April 9, 2024: Youngkin vetoes bill that would have allowed localities to decide on sales tax increase for school construction
Plus: More finalists for the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council's 25th annual awards
We are now 100 days into 2024, a century of 24-hour periods in which a great many number of things have happened. This is another edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and occasional podcast that seeks to bring information to readers and occasional listeners about items that have happened, are happening, or soon to happen. I only happen to be Sean Tubbs, and not Hig Hurtenflurst.
In today’s installment:
Albemarle County’s new Human Services Alternative Response Team answered a call today involving a distressed individual in the Belvedere neighborhood
Governor Glenn Youngkin concludes action on General Assembly bills including a veto of a bill that would have allowed localities to hold referendums on sales tax increases to pay for school construction
More finalists for the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council’s annual awards
Sponsored message: Buy Local
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HART team responds to incident in Belvedere
Last year, Albemarle County launched a new public safety team designed to respond to service calls where individuals or groups are believed to be in a mental health crisis. Today a Human Services Alternative Response Team consisting of a police officer, a fire/rescue officer, and a social services worker was called to the 700 block of Belvedere Boulevard after a trespassing call was received by the Emergency Communications Center.
“Upon arrival, HART located an individual in distress at this location,” reads a press release about the incident. “Team members attempted to speak with the individual who showed a need for mental health services.”
The group determined through observation that an emergency custody order was needed and soon obtained. Under Virginia code, a magistrate can issue such an order if certain criteria are met. Take a look at the law for the details.
“Additional units from ACPD and ACFR responded to assist in taking the individual to be evaluated for mental health services,” the release continued.
There were no shots fired involved with this incident.
Youngkin vetoes school sales tax bills; Will he be overridden?
At 11:57 p.m. on Monday night, Governor Youngkin sent out a press release that tallied the final results of the 1,046 bills that traveled across his desk after the regular session of the 2024 General Assembly.
“In total for the 2024 legislative session, the Governor signed 777 bills, he amended 116 bills and he vetoed 153 bills,” reads the release.
The vetoed bills range from HB1 (minimum wage increase) to SB719 (restrictions on isolated confinement). There was no veto of the budget but Youngkin made 233 amendments to the budget approved by the General Assembly. Check out “reading material” below for links to stories from other journalists.
Education proponents had hoped Youngkin would sign a bill to allow localities to levy sales tax increases to pay for school. He did not sign HB805 or SB14 and his veto statement does not indicate that a local referendum would have been required before the tax could be implemented.
“This proposal could result in a nearly $1.5 billion a year tax increase on Virginians,” Youngkin wrote. “Some localities would have a combined sales tax rate of eight percent, with no additional offsets, such as reduced income tax or property tax.”
Youngkin said his budget proposal, which was introduced on Monday, would increase spending on public schools by $1.2 billion over the biennium and also will increase access to construction loans.
During the development process for FY25, several local elected officials had anticipated the legislation would pass allowing additional resources to go to projects such as a new pre-K center in Charlottesville and construction of two elementary schools in Albemarle.
However, the draft budgets for both Albemarle and Charlottesville do not include any revenue expectations.
“We only spoke about this for the future but could not rely on it until it actually passed in the State budget and then also would have to be voted on and approved by referendum of the City voters,” said Afton Schneider, the city’s director of communications and public engagement.
Charlottesville City Council will vote on a final budget on April 15 following a public hearing on a proposed increase in the personal property tax rate. Albemarle Supervisors will vote on their final budget on May 1 after public hearings on April 17 and April 24.
Legislators will return to Richmond on August 17 to respond to Youngkin’s actions. Vetoes can be overturned with a two-thirds majority.
HB805 originally passed the House of Delegates on a 69 to 28 margin and the Virginia Senate voted on an amended bill on a 27 to 12 margin. The House of Delegates then approved the measure 71 to 26.
SB14 passed the Senate 27 to 13 and the House 68 to 28.
HB398 and SB586 would have prohibited, in most cases, public school students from being suspended, expelled, or kept out of class without first going through at least one “evidence-based restorative disciplinary practice.”
Youngkin’s veto statement cites an incident in Charlottesville last year.
“Virginia is in the midst of a school discipline crisis,” he wrote in this veto statement. “On November 17, 2023, twenty-seven Charlottesville High School teachers refused to come to school after a wave of classroom violence resulted in police being called to the school twice in one day.”
The incident prompted Charlottesville High School to be closed for several days before the Thanksgiving holiday as I reported at the time..
Other vetoed legislation I’ve not yet written about:
HB26 would have allowed additional photo ID cards to be used for voter identification. This passed the House of Delegates 85 to 11 and the Senate 21 to 17. Youngkin said this would add “additional complexities for poll workers in discerning which forms of identification are acceptable.”
Farm laborers are not subject to Virginia’s minimum wage laws. HB157 would have lifted that exemption. Youngkin’s veto statement said the market should determine those wages and margins are thin for agricultural producers.
HB335 would have directed the Department of Labor and Industry to study whether tipped employees should have increased minimum hourly wages and what protections are in place to stop wage theft. Youngkin said hired minimum wages for tipped employees might lead to lower tips.
HB63 would have allowed an accused party more time to withdraw a request to have a jury decide a punishment. (veto statement)
HB110 would have ended a prohibition from allowing any entity or individual to accept compensation for being a surrogate parent. Youngkin’s veto statement gives a history of the practice since 1991 and said the ban on doing it for a profit helps guard against abuse.
HB208 and SB595 would have permitted localities to include a “healthy communities strategy” in their Comprehensive Plan. Youngkin said localities have “sufficient powers” to regulate themselves. (read the statement)
HB265 would have increased requirements for petitions to remove people from public office. Youngkin said “recall petitions are a tool for voters to hold public officials accountable.”
HB354 would have directed the Board of Health to adopt regulations for swimming pools. Youngkin said current regulations are sufficient.
HB405 would direct both the State Corporation Commission and the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide technical assistance to the Commission on Electrical Utility Regulation on the deployment of electrical vehicle charging facilities in new developments. Youngkin said the Commission is too new and the bill is unnecessary.
HB457 would have established criteria for when a defendant could have their probationary period end without a judicial hearing. Youngkin said in the statement this would remove oversight from the courts.
HB529 would have granted all Virginia localities the authority to require tree conversation or tree replacement in the development process. This would have extended authority that already exists in the 60 percent of Virginia cities and counties that are within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and Youngkin said that was enough.
HB570 and SB274 would have created the Prescription Drug Affordability Board to seek ways to bring down the cost of medications. Youngkin said there would be unintended consequences and that a legislative approach would be more appropriate.
More on the bills that passed and the bills that were amended before the April 8 deadline. The next edition of this newsletter will go back to local. Maybe.
Second shout-out: Design Develop
In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out, architectural firm Design Develop is offering a new service aimed at the development community that the rest of us might want to know about , too — 3D point cloud scanning! This technique uses specialized equipment, such as 3D scanner systems, to gather a large amount of data points that represent the surface of the scanned object or scene. This really comes in handy when working with historic structures, as the firm knows from its experience in Baltimore and Charlottesville. Read their blog post for more information!
The applications of 3D point cloud scanning are extensive and cover various fields, including architecture, construction, cultural heritage preservation, virtual reality, industrial design, manufacturing, and more. These applications require accurate 3D spatial information, and Design Develop’s workflow provides precise and comprehensive results, all while being more cost-effective than traditional methods.
Design Develop has expertise in this workflow for their own needs and now has a dedicated team offering this service in the Charlottesville and Albemarle Area. If you're involved in the real estate, design, or construction industry, contact them for more information or a free quote.
Visit their website for an introductory video that captures the 3D point cloud scanning of the Downtown Transit Center and a booklet that will explain more!
25th Annual Awards to be handed out at CBIC Gala May 30
In the April 3 edition of the newsletter, I listed the first half of finalists for annual awards given out by the Charlottesville Business and Innovation Council. The 25th annual gala is on May 30 and will be held at the North Fork Discovery Park. You can buy tickets here:
Here’s the second half of finalists;
Innovator of the Year:
Adovate - a pharmaceutical company seeking to develop new medicines using adenosine receptors
CargoLabs - a firm that helps facilitate insurance policies for trucking companies
Signature Science - a scientific consulting and services firm
Luna Labs’ True Clot - a product used for bleeding control
Partnership Award:
Resilience Education - an organization that seeks to provide business school training for incarcerated individuals
Venture Central - an organization that supports entrepreneurship
UVA Innovation Hub at Charlottesville Middle School - read this UVA Today story to learn more
New Hill Development Corporation’s BEACON Kitchen - a commercial kitchen intended to incubate small businesses
Social Good Award:
Resilience Education - an organization that seeks to provide business school training for incarcerated individuals
Community Lab School - An alternative high school in Albemarle County
New Hill Development Corporation’s BEACON Kitchen - a commercial kitchen intended to incubate small businesses
The Equity Center - A University of Virginia initiative to create and cultivate community partnerships
Startup of the Year:
Poppy Flower - a venture-backed, nationwide wedding florist
Luminoah - a firm dedicated to improving feeding tube technology
MetaCTF - a company that seeks to make cybersecurity education fun
Student Entrepreneur of the Year:
Nayva Aenugu
Ahan Dalal
Dmitry Telemtayev and Brian Bernard
Mary Walton Petersen
Reading material:
Here’s what we know about Uber and Lyft’s planned exit from Minneapolis in May, Trisha Ahmed, Associated Press (via WFXR), April 8, 2024
Chaps, the iconic Charlottesville ice cream parlor, opens second location, Reynolds Hutchins, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), April 8, 2024
New SugarBear ice cream parlor coming to Rivanna riverfront, Emily Hemphill, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), April 8, 2024
New Dominion Bookshop uplifts local creatives through “Friday Night Writes”, Gretel Brown, Cavalier Daily, April 8, 2024
Avoiding full veto, Youngkin sends lawmakers 233 budget amendments, multiple authors, Virginia Mercury, April 8, 2024
Gov. Youngkin rolls out plan to amend the state budget that includes neither tax increases nor cuts, Markus Schmidt, Cardinal News, April 8, 2024
Which one won? #661
There’s a lot of information in this, but it still seems weird not doing the podcast. But overall I think that’s okay as I’m long overdue for something to change up what I’m doing. For many years, I relied on filters and effects to do a lot of the work audio engineering takes. Stepping up to the radio on WTJU means those tricks sounded terrible over the actual airwaves.
I’m now close to the end of a trip out of Charlottesville, and I plan to use my train trip to catch up on stories I would have already liked to have written on Albemarle’s Comprehensive Plan process. Then again, something always seems to happen and so who knows?
I only know that writing about the area where I live while being in a different community makes me realize how much I am grateful I get to do this work and that there are hundreds of people who want me to keep going. If you’d like to join them, there are ways!
Sign up through Substack at any level and Ting will match our initial payment! That can be at $5 a month, $50 a year, or $200 a year. Someone last year stepped up to $500 a year!
Sign up through Patreon! This is for general support of Town Crier Productions, the company that I started in the summer of 2020 to serve as a way to bring this all together.
Can’t spare any money at this point? That’s cool. Tell others about the work. While I like to see the number of paid subscribers increase, I don’t mind at all if people sign up for free. The goal is to get information to as many people as possible about as many things as possible.
Ting can help you with your high speed Internet needs. If you sign up for service and enter the promo code COMMUNITY you’re going to get:
Free installation
A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
