1. The City of Hampton’s 2010 General Assembly Priorities Hampton General Assembly Delegation November 12, 2009

2. Slide 2 Intergovernmental Affairs Fort Monroe Ordinance Change § 15.2-6302 of the Code of Virginia provides that the City of Hampton “may by ordinance create a development authority for the development or redevelopment of federal areas.” This provision provides the authority under which the City of Hampton passed the ordinance to create the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority (FMFADA). Since the Fort Monroe ordinance was passed by the city in 2007, the Commonwealth of Virginia has taken a much more active role in facilitating the reuse of the fort. As such, it now appears necessary to amend §15.2- 6302 to express that the city should not amend or repeal the ordinance without the express permission of the General Assembly. Given the commonwealth’s more active role both on the governing board of the Fort Monroe FADA, the City of Hampton requests legislation to amend Virginia Code Section § 15.2-6302 (Establishment of Development Authorities) to remove the continuing authority of the City of Hampton’s ordinance creating FMFADA.

3. Slide 3 Intergovernmental Affairs Fort Monroe Reimbursement Request Since May 2005, when Fort Monroe appeared on the Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure list (BRAC) to close as an army installation effective 2011, the City of Hampton has expended approximately $1,000,000 to navigate through the complicated BRAC process. This expenditure includes costs related to the HUD Homeless Screening process, the environmental characterization and clean-up process, the creation of a draft reuse plan, and consultant and legal fees. Because the vast majority of Fort Monroe belongs to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the rest reverts back to the federal government, during the 2007 General Assembly session, legislation was passed to expand the composition of the entity responsible for determining the final reuse of Fort Monroe from seven citizens appointed by the Hampton City Council to a board comprised of 18 individuals, the majority of whom represent the interests of the Commonwealth of Virginia. However, the City of Hampton remains actively involved in this project, continuing to dedicate significant staff hours to it. The city is seeking reimbursement for a portion of the funds it has expended for the Fort Monroe project between 2005 and 2007. Due to the current economic environment, there have been discussions with the Governor’s office related to inserting into the budget bill language which would allow the city a credit towards the purchase of the Virginia School property in lieu of a cash reimbursement, should the city determine that it wishes to purchase the property.

4. Slide 4 Intergovernmental Affairs Expansion of the Hampton FADA Board The Hampton Federal Area Development Authority (HFADA) was created in 2005 by action of the General Assembly in response to a possible Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) Commission decision to close Fort Monroe. The HFADA’s primary role during this time was to prevent the closure of Fort Monroe as an Army installation. Despite these efforts, in May 2005, Fort Monroe was placed on the closure list by BRAC. In 2007, because the majority of Fort Monroe will revert to the Commonwealth of Virginia upon its closure in September 2011, the General Assembly created the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority (FMFADA) to oversee the reuse of Fort Monroe once the Army vacates the property. Once the FMFADA was created, the HFADA turned its attention towards protecting and expanding all of the other federal assets located within the City of Hampton, to include NASA Langley, Langley Air Force Base, and the Veteran’s Administration. Currently, the HFADA enjoys a robust and erudite governing board. However, a number of leaders within the Hampton community representing a wide berth of diverse experiences which would aid the work and mission of the board have also indicated an interest in serving on it. Therefore, HFADA board requests the ability to expand the number of board members allowed to serve from seven members to nine members. The City of Hampton requests an amendment to §15.2-6304 to allow the Hampton Federal Area Development Authority’s governing board to expand its board membership from seven members to nine members.

5. Slide 5 Intergovernmental Affairs Charter Change – Council Prohibited from Directly Tasking Staff A number of surrounding localities, including the City of Newport News, the City of Norfolk, and the City of Portsmouth have provisions in their charters related to requiring council members to request administrative services directly through the city manager, and prohibiting council members from giving orders publicly or privately to any subordinate of the city manager. This change would require an amendment to Chapter 167 of the Acts of Assembly of 1979, which provides the charter for the City of Hampton. The language could be modeled after the language used by surrounding localities, as described below: Interference by council in dealings between council and administrative services. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the council and its members shall deal with the administrative services solely through the city manager, and neither the council nor any member thereof shall give orders either publicly or privately to any subordinate of the city manager. Any councilman violating the provisions of this section or voting for a motion, resolution or ordinance in violation of this section shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall cease to be a councilman.

6. Slide 6 Intergovernmental Affairs Green Economic Development Legislation This bill would allow an income tax credit for each new “green job” that is created by the taxpayer. For purposes of this legislation, “green job” means an occupation that 1) works directly with policies, information, materials and/or technologies that contribute to minimizing environmental impact, and 2) requires specialized knowledge, skills, training, or experience in these areas. The Secretary of Commerce and Trade shall develop a detailed definition and list of jobs that qualify for the credit provided in this section and shall post them on his website. The amount of the credit would be $1,000 for each taxable year, not to exceed $3,000 for each job created that has an annual salary that is $50,000 or more. The credit would be allowed in the taxable year in which the job had been filled for at least one year, and for the two succeeding years in which the job is continuously filled. This bill would allow any unused credits to be carried over for five taxable years. Any taxpayer that is allowed a major business facility job tax credit would not be allowed to claim this credit. This bill would be effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2010 but before January 1, 2014.

7. Slide 7 Intergovernmental Affairs Restrictive Covenants on Residential Solar Systems The Code of Virginia, through section § 67-701 outlines the restrictions and prohibitions associated with solar power covenants. Specifically, the section restricts the ability of community associations in prohibiting an owner from installing or using a solar energy collection device on that owner’s property. This restriction against covenants does not apply to community associations which implemented their covenants prior to July 1, 2008. Such restrictive covenants deny home and business owners the ability to save energy, reduce pollution, and add value to their property. Therefore, the City of Hampton requests an amendment to § 67-701 of the Code of Virginia to remove the ability of Community Associations to apply restrictive covenants implemented prior to July 1, 2008.

8. Slide 8 Intergovernmental Affairs Boat License Fee The City of Hampton requests the authority to impose a local motorboat registration fee on motorboats subject to the locality's tangible personal property tax. The city currently has the ability to impose a tax on boats through Virginia Code §58.1-3506(A) which allows the taxation of boats and watercraft under certain qualifications However, due to the trend of many Hampton Roads localities, since 2001 the city has collected only a very nominal fee for boats. Recently, during Council deliberations considering the reinstatement of a more nominal boat tax, many Hampton citizens have conveyed that they would prefer a boat decal fee rather than a boat tax. Therefore, the City of Hampton requests that the General Assembly modify the Code of Virginia (58.1-3506, B) to include broad, local-option authority for localities to impose an annual boat decal fee based on the size of the boat and using tonnage as a separate class. Hampton’s Commissioner of the Revenue has indicated that should the Hampton City Council choose to impose the decal fee in lieu of the boat tax, approximately $140,000 to $200,000 in additional revenue would be generated for the city. Such revenue could be dedicated to directly support police and fire marine operations.

9. Slide 9 Intergovernmental Affairs HB 599 Policy Statement Since 1979, the Virginia General Assembly has provided funds to cities to subsidize public safety services. Some 65 percent of all Virginians depend on local police departments for these services and all levels of government, including the Virginia Department of State Police, recognize the effective strength of a locality's police force as a key factor that influences or contributes to crime. Based on FY06 data, these public safety funds, known as “599 funds” make up almost 20 percent of Virginia's cities' law enforcement budgets, 14 percent of eligible counties' law enforcement budgets, and 34 percent of the law enforcement budgets for eligible towns. Based on a survey of participating cities, counties and towns conducted by the Virginia Municipal League, more than 2,600 police officers are patrolling Virginia's streets because of the program. As a matter of law, '599' dollars must be used to fund local public safety services, and cannot be used to supplant the funding provided by local governments for these, or any other, services. For the City of Hampton, these funds have been dedicated towards the hiring of dozens of additional police officers and crime scene technicians, overtime compensation, and competitive pay adjustments for officers, the result of which has been a significant reduction of crime in the city. Unfortunately, over the past several years, state aid to police departments in cities has significantly declined primarily because the state has cut appropriations to cities for public safety. For the City of Hampton, this has meant almost $2 million in cuts in these funds in just over a year and a half, with the possibility of more reductions on the horizon. Historically, for the City of Hampton these funds have been dedicated towards the hiring of additional police officers and crime scene technicians, overtime compensation, and competitive pay adjustments for sworn officers. Any reduction in state funds to support public safety directly and significantly impacts the ability of the city to provide these incentives to our police department.