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• RESOLUTION <br />WHEREAS, in 1979 the General Assembly passed HB 599 as part of a legislative <br />package designed to direct state financial assistance to cities in exchange for the loss of authority <br />to annex land in surrounding counties; and <br />WHEREAS, one type of state financial assistance included in HB 599 was payment to <br />cities, towns and counties having police departments ("eligible localities"), to compensate for the <br />disparity between state funding provided for those departments versus state funding made <br />available to sheriffs' departments through the Compensation Board; and <br />WHEREAS, the Virginia Code directs the Governor and the General Assembly to <br />increase the total amount of HB 599 funds to be distributed each year by the anticipated <br />percentage change in state general fund revenues; and <br />WHEREAS, in fiscal year 1992 funding for HB 599 was reduced from $80.5 million to <br />less than $67 million and has remained frozen at that level; and <br />WHEREAS, based on annual general fund growth rates, it is estimated that, if the state <br />had funded this program in accordance with the law, the total annual amount of HB 599 funding <br />available to eligible localities would have increased to $151 million by fiscal year 1999; and <br />• WHEREAS, if the state had funded this program in accordance with state law, the City <br />of Charlottesville would be receiving $1,911,115 per year from the state instead of the $844,676 <br />which it is currently receiving; and <br />• <br />WHEREAS, proceeding at current funding levels, by fiscal year 2000 the cumulative <br />"deficit" for HB 599 funding (i.e., funding that eligible localities should have received if the law <br />had been observed) will amount to $610 million statewide; and <br />WHEREAS, since the program's inception the total amount of funding that the state has <br />failed to distribute to Charlottesville totals $6,524,791; and <br />WHEREAS, the Commonwealth benefits when the relationship between the state and its <br />local governments is based on mutual trust and support; <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Governor and the General <br />Assembly are requested by this Council to fully fund HB 599 by the year 2000 and to include <br />within the state's budget, beginning in fiscal year 1999 and each year thereafter, substantial <br />increases in the HB 599 funds provided to localities. <br />Approved by Council <br />December 7, 1998 <br />CI.Vrk of City Council <br />