Winchester council approves dissolution of Parking Authority, seeks state amendment to transfer property authority

The Winchester City Council voted Tuesday to dissolve the Winchester Parking Authority and approved a request that the General Assembly amend the Winchester Parking Authority Act to permit the city to convey real property and assume the authority’s obligations.

City Attorney Melissa Michaelson told the council the authority, created under a 1964 act, has operated downtown parking garages for decades but now consists largely of internal staff and two board chairs and lacks broader public membership. She said the authority asked the council to dissolve it and transfer assets, obligations and outstanding debt into a city-managed enterprise fund. “They met and decided to ask the common council to dissolve the authority at this time and assume all of the obligations and liabilities,” Michaelson said.

Finance chair Mary Blow and staff presented a pro forma showing current operations cover existing debt service but that adding a large new debt payment would strain the system; the George Washington garage debt, Blow noted, is not paid off until 2037. Blow described the plan as creating a city parking enterprise fund that would use parking revenues (and, if needed, neighborhood design district funding) to pay operations and debt service while keeping the accounting and staff organized.

Councilors pressed staff and the city’s auditors about any effect on the city’s bond rating. Michaelson said the debt instruments are revenue bonds and that auditors and financial advisers generally do not foresee a negative impact on the city’s credit rating caused solely by the dissolution. “They don't have any concerns that it would have any negative ratings. Yes,” she said.

The council approved the dissolution resolution on a motion and later voted to send a separate, administrative request (R2025-49) to the General Assembly to amend the Winchester Parking Authority Act so the city can transfer property titles and carry out related conveyances once the authority is dissolved.

What happens next: the council dissolved the local authority and asked Richmond to amend the enabling act so the city can legally convey or transfer property as needed. The city will proceed to refinance and administrative steps required to formally transfer the George Washington garage and other assets into the city’s enterprise fund structure.

Provenance: discussion and motion introduced during the R2025-48 public hearing and staff presentation (topic introduced SEG 205; discussion and vote concluded SEG 483).