Governor-Elect Kaine, Honorable Members of the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, it is my honor to welcome you to Fairfax County. We are here tonight to discuss a subject that is the most pressing issue that you will face in your term as Governor and one that will not be solved easily. I applaud your willingness to listen and wish you every success as you begin your term.
I. Funding Crisis: Whistling Past the Graveyard:
The Commonwealth of Virginia needs to provide additional investment with which to fund transportation infrastructure. TransAction 2030, the Northern Virginia region's transportation plan, estimates that Northern Virginia will face a $15 Billion shortfall in transportation capital funding over the next 25 years. Fairfax County's Secondary Road fund has seen a significant decrease in funding. The FY02 - 07 Plan provided $210 million, a 39% decrease, even before the effects of inflation are factored in. Since 1986, the last time Virginia dedicated significant recurring revenues to transportation, the buying power of $1 has decreased 40%. There is a looming transportation funding crisis that cannot be avoided by simply whistling past the graveyard. By 2012, Virginia will only have enough money to maintain its existing transportation infrastructure - not to construct any new facilities. By 2014, Virginia will not have enough money to provide matching funds for federal transportation allocations. Absent new investment these events will prove catastrophic for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
II. Local Government Investment Response:
In the absence of sufficient funding from the state, local governments, including Fairfax County, have stepped up to the plate to fund transportation projects. In 2004, the Board of Supervisors approved a Four-Year Transportation Plan that provided $215 million worth of capital funds for road and transit projects - $165 million in General Obligation bonds overwhelmingly approved by voters in November 2004, and $50 million in dedicated federal monies. We have raised transit fares to help keep up with rising costs. And the private sector has also been involved - landowners in the Route 28 and Dulles corridors have agreed to tax themselves to provide local funding for transportation projects being constructed through the Public-Private Transportation Act process. We are planning on an additional transportation bond in 2007.
III. State Debt Capacity: A Potential Investment Solution:
However, transportation is, by statute, a state responsibility, and the State must seriously look at providing additional resources for transportation. If the General Assembly is unwilling to provide adequate funding for transportation through more traditional methods, then the State must seriously consider raising its debt ceiling to finance capital projects. As an example, both the State and Fairfax County maintain AAA bond ratings, a fact which has saved taxpayers millions of dollars in interest over the past twenty years. However, Fairfax County's debt guideline is that debt can reach 10% of spending. The state's is only 5%. Raising the debt ceiling by even one percentage point could result in significantly more revenue for the Commonwealth to invest in capital facilities. However, currently, Virginia's debt is around 2.8% of revenues - well below its own self-imposed 5% limit. As of last year, Virginia had $1.38 Billion in excess debt capacity within its 5% guideline for FY 2006 - 2007. Over the next ten years, the state has approximately $7 Billion in extra debt capacity while remaining within its 5% budget guideline. That is a lot of transportation infrastructure investment.
IV. The Land Use and Congestion Nexus:
Governor Kaine, you have called on the State to give localities greater authority to deal with land-use matters. Some have actually suggested that local governments have all the authority they need but are simply afraid to use it. Utter nonsense. In fact, the trend in recent years has been in exactly the opposite direction: since 1990, at least 20 bills have been enacted in the General Assembly that either eliminiate previous local land use authority or impose state-mandated restrictions on a local government's authority. Additionally, the General Assembly has not allowed local governments to enact policies that would help channel development. As an example, legislationthat would allow the transfer of development rights has not been approved by the General Assembly despite efforts in 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1997, 2000 and 2004. And the courts have historically taken a dim view of the inferred land use powers in a Dillon Rule state. Recently, in Albemarle County, the Circuit Court ruled that the local government did not have the ability to require, either directly or indirectly, that off-site roads be approved as a condition of granting site approval. This mirrors court decisions in the 1970s and 1980s in which the courts held that local governments did not have the authority to enact moratoriums on the filing of subdivision plans and which overturned County denials of rezonings based on the lack of adequate public facilities. These decisions have had far-reaching implications on our transportation network, exacerbated by the state's inability to construct roads and other infrastructure outlined in localities' Comprehensive Plans in a timely fashion. The reconstruction of the intersection of Route 29 and Gallows Road, for example, just a few miles west of here, has been in VDOT's Six-Year Plan since the mid-1980s - VDOT just began right-of-way acquisition for this project this fall. Unsurprisingly, the consequent cost inflation of this project has been astronomical.
V. Transit and Other Multi-Modal Congestion Mitigation Solutions:
Finally, while the state needs to provide additional roadway capacity, it must also invest in a mult-modal transportation network. We understand that there is no magic bullet for congestion. The state needs to increase its assistance for construction, equipment and operating funding for transit systems. Seventy-five percent of Virginia's transit users reside in Northern Virginia. Per capital transit spending by Northern Virginia local governments far exceeds that of any other part of the state. Projects like rail to Dulles need the firm financial support of the Commonwealth to help us create new choices for our commuters. Virginia must also look at reducing congestion by addressing the "demand" side of the transportation problem by developing a comprehensive Transportation Demand Management strategy. Some solutions to address demand should include:
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Creating a high-level Office of Congestion Management (OCM);
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Aggressively promoting telework;
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Promoting flextime;
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Creating local public-private partnerships to prioritize and promote low-cost congestion reduction strategies; and
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Providing incentives for developments that construct transit-oriented, mixed-use developments and infill development in areas with transportation infrastructure.
Again, welcome to Fairfax County and thank you for taking time to come and listen. I and my colleagues look forward to working with you over the next four years.
- Gerry Connolly
