Laserfiche WebLink
<br />1 <br /> <br />CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY COUNCIL <br />LEGISLATIVE POSITION STATEMENTS <br />FOR THE 2019 GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION <br /> <br />Endorsement of TJPD and VML Priority Statements <br />As a member of the TJPD, Virginia First Cities and of the Virginia Municipal League, we are supportive of the <br />2019 Legislative Positions presented by those organizations. On a few issues, the City’s interests may differ, and <br />those issues are included within the following position statements. <br />Children’s Education, Services and Programs <br />We appreciate state funding currently being provided to support implementation by local school divisions of <br />extended school day/ extended school year programs, and encourage continuation of these dollars. Also, the State <br />should increase funding to the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act (VJCCCA) program, which has <br />demonstrated effectiveness in substantially reducing the number of juvenile justice commitments over the past <br />decade. <br />Affordable Housing <br />We strongly advocate that the State should consider enactment of legislation authorizing inclusionary zoning <br />ordinances. In localities where there is an affordable housing crisis, market forces are not delivering new <br />affordable units, and the over-complexity of the density bonus provisions within Virginia Code § 15.2-2305 (the <br />provisions of which do not appear to have been reviewed since 2008 for economic feasibility) make that statute <br />difficult to interpret and apply. We encourage the General Assembly to establish a comprehensive state <br />Affordable Housing Program that delegates authority to all Virginia municipalities consistent with the more <br />general authorization within Virginia Code § 15.2-2304. Finally, we support any and all legislative action that <br />would allow localities greater flexibility in (i) the range of methods that may be applied to implement local <br />affordable housing programs, and (ii) in the use of public funding for the promotion and establishment of <br />affordable housing. <br /> <br />We ask legislators to provide and expand state funding and incentives to support localities acquisition and <br />remediation of gray-field and brown-field sites for the purposes of developing affordable mixed income and <br />mixed use developments in economically isolated census tracts. <br /> <br />We request our legislators to support a study to examine establishing a real property tax circuit breaker program <br />that provides tax relief to a homeowner as a credit or a refund of the homeowner’s state income tax if the <br />homeowner’s real property tax exceeds a certain percentage of their gross income. These programs are found in <br />many forms in numerous states including New York, Arizona, and Minnesota. <br /> <br /> <br />Public Service Corporations’ Use of Public Rights of Way <br />We oppose any legislative action that would further expand the ability of telecommunications companies or other <br />entities to install new above-ground poles or other support structures in City rights-of-way, on terms or conditions <br />mandated by state law. <br /> <br />We encourage legislators to support doubling the scope of Dominion Virginia Power’s Pilot Program for <br />Undergrounding Utility lines, either by legislation or by approval of state funding. We encourage legislators to <br />authorize Dominion Virginia Power to spend up to 10% of their revenue on undergrounding lines and to include