Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Council Actions topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Staunton council adds River Oak Drive to VDOT inventory, formalizes 2.7% tourism share of occupancy tax
Summary
On Jan. 23 Staunton City Council voted unanimously to add River Oak Drive (Red Oaks Subdivision Section 7) to the city’s VDOT-maintained local road inventory and adopted a resolution clarifying that 2.7 percentage points of the 6.7% transient-occupancy tax are dedicated to tourism promotion and marketing.
Staunton City Council voted on Jan. 23 to add a newly completed subdivision street to the city’s VDOT-maintained local road system and to codify longstanding practice allocating part of the city’s transient-occupancy tax to tourism operations.
City Engineer Lisle Hart told council the public infrastructure for Red Oaks Subdivision Section 7 — River Oak Drive — was completed and accepted by the city in December and now qualifies for inclusion in the local system registered with the Virginia Department of Transportation. Vice Mayor Brad Arrowood moved the resolution to add River Oak Drive to the city’s local system; the motion passed unanimously on a roll-call vote.
Later in the meeting Amanda Kaufman, assistant city manager, presented a cleanup resolution to clarify the allocation of Staunton’s transient-occupancy tax. The city’s tax rate is 6.7% of an overnight room rental. Kaufman told council that in practice 2.7 percentage points of that total have been committed to tourism operations and marketing; the adopted resolution makes that allocation explicit in city code. Councilor Jeff Oberholtzer moved adoption of the resolution; council approved it unanimously on a roll-call vote.
Votes at a glance:
- River Oak Drive (Red Oaks Subdivision Sec. 7): Motion to adopt a resolution authorizing VDOT to add River Oak Drive to the city’s local road system; mover — Vice Mayor Brad Arrowood; second — Councilor (record shows a second); roll-call: Park Aye; Shepherd Aye; Woods Aye; Campbell Aye; Overholtzer Aye; Arrowood Aye; Mayor Edwards Aye; outcome — adopted.
- Transient-occupancy tax resolution: Motion to adopt proposed resolution clarifying the portion of the 6.7% transient-occupancy tax dedicated to tourism promotion and marketing; mover — Councilor Jeff Oberholtzer; second — Councilor Alice Woods; roll-call: Park Aye; Overholtzer Aye; Campbell Aye; Woods Aye; Shepherd Aye; Arrowood Aye; Mayor Edwards Aye; outcome — adopted.
Nut graf: Both actions were routine, unanimous council votes. The roadway addition qualifies River Oak Drive for VDOT maintenance reimbursement; the occupancy-tax clarification aligns the municipal code with a practice that has directed 2.7 percentage points of the tax toward tourism operations and marketing funding for several years.
Ending: Council took the measures as part of its regular meeting business; the inventory addition will be forwarded to VDOT and the tax-allocation resolution will be codified in city records.
