manassas journal messenger 01/11/01

Thursday,

January 11, 2001

News

Gilmore

ready for car tax fight

By

Staff

RICHMOND – Gov. James S. Gilmore III defended his push to abolish the

car tax Wednesday night and threatened to veto any legislative attempt to

alter his plan, calling anything short of total elimination a tax increase.

With nearly half the personal property tax on automobiles already gone,

Gilmore told the General Assembly during his annual State of the Commonwealth

address that continuing on a path to eliminating the car tax by 2002 would

keep a campaign promise and lift a burden off many Virginians.

“The car tax may not be a heavy burden to some Virginians,”

Gilmore said. “But for many Virginians, one or two hundred dollars

makes a real difference in their lives.”

The plan for eliminating 70 percent of the car tax this year is contingent

on a growth in state tax revenue estimates by 5 percent. Tax revenue estimates

fell to 3.2 percent this year as the economy slowed, but Gilmore introduced

a plan to use a lump sum payment from the national tobacco settlement to

pump revenue growth back up above 5 percent.

This plan received mixed reviews from lawmakers on both sides of the

aisle, many who say the state should keep the car tax reduction at its present

47.5 percent until the economy picks up again. One of those not too sure

about Gilmore’s plans is Sen. John H. Chichester, R-Stafford, who represents

part of Prince William County.

Chichester, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said

that sagging revenues are a sign that total elimination of the tax should

be re-evaluated.

“I think the triggers have been pulled and we’re far below what’s

needed in the budget to go ahead with it,” Chichester said following

Gilmore’s speech. “I think it would be prudent to move ahead as cautiously

as we can.”

The Senate Finance Committee meets today, but no one’s sure if Gilmore’s

plan to use the tobacco money to support the car tax plan will come up at

that time. Gilmore attempted unsuccessfully last year to use the state’s

unallocated portion of the settlement toward road construction.

With all 100 seats in the House of Delegates and the state’s top three

elected offices up for election in November, Gilmore dared legislators to

cross him on the car tax issue.

“Because the money is already in the budget, any bill that would

halt the car tax cut I believe would amount to a tax increase,” Gilmore

said. “Any bill that would cut the car tax less than 70 percent would

also amount to a tax increase, in my judgment. The car tax is about people

and principle.”

Gilmore, who is about to take over as chairman of the Republican National

Committee, stayed on message with the national GOP’s assertion the economy

is slowing down, but said it’s not an excuse to back away from the car tax.

The current economic slow down, Gilmore said, was the result of over-compensation

by the Federal Reserve to slow the national economy.

“It is possible that the Federal Reserve Bank may have tightened

the economy too much and not corrected their actions soon enough,”

he said.

The General Assembly will debate the car tax and other bills including

amendments to the state’s two-year $48 billion budget during the legislative

session, which began Wednesday.

Delegate John A. Rollison, R-Woodbridge, who has clashed with Gilmore

on transportation issues in the past, says the car tax is popular with voters

and will get a lot of attention during the 2001 session.

“It’s the number one priority and hopefully we’ll get it done on

time,” Rollison said.

Rollison’s battles will be on the transportation front, where he’s still

upset at the Gilmore administration for taking money from the state’s transportation

fund replacing it with debt.

“We need to have real money to deal with our problems,” Rollison

said. “We suffered a net loss in cash and we’ve got a long way to go

just to get back to where we were.”

Rollison also hopes to get a bill through the legislature allowing Northern

Virginia residents to vote on whether a half cent increase in the state

sales tax should be used to fund regional transportation projects.

Democrats, many of whom refused to applaud Gilmore’s statements on the

car tax during the 45-minute speech, say money in the state’s budget should

be focused toward teacher pay raises, needed social programs and the elimination

of the state sales tax on food.

“Yes, we made a promise to cut the car tax, but we made other promises

as well,” Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, said during the

Democratic response to Gilmore’s speech. “The governor’s actions sadly

set the wrong course for our commonwealth.”

Democrats criticized Gilmore’s budget decisions for using debt to finance

his initiatives and Whipple scolded Gilmore’s reliance on debt to fund the

car tax, saying, “We are known as the digital dominion, but we shouldn’t

be known as the debt dominion.”

The General Assembly was gaveled into session earlier in the day with

the passage of new rules which limit the amount of legislation each member

can sponsor during the 46-day session.

Lawmakers were encouraged to file most of their bills in December while

limiting each delegate to six bills after the session opens. Senators will

be limited to 10 bills during the session.

The new rules passed both houses overwhelmingly, and lawmakers hope

it will reduce the logjam of bills that accompanies the beginning of each

legislative session.

City,

county plan for tourism

By

Staff

MANASSAS

City Council and the Prince William Board of County Supervisors agreed

Wednesday night to work together to work out terms for the creation of an

independent tourism program for the county and city and on plans for renovating

the Judicial Center and Adult Detention Center.

The two legislative bodies met jointly – for the first time in three

years – in the lobby of the Manassas Regional Airport terminal building.

Few points were argued between the two groups; most of the meeting was overview

on the courthouse/jail complex, Freedom Museum expansion and a proposed

Convention and Visitors Bureau.

A joint 15-member commission on the courthouse complex will be formed

over the next month to review the plans, funding and schedule of the additions

to the complex and recommend funding responsibilities for the city.

“I think this is a way to finally bring this project, that is important

to both jurisdictions, to fruition,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman

Sean Connaughton, R.

The city will also work out its relationship with the new tourism bureau,

in terms of funding responsibility and representation on its board of directors,

over the next few months.

Both the courthouse and tourism initiative are on a short schedule,

staff told the officials.

Construction on the $15.1 million Judicial Center is expected to begin

next spring, with the start of work on the Adult Detention Center slated

for summer 2003 while the Judicial Center is being completed, Connaughton

said.

A report from the courthouse commission is due back by May 15.

City Manager Larry Hughes said the funding responsibility for the city,

some of which is dictated by state codes, will be firmed up. The average

percentage of inmates in the county jail from the city is 10 percent, but

in the last two years that number dipped to 5 and 7 percent, staff said.

Supervisor Hilda Barg, D-Woodbridge, pointed out that city residents

arrested by county police are part of the county totals. But that logic

works both ways, said council member Steve Randolph.

With the tourism bureau, Manassas Museum System Director Scott Harris

said Monday that the bureau will benefit both jurisdictions with increased

revenue from tourism, and representatives from both sides agreed Wednesday.

Connaughton said the tourism working group that over the last year studied

how to form the independent 501(c) tax-exempt entity came back with the

need to clarify the relationship that Manassas City would have with the

bureau.

“It’s something we need to clarify and establish right from the

beginning,” Connaughton said.

Points of negotiation include the city’s annual contribution to tourism

efforts, which has held steady at $35,000, compared to the county’s contributions

that have increased to $1 million from raised hotel taxes. The county wants

the city to increase its share, said city officials, who on their side have

said they want more representation on the bureau’s board of directors, which

would be made up of 11 members from county organizations and one from the

city.

Council member Xerk White said at the Monday council meeting that a

second representative from Manassas should be on the board of directors.

White pointed out Wednesday night to the county that representation

on boards is an important issue between the two jurisdictions.

He said he believed the city needs another representative on the Prince

William Library Board, in light of heightened concern over the dangers of

porn on the Internet and accessibility in libraries. The airport commission

added a second county representative when the airport became more important

to the county, he said.

In other presentations, the Freedom Museum is negotiating with the county

to lease 29 acres for a nominal fee and potential for transfer of ownership

for a museum/hangar facility. Hughes said the city has to resolve issues

with the Federal Aviation Administration to meet regulations for museum

access to the runway. The museum will have vintage aircraft that operate,

but it is an airport, Hughes said, and the access issues will take time

to work out.

· Contact Chris Newman at [email protected].

School

board to relocate students

By

Staff

The public had its last opportunity Tuesday night to provide feedback

on a plan to move more than 700 students in west end county schools to relieve

overcrowding.

School officials presented boundary plans for moving students from three

existing elementary schools to other schools, as well as to the new $11.2

million Braemar Elementary which will open in September, 2001.

The plan would affect three existing elementary schools: Bristow Run,

Tyler and Mountain View.

“This is in response to explosive growth on the west end,” said

David Beavers, planning analyst with Prince William County Schools. “The

goal is to balance the student load among affected elementary schools to

plus or minus 10 percent of average capacity,” he said.

Currently Bristow Run Elementary is at 155 percent of capacity. That

means while the school is supposed to house 630 students, 977 students go

there.

For that reason a boundary committee is expected to recommend that some

students from Tyler be moved to Braemar and students from Mountain View

be moved to Tyler. Some students from Bristow Run, which currently serves

the Braemar community, will be moved to the new Braemar.

The latest plan also calls for six additional classrooms at Sinclair,

so that some Coverstone community students can be transferred to a closer

location.

Of the three existing schools Tyler is the least crowded with a capacity

of 548 students and enrollment in 2000 of 512.

“This takes a good plan and makes it better,” said Gary Testut,

who has two children at Mountain View Elementary.

The plans were developed by the boundary planning committee, comprised

of parents with elementary school children likely to be affected. The first

public hearing was in December. Tuesday night’s hearing at Stonewall Jackson

High School was the last before the committee makes its recommendation to

the school board Feb. 7.

The school board is scheduled to take action Feb. 28.

Judge

orders railroad retrial

By

Staff

is excessive.

“This verdict bears no reasonable relationship to the damages proved.

It is unfair,” Circuit Court Judge William D. Hamblen wrote Monday

to lawyers in the matter.

Donald J. French was hit by the train on May 2, 1997, as he worked at

the RaceTrac gas station off U.S. 29 in Gainesville.

French, now of Williamsburg, suffered a brain injury, depression and

crippled leg. He filed a civil lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Railway

Company.

A Prince William jury in October awarded French nearly $46 million in

compensatory damages. With interest, the award would total more than $60

million. It would have been the largest verdict ever in a mild traumatic

brain injury case, French’s attorneys said.

Attorneys on each side reacted strongly to Hamblen’s decision.

Richmond attorney Aubrey Russell Bowles III, who represents Norfolk Southern,

said he was shocked at the jury’s decision, and relieved by Hamblen’s.

“I’m very relieved because I’ve been practicing law since 1958 and

primarily representing people like railroads,” he said. “[Before]

this verdict I had never paid more than a million dollars” except in

a settlement.

Hampton attorney Stephen M. Smith, one of French’s attorneys, said he

was shocked by Hamblen’s decision.

“I’m devastated for my client because he thought he could get this

chapter of his life behind him,” Smith said. “I’m concerned about

his ability to handle the stress of another trial.”

Smith said he is researching whether French can appeal Hamblen’s decision.

If he can’t and there is a new trial, Smith said French will ask for

double the $50 million plus interest he asked for during the trial.

“We questioned whether or not we had sued for enough early on,”

Smith said.

Norfolk Southern lawyers asked Hamblen to order a new trial because

they said improper statements were made by French’s attorneys, and some

evidence was admitted erroneously. Those actions prejudiced the jury and

resulted in a verdict that was the result of passion, the railroad argued.

Hamblen wrote that French’s attorneys did make improper statements and

arguments during the trial.

And the judge said they presented some evidence that left jurors with

the impression that Norfolk Southern “engaged in some nefarious behavior

after the derailment intended to conceal or obfuscate its responsibility

therefore.”

Those factors “constituted an invitation to the jury to punish

the defendant, an invitation that was ultimately accepted,” Hamblen

wrote.

Smith disagrees.

“They were not, as a matter of fact, guided by passion or prejudice

or any desire to punish the railroad,” Smith said. “They were

convinced and impressed by the evidence of the horror that Don French goes

through every day. His life is an ongoing nightmare and they were aware

of that.”

Railroad employees failed to set a switch in the proper position, causing

the derailment, federal government investigators determined. Norfolk Southern

admitted liability, but disputed the amount of money it should pay French.