The Franklin County Board of Supervisors asks for your support of HB2316. This legislation will give all localities the same opportunities to generate revenues for school construction projects if consented to by the citizens. Vote “YES” to allow this legislation to move forward to a vote of the full House. HB 2316 as proposed would grant all localities the same special taxing authority that nine (9) localities were afforded in 2019 and 2020 to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to one percent, under the following conditions: • Must be initiated by a resolution of the local governing body, • Must be approved by voters at a local referendum, • Revenue from the tax shall be used solely for capital projects for the construction or improvement of schools, and • Any tax imposed shall expire when the costs for capital projects are to be repaid and shall not be more than 20 years after the date of the resolution passed. As you all are well aware, funding for school construction and renovation is one of the biggest concerns and responsibilities of local governments in the Commonwealth. Many localities face significant challenges in raising sufficient funds to undertake these projects. Many localities struggle with over-reliance on real property taxes to generate revenue, which can have vastly different yields depending on the locality and disproportionately burden a subset of taxpayers within a jurisdiction. It is estimated that this additional authority could generate approximately $1.6 million in annual revenue in Franklin County alone dedicated towards school construction costs. This equates to over $0.02 equivalent on the County’s real estate tax rate to generate this same revenue. Expansion of this authority to all localities was a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization. This bill adds no additional cost to the State – it is a local choice. Since 2019, all but one of every voter referendum initiated by a qualifying locality’s Board of Supervisors or City Council via resolution has been subsequently approved by voters in those localities. To date, the only qualifying locality to have not sought a voter referendum on this issue is Mecklenburg County. The Franklin County Board of Supervisors asks for your support of HB2316. This legislation will give all localities the same opportunities to generate revenues for school construction projects if consented to by the citizens. Vote “YES” to allow this legislation to move forward to a vote of the full House.

The sixteen members of the Virginia First Cities Coalition are united in their support and encouragement of additional funding for the historic rehabilitation tax credit program. This program is responsible for so many of the good things that have happened in our land-locked cities that are unable to grow our tax base by expanding our borders. Providing incentives to get historic, beautiful buildings back into productive, tax producing reuse is a win-win for our cities, for historical context, and for the Commonwealth.

The sixteen members of the Virginia First Cities Coalition are united in their support and encouragement of additional funding for the historic rehabilitation tax credit program. This program is responsible for so many of the good things that have happened in our land-locked cities that are unable to grow our tax base by expanding our borders. Providing incentives to get historic, beautiful buildings back into productive, tax producing reuse is a win-win for our cities, for historical context, and for the Commonwealth.

Many historic schools are still in use and continue to serve as the heartbeat of our local communities. Schools are used beyond the school day, especially in rural communities where the school is often used by other community groups in the evening and weekends. More than half of Virginia's schools are more than 50 years old, so this would directly benefit our children and school staff's daily learning environment.

Please support. The City of Richmond supports bringing the historic Moore Street School infrastructure back online through acquisition, stabilization, preservation and community utilization. The use of state tax credits will be a most useful and contributory tool to repurpose this former Richmond school. In 1886-87, a sixteen-classroom, two-story brick school was built by City engineer Lt. Col. W. E. Cutshaw "to provide the needs for freed African children of Richmond and is said to be the only one retaining much of the original "interior and exterior character," and has been described as one of the best examples of this period still publicly owned.

The Franklin County Board of Supervisors asks for your support of HB2316. This legislation will give all localities the same opportunities to generate revenues for school construction projects if consented to by the citizens. Vote “YES” to allow this legislation to move forward to a vote of the full House. HB 2316 as proposed would grant all localities the same special taxing authority that nine (9) localities were afforded in 2019 and 2020 to impose an additional local sales and use tax of up to one percent, under the following conditions: • Must be initiated by a resolution of the local governing body, • Must be approved by voters at a local referendum, • Revenue from the tax shall be used solely for capital projects for the construction or improvement of schools, and • Any tax imposed shall expire when the costs for capital projects are to be repaid and shall not be more than 20 years after the date of the resolution passed. As you all are well aware, funding for school construction and renovation is one of the biggest concerns and responsibilities of local governments in the Commonwealth. Many localities face significant challenges in raising sufficient funds to undertake these projects. Many localities struggle with over-reliance on real property taxes to generate revenue, which can have vastly different yields depending on the locality and disproportionately burden a subset of taxpayers within a jurisdiction. It is estimated that this additional authority could generate approximately $1.6 million in annual revenue in Franklin County alone dedicated towards school construction costs. This equates to over $0.02 equivalent on the County’s real estate tax rate to generate this same revenue. Expansion of this authority to all localities was a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization. This bill adds no additional cost to the State – it is a local choice. Since 2019, all but one of every voter referendum initiated by a qualifying locality’s Board of Supervisors or City Council via resolution has been subsequently approved by voters in those localities. To date, the only qualifying locality to have not sought a voter referendum on this issue is Mecklenburg County. The Franklin County Board of Supervisors asks for your support of HB2316. This legislation will give all localities the same opportunities to generate revenues for school construction projects if consented to by the citizens. Vote “YES” to allow this legislation to move forward to a vote of the full House.

Charlottesville United for Public Education Calls on House Finance Committee to Support HB 2316 January 26, 2023 I am writing on behalf of Charlottesville United for Public Education (https://www.charlottesvilleunited.org/) in strong support of HB2316. Our group formed a year ago as a coalition of parents, grandparents, and community members committed to ensuring every child in Charlottesville City Schools receives a quality education. We advocate for student success from preschool through graduation through community engagement, family support and civic participation. The driving force that started Charlottesville United is a project known as “reconfiguration” that our community debated off and on for almost two decades and which finally received City Council approval and initial funding last year. This includes the renovation and expansion of Buford Middle School (50 years old) to house grades 6-8 and the creation of a citywide preschool center on the campus of Walker Upper Elementary School. Even when City Council delivers, as expected, on its promise of approximately $80 million in funding, a significant piece of the “reconfiguration” vision will still be unfunded: a consolidated, preschool center at the current Walker site with a price in the tens of millions of dollars. We fall short in part because even with an increase in the real estate property tax, Charlottesville is limited to only 10 square miles of taxable property – a good chunk of which is occupied by UVA, a tax-exempt nonprofit. It is clear that we’ll need a combination of revenue tools to address the significant building needs that have accumulated over decades of underinvestment, and the key piece would be the special sales tax addressed in HB 2316. What our advocacy push throughout 2022 showed us is that support for improving our public schools is strong, and our community is willing to invest in our kids when given the chance. Thus, we are not asking for an automatic tax hike, but rather just the opportunity to have a choice on how we locally fund our school infrastructure. That’s why HB 2316 is so critical. We stand united with parents, grandparents, teachers, administrations, city and school board elected leaders and other community members in asking you to approve HB 2316 and give Charlottesville kids a chance at being part of Virginia’s 21st century economy starting with 21st century learning environments. Thank you for your consideration. Sandra Aviles-Poe Community Organizer Charlottesville United for Public Education

Should any of you actually read this, thank you! I applaud the state setting aside $100 million last year for school facilities. That will pay for perhaps 3 elementary schools or almost 2 middle schools or maybe one small high school. The alternative would be having the community float bonds for the needed schools and use the $100 million to service that debt. At an average annual debt service cost of $4 million in would at least that would increase the number of schools to approximately 25. However, no one would either take on that debt nor loan the monies without a reasonable guarantee of payment. Is the state saying regardless of economic and political swings guaranteeing a $100 million each year for the next 25 to 30 years? Common sense tells us that it is local government and their tax revenues that will finance school facility replacement or the need for an additional one. In counties, those tax revenues will come from an increase in the real estate tax rate. • If you want parents to have a voice in their children’s education, why are you stopping with curriculum? Why restrict their input on financing school facilities? For this 1% sales tax to be implemented the local voters must agree in sufficient numbers to pass it via referendum. They get to choose! • This 1% sales tax excludes food & medicine, so it is not replacing the food tax benefit that just went into effect! And it has a termination date assigned to it, 20 years, it doesn’t keep going unless the people once again vote for it. • Why would you vote to negate the use of a revenue source that local politicians cannot play games with? This revenue is restricted to school capital projects. Can it & will it be miss-managed, of course. But at least it cannot be diverted into their general fund or operational expenses.

I support this bill. Northampton County schools are in dire need of renovation and rehabilitation. For any locality responsible for schools, this is a needed source of county revenue targeted solely for the benefit of schools.

Virginia First Cities supports Del. Bourne's bill. In Virginia, only a handful of localities have been given the authority to use local option sales taxes for school construction despite the critical need for many if not most of our member cities. All localities should have resources and a level playing field when it comes to school construction funding opportunities. We urge the General Assembly to support the local option sales tax for all localities in the Commonwealth.

The City of Portsmouth strongly supports this bill. We have schools that are in need of serious renovations and updating. Having this as an option to raise revenue for our schools would be extremely helpful. Please support this bill. Thank you.

With billions of dollars of unmet school construction needs in Virginia, school divisions and localities are seeking additional means of funding school modernization. In Newport News, the "greatest generation" made school construction a priority, building most of the city's schools during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Today, however, these schools are aging, in need of renovation, and costly to maintain. We need today's generation to step up and modernize schools so that students and teachers can have safe, efficient and inviting places to learn and teach. HB 2316 and HB 2442 will provide residents with the OPTION of raising revenue that would be dedicated solely to school modernization. These bills give citizens the opportunity to vote on whether or not to raise the sales tax for this specific purpose. If you believe in citizen's rights, please vote for these bills so that citizens can decide whether to invest in the schools in which their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews spend much of their lives. This is a purely optional bill in which citizens will be the ultimate decision-makers. Currently, nine Virginia localities have this right. Now is the time to expand it to other localities that wish to bring the option to their residents. Thank you.

GOOD Morning, Chair Byron & members of the Committee: I am Jay L. Marts, 28yr veteran of the VaARNG & US Army, retired Colonel, and honored to speak to this committee once again on important legislation before you. I had the pleasure of visiting the GA last week as a member of the VDVS-JLC and visited many of your offices to include the Chair Del. Byron’s to highlight & support several Veterans legislative initiatives. I wanted to tell you that LA Dexter Gaines is quite the character & courteous and attentive during my visit. The members of the Armed Forces, who will benefit from HB 2361, served our Nation for many years. During these times of service & sacrifice some have had an unfortunate circumstance that ended with them receiving a 100% service-connected, permanent, and total disability. We, the citizens of Virginia, should put in place this small tax exemption for them and their surviving spouse. This is a modest action that will keep a few more $$’s in the household budget of these veterans at a time when it is very much needed. It is a small nod of appreciation for their long service and physical sacrifice. We want all veterans to know that Virginia is the best place for them to call home. Thank You again for the opportunity to address this committee.

Redirect: We DO NOT OPPOSE the concept of HB 2361,and we should look at the details more closely to ensure that EVERYONE is treated Fairly... May need some more work to fully process. Please disreagard previous comment. Thank you.

The City of Portsmouth requests that you please OPPOSE HB 2361 as presented!!! Local officials should NOT be Judge and Jury in this matter for starters... Everyone deserves their "Day in Court," if need be and the "Bad Actors" must be held accountable... This is BAD" Public Policy... Please OPPOSE.

Virginia Law currently allows localities to spend a portion of coal and gas severance tax proceeds to maintain and improve public roads. This bill does not seek to impose any new tax, nor does it call for any additional revenues. This bill simply would permit those same proceeds to also be used to construct flood mitigation features such as ditches, dry wells, berms and others to defend those same roads from flood waters. The objective is to permit the localities to use these same funds proactively to prevent flood damage to roads already improved and maintained with the same fund from previous years, rather than using the same fund to repetitively repair such roads after flooding events. This request is prompted by recent severe flooding in the Coalfields which damaged critical transportation infrastructure. Tazewell and Buchanan Counties have commissioned flood mitigation studies, which will make recommendations regarding flood mitigation measures. Those recommendations are expected to include installation of features to defend roadways. Anticipating the study's recommendations, Tazewell County asks that we broaden the uses of coal and gas severance road funds to help pay for those measures. The Code already requires all uses of these funds to be approved by a committee which includes representatives from VDoT and the coal or gas industries. Thank you for your consideration. Eric Young, Tazewell County Administrator.

With billions of dollars of unmet school construction needs in Virginia, school divisions and localities are seeking additional means of funding school modernization. In Newport News, the "greatest generation" made school construction a priority, building most of the city's schools during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Today, however, these schools are aging, in need of renovation, and costly to maintain. We need today's generation to step up and modernize schools so that students and teachers can have safe, efficient and inviting places to learn and teach. HB 2316 and HB 2442 will provide residents with the OPTION of raising revenue that would be dedicated solely to school modernization. These bills give citizens the opportunity to vote on whether or not to raise the sales tax for this specific purpose. If you believe in citizen's rights, please vote for these bills so that citizens can decide whether to invest in the schools in which their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews spend much of their lives. This is a purely optional bill in which citizens will be the ultimate decision-makers. Currently, nine Virginia localities have this right. Now is the time to expand it to other localities that wish to bring the option to their residents. Thank you.