School funding bill shot down in House


A bill by Del. James Edmunds to give Halifax County the option of a local sales tax to pay for a new high school suffered a major setback in the General Assembly on Wednesday.

Edmunds’ legislation, House Bill 1634, was defeated on an 11-9 vote by the House Finance Committee. Prior to the full committee action, it had gotten through the finance panel subcommittee by a 4-2 vote.

Edmunds said late Wednesday that he still has hopes for the bill, noting that he did not have a chance to speak to the finance panel prior to the vote earlier in the day. He said he would appeal to committee members to reverse their decision at their next meeting Friday.

“So, I haven’t given up yet,” Edmunds stated.

The bill is dead for the 2019 session unless it is revived by committee members.

Under Edmunds’ bill, Halifax County would be authorized to hold a voter referendum on a local sales tax, which if approved would be added onto the state’s 5.3 cent levy on retail purchases, excluding categories such as groceries, medications and vehicle purchases. The proposed tax would require voter approval before going into effect.

School officials asked Edmunds to introduce the legislation to give Halifax County a fresh source of revenue for a new HCHS facility, which is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $100 million. Virginia localities are barred under state law from levying their own sales taxes, unless authorized to do so by the legislature.

In 2011, the General Assembly gave Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads municipalities the right to impose local option sales taxes for transportation improvements, part of the that year’s transit package promoted and signed by then-Gov. Bob McDonnell.

County school officials suggested that to pay for a new high school, Halifax County could wage a 1-cent sales tax, which would raise an estimated $3.5 million annually — the bulk of the projected yearly debt service of $5.5 million for a new HCHS.

Without the option of a sales tax, Halifax would have to raise its real estate tax by as much as 21 cents to shoulder the full cost of borrowing for a new school.

Edmunds’ bill has received the support of the Halifax County School Board, Halifax County Board of Supervisors, the towns of South Boston and Halifax and other local governing boards and civic groups.

Last week, a contingent of local leaders, teachers and high school students spoke before the subcommittee to explain the need for a new HCHS facility.

The Finance Committee vote cut across party lines, with four Republicans and five Democrats voting in favor of the bill and a similar bipartisan bloc forming against it. Its prospects are highly uncertain in the state Senate, which historically has been reluctant to expand the taxing powers of localities.

Other efforts to increase state funding for local school construction remain alive in the Assembly, which has yet to reach the crossover deadline of Feb. 5. That’s when each chamber takes up legislation that has gotten through the other end of the Capitol.

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