F.C. Council Warned of Richmond Move to Cap Telecom Tax, End Photo Red Lights

Two measures before the Virginia State Legislature early next year could have a major effect on the City of Falls Church and other local jurisdictions in the state, Falls Church City Manager Dan McKeever warned the City Council here Monday.

The first would cap the level at which local jurisdictions could tax utilities such as phone, cellular and other telecommunication services. The cap would be the current level, and McKeever said it would limit any added revenue to local jurisdictions to growth in the industries, themselves.

"While this would be a huge benefit to the telecommunications industry, itself, it would infringe upon the rights of local jurisdictions," McKeever said. It would be one more blow struck by the state against the ability of local jurisdictions to meet their community needs.

State Delegate Jim Scott, whose 51st District includes the City of Falls Church, told the News-Press in an interview yesterday that the idea "has been kicking around for some time in the legislature," but said he did not know exactly where it stands at this time.

A second development would be a refusal by the state legislature to renew the law allowing for photo red lights. That law will expire in June 2005 unless renewed.

McKeever said that opponents to the photo red light system, which in Falls Church involves the use of video cameras to detect vehicles running red lights at key intersections, cite "infringement on the rights" of vehicle operators.

"But we would argue that the same way in which surveillance cameras are accepted in stores to deter shoplifting, our photo red light cameras deter moving traffic violators and reduce accidents," he said.

In Falls Church, the effectiveness of the system at the three intersections where it's been operative was reflected in a projected net revenue gain to the City for the current fiscal year of $600,000, or almost four cents on the real estate tax rate.

Del. Scott said the problem with the law is that it will require a two-thirds vote to override the expiration date. "A measure to end the expiration passes every year in the Senate, but never gets out of committee in the house," he said. He sits on the committee in the house, the Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee, where a measure to end the expiration introduced by Jean Marie Devolites Davis was withdrawn.

Davis has withdrawn her bill in hopes of working out a compromise that would not eliminate, but would extend the expiration date by two years, he said.

McKeever urged the Council to pass a resolution next month formally requesting the state legislature to defeat the telecommunications measure and to extend the legality of the photo red light system.