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2005 SESSION
053514328Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 33.1-221.1:1.1, 46.2-214.1, and 58.1-2425 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 33.1-221.1:1.1. Rail Enhancement Fund.
A. The General Assembly declares it to be in the public
interest that railway preservation and development of railway transportation
facilities are an important element of a balanced transportation system of the
Commonwealth for freight and passengers and further declares it to be in the
public interest that the retention, maintenance, improvement and development of
the railways are essential to the Commonwealth's continued economic growth,
vitality, and competitiveness in national and world markets, and there is
hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as
the Railway Preservation
and Development Rail Enhancement
Fund, hereafter referred to as "the Fund."
B. The Fund shall be established on the books of the
Comptroller, and shall consist of such funds from such sources as shall be set
forth in the appropriation act and shall be paid into the state treasury and
credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the
Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including
interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the
general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used
solely as provided in this section. Expenditures and disbursements from the
Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller
upon written request signed by the Executive
Director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation or the Executive
Director's designee.
C. To fulfill this purpose, there shall be funding set forth each year in the budget bill and appropriated by the General Assembly in the Rail Assistance Program of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. These funds shall be used by the Department of Rail and Public Transportation to administer a Rail Preservation and Development Program for the purposes described in subsection A. Furthermore, the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall include an annual allocation for such purpose in its allocation of transportation revenues.
D. The Executive
Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation shall administer
and expend or commit, subject to the approval of the Commonwealth
Transportation Board, the Fund for acquiring, leasing, and/or improving
railways or assisting other appropriate entities to acquire, lease, or improve
railways for freight and/or passenger rail transportation purposes whenever the
Board shall have determined that such acquisition, lease, and/or improvement is
for the common good of a region of the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth as a
whole. The Executive
Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation may consult with
other agencies or their designated representatives concerning projects to be
undertaken under this section.
E. Tracks and facilities constructed and property and
equipment purchased under this section shall be the property of the
Commonwealth for the useful life of the project as determined by the Executive
Director of the Department of Rail and Public Transportation and shall be made
available for use by all common carriers using the railway system to which they
connect under trackage rights agreements between the partiesProjects
undertaken pursuant to this section shall be limited to those the Director of
the Department of Rail
and Public Transportation shall have determined will result in public
benefits to the Commonwealth that are equal to or greater than the investment
of funds under this section.
§ 46.2-214.1. Additional charge for information supplied by Department.
Beginning July 1, 2002, in addition to the fee charged pursuant to § 46.2-214, the Commissioner shall charge $2 for furnishing information under this title, but no fee shall be charged to any official, including court and police officials, of the Commonwealth or any county, city, or town of the Commonwealth, or to court, police, and licensing officials of other states or of the federal government, provided that the information requested is for official use.
All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the state treasury and credited to the Rail Enhancement Fund established by § 33.1-221.1:1.1.
§ 58.1-2425. Disposition of revenues.
A. All funds collected hereunder by the Commissioner shall be
forthwith paid into the state treasury. Except as otherwise provided in this
section, these funds shall constitute special funds within the Commonwealth
Transportation Fund. Any balances remaining in these funds at the end of the
year shall be available for use in subsequent years for the purposes set forth
in this chapter, and any interest income on such funds shall accrue to these
funds. The revenue so derived, after refunds have been deducted, is hereby
allocated for the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of highways and
the regulation of traffic thereon and for no other purpose. However, (i) all
funds collected pursuant to the provisions of this chapter from manufactured
homes, as defined in § 46.2-100, shall be distributed to the city, town, or
county wherein such manufactured home is to be situated as a dwelling; (ii) all
funds collected from the additional tax imposed by subdivision A 4 of §
58.1-2402 on the rental of daily rental vehicles shall be distributed quarterly
to the city, town, or county wherein such vehicle was delivered to the rentee;
(iii) effective January 1, 1987, an amount equivalent to the net additional
revenues generated by enactments of the 1986 Special Session of the Virginia
General Assembly which amended §§ 46.2-694, 46.2-697, 58.1-2401, 58.1-2402 and
this section shall be distributed to and paid into the Transportation Trust
Fund, a special fund within the Commonwealth Transportation Fund, and are
hereby appropriated to the Commonwealth Transportation Board for transportation
needs; (iv) except as otherwise provided in clause (iii) of this sentence, all
moneys collected from the tax on the gross proceeds from the rental in Virginia
of any motor vehicle pursuant to subdivision A 3 of § 58.1-2402 at the tax rate
in effect on December 31, 1986, shall be paid by the Commissioner into the
state treasury and shall be set
aside in a special fund within the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to be used
to meet the expenses of the Department of Motor Vehicles paid into the Rail Enhancement Fund established by § 33.1-221.1:1.1;
and (v) all additional revenues resulting from the fee imposed under subdivision
A 5 of § 58.1-2402 as enacted by the 2004 Session of the General Assembly shall
be used to pay the debt service on the bonds issued by the Virginia Public
Building Authority for the Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS) for the
Department of State Police pursuant to the authority granted by the 2004
Session of the General Assembly.
B. As provided in subsection A of § 58.1-638, of the funds becoming part of the Transportation Trust Fund pursuant to clause (iii) of subsection A of this section, an aggregate of 4.2 percent shall be set aside as the Commonwealth Port Fund; an aggregate of 2.4 percent shall be set aside as the Commonwealth Airport Fund; and an aggregate of 14.5 percent in fiscal year 1998-1999 and 14.7 percent in fiscal year 1999-2000 and thereafter shall be set aside as the Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund.