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Virginia Beach mayor directs staff to explore boat licensing instead of a boat-tax proposal
Summary
Mayor Charles Dyer instructed staff to drop the boat excise tax proposal from the city budget and instead ask the commissioner of the revenue to model fee-based licensing options; staff expects scenarios in the upcoming budget packet and possible discussion at the April 29 budget meeting.
Virginia Beach Mayor Charles Dyer told the City Council that he wants staff to stop pursuing a proposed boat tax and to explore a fee-based licensing alternative instead.
Mayor Dyer said the move is intended to avoid a regressive outcome raised by public commenters at a recent hearing and to give council a different set of revenue scenarios. "We think it prudent this time to direct the city manager to...get away from the boat tax and instead prefer going looking into an alternative of licensing," he said.
City Manager Alex D. Dehaney (transcript: "mister Dehaney") confirmed staff will work with the commissioner of the revenue’s office to prepare scenarios showing how various fees could perform. Dehaney said staff hopes to include the scenarios in the next weekly packet and to have the item available for the council’s April 29 budget meeting.
Several council members emphasized the mayor’s direction during the discussion and asked staff to make clear that the proposal will not appear as a tax in the coming budget. Council member Rosemary Wilson said: "This council, there'll be no boat tax in the budget." That statement was repeated three times by other members as part of the council’s public remarks.
The mayor framed the change as a response to public testimony and as an attempt to find a less regressive funding approach than an excise tax. The item was a directive to staff; no formal vote was recorded during that discussion.
Council members who spoke at the time included Mayor Charles Dyer and City Manager Alex Dehaney. Staff will return with modeled fee scenarios for council consideration and potential inclusion in reconciliation or later budget action.
