Albemarle County Supervisor David L. Slutzky is contemplating whether he will run against four-term incumbent Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County, in 2009, and local transportation issues are playing heavily into that potential decision as the two local leaders have taken opposing sides about whether to support a transportation plan involving higher taxes.
Slutzky said the Virginia General Assembly has been neglecting some of its responsibilities — chief among these the Assembly’s responsibility to give local governments funding for transportation.
“Bell is my representative, and he’s been one of the leading forces in Richmond and yet the General Assembly is not funding their obligations,” Slutzky said. “I’m getting fed up with it and am therefore seriously considering running.”
Slutzky noted that transportation is one of the main problems Albemarle County residents currently face and said Charlottesville and Albemarle residents need additional funds to pay for transportation projects. He said the current representatives at the state level have not done enough to address such issues.
One of the ways Slutzky thinks this problem can be solved is through tax increases, he said, noting he hopes to get permission from the Assembly to propose a referendum to county residents to determine their opinions about possible tax increases to support transportation.
“We’ve asked for a separate enabling authority to allow us at the local level to hold a referendum and ask our citizens if they would like to have an increase in local taxes, and if they do, we’d be allowed to impose those taxes,” Slutzky said.
The tax increases could come in one of two ways, Slutzky said. The first option would be to increase the local sales tax by one cent and the other would be to tax gasoline. Although Slutzky said he thinks Bell should support the referendum, Bell said he does not yet know enough about the issue to support it one way or another.
“He hasn’t told us what’s in it yet — all that I know right now is that it contains tax increases,” Bell said. “They have not pinned down what the tax increases will be or what they will pay for.”
Slutzky, however, said there are already planned transportation projects that could receive funding from the possible tax increases. Some of these projects would work to expand the transportation system and improve the transportation infrastructure, Slutzky said.
While he did not want to give an opinion about a proposal that he believes is not yet complete, Bell said, he is cautious about the idea of tax increases in general because of the current status of Virginia’s economy.
“I’m very skeptical that we should have a tax increase at this time when [the] Virginia economy is struggling like it is,” he said. “But I didn’t want to comment on a proposal that wasn’t complete.”
One alternative Bell suggested to increasing taxes for transportation is to re-allocate transportation funds. He said he does not oppose the idea of improving Virginia transportation but noted that the means for doing so must be clear and viable.
“The transportation budget has grown; primarily the road budget has doubled in last 10 years.” Bell said. “If we want to allocate some of the primary road money to secondary roads that is something we can do, but the tax burden on the average Virginian has gone up over last decade, and I think we should look to allocation issue before we look to another tax increase.”
Although Slutzky said he has not made a concrete decision about running against Bell, his frustration continues with the General Assembly.
“I was elected in part because of my life’s work on protecting the environment and transportation problems,” Slutzky said. “I would like to continue that work, but I may need to do it in Richmond ... It’s a tough decision.”
Bell said if Slutzky does make the decision to run next year, he is prepared.
“I always presume there will be a contest every two years and I’m proud of my record,” Bell said. “I’ve had an eight-year run where we’ve had some significant legislative accomplishments, and I am prepared to defend that record next year.”
Since his election to the House of Delegates in 2001, Bell has not faced significant opposition in any re-election bid. Slutzky has served on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors for three years and faces re-election should he decide not to challenge Bell in 2009.
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