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Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission
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Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission
The Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission (HRTAC) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States that has the responsibility for funding several major traffic projects in the Hampton Roads area. It was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 2014 to maintain and administer the Hampton Roads Transportation Fund, a trust fund established by the Virginia General Assembly through a 0.7% increase in the state sales and use tax and a 2.1% increase in the fuel tax region-wide. The organization previously existed as the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) but was disbanded in 2008 after the Virginia Supreme Court invalidated its authority to raise and levy taxes.
The organization exists alongside the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO), which is the federally mandated metropolitan planning organization responsible for planning and programming the projects for the region. Although politically independent, the TAC generally consists of the same members of the TPO, with the major exception being that mass transit is not represented on the TAC due to state law prohibiting the use of HRTF funds for mass/public transit purposes.
Since 2004, the Hampton Roads region has been searching for funding to complete major projects such as the addition of a new Midtown Tunnel and the extension of the Martin Luther King Freeway in Portsmouth, the addition of a third harbor crossing between the Southside and the Peninsula, and widening I-64 on both sides of the water, projects that would cost a combined total of $3.8 billion USD. However, the Commission determined that state funding would be insufficient for most of these projects because VDOT determined that "reliance on a regional gas tax [was] not a reasonably foreseeable source of revenue" for the plan.
In 2006, the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (then called the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization) concluded that new tolls could help secure funding for transportation projects that were removed from the 2026 RTP. Based on this study, the MPO added the projects to the regions 2030 RTP, now estimated to cost around $5 billion — if the Virginia General Assembly approved the new tolls and several tax increases.
After receiving the proposal, the General Assembly enacted House Bill 3202 introduced by State Delegate William J. Howell, which allowed the region to enact tolling on the project by creating the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority, as well as authorizing tax increases requested by the MPO to finance the other major projects in the region's plan. The state legislation authorized the HRTA to impose, assess and collect taxes, fees and tolls for projects within the jurisdictional limits of the authority, including the controversial civil remedial fees where drivers who violated traffic laws were charged civil penalties on top of their criminal fines. In total, the regional taxes and fees anticipated to be applied to the HRTA would generate an additional $170 million per year towards critical regional transportation projects, in addition to state monies delegated for projects. Toll revenues would be additional funds available to the HRTA.
With this, HRTA then scheduled regional tax increases to go into effect on April 1, 2008, which included a $10 automobile safety inspection fee, a 5 percent tax on automobile repairs, a grantor's tax of 40 cents for every $100 of assessed value when selling a home, a motor vehicle rental tax of 2 percent, a one-time vehicle registration fee of 1 percent, an $10 increase in the vehicle registration fee in the region, and a 2 percent gas tax for the region.
Many residents were upset by the General Assembly's choice to delegate its taxing authority,
During the 2008 session of the Virginia General Assembly, there were efforts sponsored by legislators from the area to include improvements to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, a major issue for localities on the Virginia Peninsula, many of whose residents have complained that the proposed projects shortchange their area. Also, Del. Tom Gear sponsored H.B. 829 to abolish the HRTA. None of those measures was passed, however.
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Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission
The Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission (HRTAC) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States that has the responsibility for funding several major traffic projects in the Hampton Roads area. It was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 2014 to maintain and administer the Hampton Roads Transportation Fund, a trust fund established by the Virginia General Assembly through a 0.7% increase in the state sales and use tax and a 2.1% increase in the fuel tax region-wide. The organization previously existed as the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) but was disbanded in 2008 after the Virginia Supreme Court invalidated its authority to raise and levy taxes.
The organization exists alongside the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO), which is the federally mandated metropolitan planning organization responsible for planning and programming the projects for the region. Although politically independent, the TAC generally consists of the same members of the TPO, with the major exception being that mass transit is not represented on the TAC due to state law prohibiting the use of HRTF funds for mass/public transit purposes.
Since 2004, the Hampton Roads region has been searching for funding to complete major projects such as the addition of a new Midtown Tunnel and the extension of the Martin Luther King Freeway in Portsmouth, the addition of a third harbor crossing between the Southside and the Peninsula, and widening I-64 on both sides of the water, projects that would cost a combined total of $3.8 billion USD. However, the Commission determined that state funding would be insufficient for most of these projects because VDOT determined that "reliance on a regional gas tax [was] not a reasonably foreseeable source of revenue" for the plan.
In 2006, the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (then called the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization) concluded that new tolls could help secure funding for transportation projects that were removed from the 2026 RTP. Based on this study, the MPO added the projects to the regions 2030 RTP, now estimated to cost around $5 billion — if the Virginia General Assembly approved the new tolls and several tax increases.
After receiving the proposal, the General Assembly enacted House Bill 3202 introduced by State Delegate William J. Howell, which allowed the region to enact tolling on the project by creating the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority, as well as authorizing tax increases requested by the MPO to finance the other major projects in the region's plan. The state legislation authorized the HRTA to impose, assess and collect taxes, fees and tolls for projects within the jurisdictional limits of the authority, including the controversial civil remedial fees where drivers who violated traffic laws were charged civil penalties on top of their criminal fines. In total, the regional taxes and fees anticipated to be applied to the HRTA would generate an additional $170 million per year towards critical regional transportation projects, in addition to state monies delegated for projects. Toll revenues would be additional funds available to the HRTA.
With this, HRTA then scheduled regional tax increases to go into effect on April 1, 2008, which included a $10 automobile safety inspection fee, a 5 percent tax on automobile repairs, a grantor's tax of 40 cents for every $100 of assessed value when selling a home, a motor vehicle rental tax of 2 percent, a one-time vehicle registration fee of 1 percent, an $10 increase in the vehicle registration fee in the region, and a 2 percent gas tax for the region.
Many residents were upset by the General Assembly's choice to delegate its taxing authority,
During the 2008 session of the Virginia General Assembly, there were efforts sponsored by legislators from the area to include improvements to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, a major issue for localities on the Virginia Peninsula, many of whose residents have complained that the proposed projects shortchange their area. Also, Del. Tom Gear sponsored H.B. 829 to abolish the HRTA. None of those measures was passed, however.