Marshall v. Northern Virginia Transp. Auth.

• Decision Date: 29 February 2008
• Docket Number: Record No. 071959.,Record No. 071979.
• Citation: 657 S.E.2d 71,275 Va. 419
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: Robert G. MARSHALL, et al. v. NORTHERN VIRGINIA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, et al. Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County v. Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, et al.

657 S.E.2d 71

275 Va. 419

Robert G. MARSHALL, et al. v. NORTHERN VIRGINIA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, et al.

Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County v. Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, et al.

Record No. 071959.

Record No. 071979.

Supreme Court of Virginia.

February 29, 2008.

Wesley G. Russell, Jr., Richmond (Patrick M. McSweeney; McSweeney, Crump, Childress & Temple, on briefs), for appellants Robert G. Marshall, Richard H. Black, Catherine Ann Marshall, Edmund Charles Miller, Marcia S. Miller, Kristina Rasmussen, Phillip A. Rodokanakis and Frank W. Smerbeck.

John R. Roberts, County Attorney, for appellant Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County.

Francis S. Ferguson, Deputy Attorney General (Robert F. McDonnell, Attorney General; William E. Thro, State Solicitor General; Stephen R. McCullough, Deputy State Solicitor General; William C. Mims, Chief Deputy Attorney General; Stephanie L. Hamlett, Deputy Attorney General; Lisa Hicks-Thomas, Deputy Attorney General, on brief), for appellees Commonwealth of Virginia.

William G. Broaddus (Arthur E. Anderson, II; Stewart T. Leeth; McGuireWoods, on briefs), Richmond, for appellee Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

Present: All the Justices.

OPINION BY Justice S. BERNARD GOODWYN.

In this appeal, we are asked to consider several challenges to Chapter 896 of the 2007 Acts of Assembly. Our consideration of two particular issues resolves the matters presented. Those issues are: (1) whether Chapter 896 violates Article IV, Section 12 of the Constitution of Virginia ("the Constitution"); and (2) whether the Constitution prohibits the General Assembly from delegating its power of taxation to a political subdivision charged with the responsibility of addressing regional transportation issues affecting certain localities of the Commonwealth, when that political subdivision is not a county, city, town, or regional government, and is not an elected body.

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 13, 2007, the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority ("NVTA") instituted a bond validation proceeding in the Circuit Court of Arlington County under Article 6 of the Public Finance Act of 1991, Code §§ 15.2-2650 through -2658. NVTA requested, among other things, that the circuit court determine the validity of certain bonds that NVTA proposed to issue ("the bonds"), and the constitutionality of certain taxes and fees that NVTA was authorized to impose, under Chapter 896 of the 2007 Acts of Assembly ("Chapter 896"), to finance the bonds.

The Commonwealth, on behalf of the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Speaker of the House of Delegates (collectively, "the Commonwealth"), intervened in the bond validation proceeding as plaintiffs in support of NVTA. The Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County, Virginia ("Loudoun County") filed responsive pleadings as a defendant opposing validation of the bonds. A group of citizens living in the area encompassed by NVTA, Robert G. Marshall, John Berthoud, Richard H. Black, Catherine Ann Marshall, Edmund Charles Miller, Marcia S. Miller, Kristina Rasmussen, Phillip A. Rodokanakis, and Frank W. Smerbeck ("the Marshall Defendants"), also filed a joint answer opposing the validation. Additionally, the Marshall Defendants filed a counterclaim and moved for summary judgment alleging in part, that the bonds and Chapter 896, or portions thereof, violate the Constitution.

After conducting a hearing, the circuit court granted NVTA its requested relief, dismissed the remaining counts of the Marshall Defendants' counterclaim, and dismissed the Marshall Defendants' motion for summary judgment. The circuit court held, in relevant part, that the enactment of Chapter 896

was within the legislative power of the Virginia General Assembly set forth in Article TV of the Constitution of Virginia, and does not violate any Section of that Article, and the NVTA Act, as amended by Chapter 896, and Virginia Code §§ 46.2-755.1, 46.2-755.2, 46.2-1167.1, 58.1-605, 58.1-606, 58.1-802.1, 58.1-2402.1, 58.1-3825.1, as enacted, do not violate any provisions of the Constitution of Virginia; and

. . . .

that the regional fees and taxes and all other means provided for payment of the Bonds are valid and legal and meet the requirements of the Constitution of Virginia and all applicable statutes....

The court, in granting the relief prayed for in the complaint, ruled that the bonds are valid and legal. Loudoun County and the Marshall Defendants appeal from the circuit court's judgment.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In 2002, the General Assembly created NVTA as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. See Code § 15.2-4830. NVTA encompasses the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, and the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park. ("the Northern Virginia localities") which are designated by name in the statute. Code § 15.2-4831. The governing board of NVTA consists of 14 voting members and two non-voting members. See Code § 15.2-4832.

The voting members of NVTA's governing board are the chief elected officers of the governing body for each named county and city, two members of the House of Delegates appointed by the Speaker of the House, one member of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and two citizens appointed by the Governor, all of whom reside in the nine localities embraced by NVTA. See Code § 15.2-4832. Any chief elected officer of a governing body of a member city or county may name a designee, but each such designee must be "a current elected officer" of the applicable governing body. Id. Decisions of NVTA must be approved by a "super-majority" of the voting members. See Code § 15.2-4834.

NVTA's powers are limited by its enabling legislation to activities pertaining to regional transportation. See Code §§ 15.2-4830, -4838, and -4840. NVTA is empowered, among other things, to prepare a regional transportation plan for the Northern Virginia localities and to construct or acquire transportation facilities that are either specified in the plan or constitute a regional priority. Id. NVTA may issue bonds to finance such projects. See Code §§ 15.2-4839, -4519.

In 2007, both houses of the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed the legislation that became Chapter 896. The title to Chapter 896 states, in part, that the act will amend and reenact numerous provisions of the Code, with all such enactments "relating to transportation."¹ Under various provisions contained in Chapter 896, NVTA has the authority, in its sole discretion, to impose seven regional taxes and fees ("the regional taxes and fees").

The regional taxes and fees NVTA is authorized to impose within the Northern Virginia localities are: an additional annual vehicle license fee (Code § 46.2-755.1); an additional initial vehicle registration fee (Code § 46.2-755.2); an additional vehicle inspection fee (Code § 46.2-1167.1); a local sales and use tax on vehicle repairs (Code §§ 58.1-605(K)(1), -606(H)(1)); a regional congestion relief fee (Code § 58.1-802.1); a local rental car transportation fee (Code § 58.1-2402.1); and an additional transient occupancy tax (Code § 58.1-3825.1). For each such tax and fee, the General Assembly specified the subject of taxation and fixed the amount or rate.

The General Assembly designated the revenue raised from imposition of the regional taxes and fees for the sole purpose of financing bonds and providing revenue for transportation projects and purposes in the nine localities embraced by NVTA. Code §§ 15.2-4831, -4838.1. Chapter 896 also contains a provision directing that should a court of competent jurisdiction hold that any portion of the Chapter is unconstitutional, the remaining portions of the Chapter shall remain in effect. 2007 Acts ch. 896, cl. 23.

After conducting a public hearing, NVTA's governing body voted to impose the regional taxes and fees authorized by Chapter 896, effective January 1, 2008. The governing body also adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds of NVTA in a principal amount not to exceed $130 million, to be paid from the pledgeable NVTA revenues, which include revenues from the regional taxes and fees.

III. ANALYSIS

We have long recognized the principle that the power of a government to tax its people and their property is essential to government's very existence. Southern Ry. Co. v. Commonwealth, 211 Va. 210, 220, 176 S.E.2d 578, 584 (1970); Chesapeake & Potomac Tel. Co. v. City of Newport News, 196 Va. 627, 638, 85 S.E.2d 345, 351 (1955); City of Fredericksburg v. Sanitary Grocery Co., 168 Va. 57, 64, 190 S.E. 318, 321 (1937); Vaughan v. City of Richmond, 165 Va. 145, 148, 181 S.E. 372, 374 (1935); City of Norfolk v. Chamberlain, 89 Va. (14 Hans.) 196, 226, 16 S.E. 730, 740 (1892). This power to tax, which is inherent in every sovereign state government, is a legislative power that the Constitution vests in the General Assembly. Town of Danville v. Shelton, 76 Va. (1 Hans.) 325, 327-28 (1882); see Chamberlain, 89 Va. (14 Hans.) at 227, 16 S.E. at 739.

Established principles govern our determination whether the General Assembly has adhered to the Constitution in exercising its legislative power. The exercise of that power clearly encompasses the levying of taxes. Every law enacted by the General Assembly carries a strong presumption of validity, and courts are concerned only with the issue whether a legislative enactment has been rendered according to, and within, constitutional requirements. City of Newport News v. Elizabeth City County, 189 Va. 825, 839, 55 S.E.2d 56, 64 (1949). The separate question regarding the wisdom and the propriety of a statute are matters within the province of the legislature. Id. at 831, 55 S.E.2d at 60.

We will not invalidate a statute unless that statute clearly violates a provision of the United States or Virginia Constitutions. In re Phillips, 265 Va. 81, 85-86, 574 S.E.2d 270, 272 (2003); City...