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2016 SESSION
16103721DPatrons-- Villanueva, Bloxom, Davis, Helsel, Heretick, Hester, Mason, Miyares, Spruill, Taylor, Tyler and Ward; Senators: Lewis and Locke
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 33.2-2600, 33.2-2602, 33.2-2604, and 33.2-2605 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 33.2-2600. Hampton Roads Transportation Fund.
There is hereby created in the state treasury a special
nonreverting fund for Planning District 23 to be known as the Hampton Roads
Transportation Fund, referred to in this chapter as "the Fund." The
Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All revenues
dedicated to the Fund pursuant to § 58.1-638 and Chapter 22.1 (§ 58.1-2291 et
seq.) of Title 58.1 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. The moneys deposited in the Fund shall be used solely for (i)
new construction projects on new or existing highways, bridges, and tunnels in
the localities comprising Planning District 23 as approved by the Hampton Roads
Transportation Accountability Commission and (ii)
administrative and operating expenses as specified in subsection B of § 33.2-2605.
The Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability
Commission shall give priority to those projects that are expected to provide
the greatest impact on reducing congestion for the greatest number of citizens
residing within Planning District 23 and shall ensure that the moneys shall be used
for such construction projects.
The amounts dedicated to the Fund shall be deposited monthly by the Comptroller into the Fund and thereafter distributed to the Commission as soon as practicable for use in accordance with this chapter. If the Commission determines that such moneys distributed to it exceed the amount required to meet the current needs and demands to fund transportation projects pursuant to this chapter, the Commission may invest such excess moneys in accordance with applicable law.
The amounts deposited into the Fund and the distribution and expenditure of such amounts shall not be used to calculate or reduce the share of federal, state, or local revenues otherwise available to participating localities. Further, such revenues and moneys shall not be included in any computation of, or formula for, a locality's ability to pay for public education, upon which appropriations of state revenues to local governments for public education are determined.
§ 33.2-2602. Composition of Commission.
The Commission shall consist of 23 members as follows:
1. The chief elected officer of the governing body of each of
the 14 counties and 10 cities embraced by the
Commission;
2. A current elected official of each of the four counties embraced by the Commission, provided that such official (i) serves on the governing body of the county and (ii) has been appointed by resolution of such governing body to serve as the county's member on the Commission;
2. 3. Three members of the House
of Delegates who reside in different counties or cities embraced by the
Commission, appointed by the Speaker of the House, and two members of the
Senate who reside in different counties or cities embraced by the Commission,
appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; and
3. 4. The following four persons
serving as nonvoting ex officio members of the Commission: a member of the
Commonwealth Transportation Board who resides in a locality embraced by the
Commission and is appointed by the Governor; the Director of the Department of
Rail and Public Transportation, or his designee; the Commissioner of Highways,
or his designee; and the Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority, or
his designee.
If a member representing a city or county is unable to attend a meeting of the Commission due to an emergency or personal matter, he may designate another current elected official of the same governing body to attend a meeting of the Commission and act on his behalf. Such designation shall be submitted in writing or electronically to the Chairman of the Commission on or before the day of affected meeting and shall be limited in a calendar year to two Commission meetings or 25 percent of the Commission's meetings, whichever is fewer.
All members of the Commission shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
The Commission shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its voting membership.
The Auditor of Public Accounts, or his legally authorized representatives, shall annually audit the financial accounts of the Commission, and the cost of such audit shall be borne by the Commission.
§ 33.2-2604. Decisions of Commission.
A majority of the Commission, which majority shall include at
least a majority of the total of
the chief elected officers of and elected officials who represent
the counties and cities embraced by the Commission, shall constitute a quorum.
Decisions of the Commission shall require a quorum and shall be in accordance
with voting procedures established by the Commission. In all cases, decisions
of the Commission shall require the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the
members of the Commission present and voting, and two-thirds of the total of the chief elected
officers of and
elected officials who represent the counties and cities
embraced by Planning District 23 who are present and voting and whose counties
and cities include at least two-thirds of the population embraced by the Commission;
however, no motion to fund a specific facility or service shall fail because of
this population criterion if such facility or service is not located or to be
located or provided or to be provided within the county or city whose chief
elected officer's or elected official's
sole negative vote caused the facility or service to fail to meet the
population criterion. The population of counties and cities embraced by the
Commission shall be the population as determined by the most recently preceding
decennial census, except that on July 1 of the fifth year following such
census, the population of each county and city shall be adjusted, based on
population estimates made by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service of the
University of Virginia.
§ 33.2-2605. Annual budget and allocation of expenses.
A. The Commission shall adopt an annual budget and develop a funding plan and shall provide for such adoption in its bylaws. The funding plan shall provide for the expenditure of funds over a four- to six-year period and shall align with the Statewide Transportation Plan established pursuant to § 33.2-353 as much as possible. The Commission shall solicit public comment on its budget and funding plan by posting a summary of such budget and funding plan on its website and holding a public hearing. Such public hearing shall be advertised on the Commission's website and in a newspaper of general circulation in Planning District 23.
B. The administrative and operating
expenses of the Commission, as shall be provided in an annual
budget adopted by the Commission, and to the extent funds for
such expenses are not provided from other sources,
shall be allocated among the component counties and cities on
the basis of the relative population, as determined pursuant to § 33.2-2604 paid from the Fund. Such
budget shall be limited solely to the administrative and
operating expenses of the Commission and shall not include
any funds for construction or acquisition of transportation facilities or the
performance of any transportation service.
C. Members may be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses provided in §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825, if approved by the Commission. Funding for the costs of compensation and expenses of the members shall be provided by the Commission.
2. That no provision of this act shall result in the expiration of any provision of (i) Chapter 896 of the Acts of Assembly of 2007 pursuant to the 22nd enactment of that chapter or (ii) Chapter 766 of the Acts of Assembly of 2013 pursuant to the 14th enactment of that chapter.