York Supervisors Consider a Tax or Fee to Fund $94M Chesapeake Bay Cleanup

By Sam Thrift Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Facing a $7 million reduction in revenue in the next budget cycle and an anticipated $94 million bill to clean up the Chesapeake Bay over the next 14 years, the York County Board of Supervisors agreed they can no longer take the stance that they will never raise taxes.

During their retreat Saturday, board members spent some time discussing the taxes and fees they will consider altering in future work sessions: real estate and personal property tax late payment penalties, and changing the vehicle registration fee. The majority of their budget discussion was dedicated to how the county could prepare for the Chesapeake Bay Act, which is expected to cost the county alone almost $100 million for its share of cleaning up the bay. Read more about the Chesapeake Bay regulations by clicking here.

The supervisors and York County staff are concerned that the Environmental Protection Agency will not consider the money already spent to try to meet previous EPA standards when implementing the new plan.

“We have already spent millions and have yet to give us credit for what we’ve done,” County Administrator James McReynolds said.

According to a letter McReynolds sent to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, York has already expended over $56 million to provide sewer for the existing septic tank removals and has budgeted an additional $36 million for the projects scheduled up to 2025.

“Until the state and EPA gets their act together we don’t even know what our goals and objective should be,” York County Director of Environmental/Development Services John Hudgins said. “The state says we have 5,500 septic tanks, but we have half of that. We’ve asked the state to correct the data, but the work has yet to be credited.”

District 5 Supervisor Tom Shepperd said the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission’s figures show the county owing $94 million over the next 14 years to meet the EPA’s new requirements. In a December budget meeting, McReynolds mentioned the county anticipated its budget will decrease from $130 million to a little under $123 million in the next year.

“Right now we have so much on us, how can we set aside money for [EPA requirements]? We don’t even know how much we will owe,” District 3 Supervisor Don Wiggins said.

Wiggins suggested — and the other four supervisors agreed — that the county should consider implementing a tax or fee to offset the anticipated cost.

The group created a list of things the York County staff must research and calculate for the board to consider before imposing a tax or fee. The first question posed was whether a tax or a fee would be more fair when considering that businesses, with large parking lots and more water runoff, cost the county more than residents with small lots.

McReynolds explained later in an email to WYDaily that tax revenues and taxes are not tied to a given service. He added that the services taxes fund are usually available to all citizens, whereas a fee is typically associated with a service. With a fee there is a direct correlation between the fee and the service being provided. McReynolds added that fees are not deductible from your taxable income under state and federal tax code, but most taxes are.

Another concern was educating the public on the EPA regulations and the need for the fee or tax to assist the county in funding the state-mandated expenses. In surrounding areas, the fee or tax is usually labeled as a “stormwater” tax or fee. The supervisors suggested calling it the “Chesapeake Cleanup” tax or fee, so residents know exactly what the money is going towards.

Lastly, the board wanted to know the amount of time needed to implement the tax or fee — McReynolds guessed six to nine months if current data is used — and the additional resources, such as staff, needed for the project.