA and participating agencies/businesses must anticipate a process lasting approximately three years based on the rules associated with the tax refunds.”

The transportation authority also adopted a resolution urging the General Assembly to shoulder the responsibility of imposing the same menu of taxes and fees on each locality included in the NVTA.

“The simplest course of action would be for the General Assembly to impose the existing list of taxes and fees on the region,” NVTA Chairman Chris Zimmerman, Arlington County supervisor, said in a letter to Gov. Tim Kaine and General Assembly leaders.

“We are ready and fully prepared to manage these, and would be back in business quickly,” said Mr. Zimmerman.

The request, which Mr. Kaine, a Democrat, supports has received a lukewarm response from Republicans who would rather see the General Assembly give each individual locality additional taxing powers.

It remains unclear how the agency will return refunds of as little as $2 on a $100 stay at a local hotel.

The taxing authority struck down by the state Supreme Court gave NVTA the power to raise money for regional road and rail projects — imposing seven local taxes and fees, including a tax increase on home sales, auto repairs, and hotel stays.

On Monday, NVTA ordered state and local agencies to stop collecting the new taxes.