I am often asked. “What kind of law do you practice?”  As a long-time local government attorney, most of my practice involves representing and defending litigation against governments, governmental entities, officials and their employees.  That is what I have done for most of my legal career in private practice and as a full-time attorney with Arlington, Culpeper [...]

When a court interprets or a locality applies a statute, the plain meaning controls as a general rule. The Riverside Owner L.L.C. v. City of Richmond case involved the appropriate amount for a tax exemption earned by a developer under Virginia Code § 58.1-3221 and Richmond City Code § 27-83.  These laws provided for a partial exemption [...]

On June 9, 2011, the Virginia Supreme Court held that whether equipment within a condemned business is personal property (therefore not valued as part of the take) or a fixture (therefore valued as part of the take) is a question for the condemnation jury, not the trial court.   The holding was the crux of its opinion in [...]

Looks like blight. Or is it? And what can a locality do about it? One of the problem issues for Virginia local governments and their officials and employees across the state is how to deal with blight. Such structures, singular or in groups, can become a large problem to a community.  Often, historic structures fall [...]

On May 12, 2011, Sands Anderson PC held a webinar for local government attorneys, assessors, Commissioners of the Revenue, Boards of Equalization and local government staff involved in the local government assessment and appeal process.  The Virginia Municipal League’s Mark Flynn and myself served on the panel. The webinar was a big success!  About 130 [...]

Virginia Local Tax Assessment Appeals: State of the Law 2011 Register for this event May 4, 2011 Noon – 2:00 p.m. Presented by the Virginia Local Government Team of attorneys at Sands Anderson PC. Faculty: Mark Flynn, Director of Legal Services, Virginia Municipal League Andrew R. McRoberts, Local Government Attorney, Sands Anderson PC FREE SESSION [...]

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned on Sunday, and during its 2011 session, considered, amended, killed and/or adopted thousands of pieces of legislation, plus the Virginia budget.  During the session, the state legislature adopted some important changes in the law affecting local governments.  Over the coming weeks, I will be touching on some of the most significant bills.  [...]

As in the Virginia Supreme Court’s November 4, 2010 FFW Enterprises v. Fairfax County opinion, the issue of excluding residential properties by classification from a special tax was addressed the same day

Constitutional issues related to classification of property for taxation were at issue in FFW Enterprises v. Fairfax County, another opinion issued by the Virginia Supreme Court on November 4, 2010.

Another opinion issued by the Virginia Supreme Court on November 4, 2010, TB Venture LLC v Arlington County involved the proper assessment of a 21-unit condominium development in urban Arlington County, which is a lot different