Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Capital Sales Tax topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Subcommittee reports bill letting localities seek up to 1% sales tax for school construction
Summary
HB334 would allow counties and cities to impose an additional local sales-and-use tax of up to 1% for school capital projects if approved by local referendum. The bill drew broad support from municipal and education groups and was reported 8–2 by the subcommittee.
Delegate Rasul told the subcommittee HB334 would authorize localities, by referendum, to adopt an additional local sales-and-use tax of up to 1% to fund school construction and renovation. He and multiple witnesses described a large statewide backlog of school capital needs and argued this would be a voluntary, locally approved tool to address that gap.
Supporters included the Virginia Association of Counties, the Virginia Municipal League, school boards and superintendents from several cities, the Virginia Education Association and regional commissions. Jeremy Bennett (VACO) and Joseph Bulova (VML) said the measure is a local-option tool and not a mandatory tax increase. School-system representatives described aging buildings and deferred maintenance needs; witnesses used a multi‑billion dollar backlog estimate in testimony as the policy context for the bill.
After public and member questions about referendum mechanics and cross-jurisdictional retail flows, the subcommittee voted to report HB334 (8 yays, 2 nays). The bill, if enacted, would require a locality’s governing body to send the question to voters and, if approved locally, collect the tax under existing local-option sales tax mechanisms.
