On March 2, 2012, I was pleased to give oral argument to the Virginia Supreme Court on behalf of a local government client. As is typical, I found the Justices to be polite, attentive, intelligent and inquisitive.  Not surprisingly, the justices asked good questions which went to the heart of the issues to be decided.  I [...]

Today, the Virginia Supreme Court issued one opinion affecting the practice of Virginia local government law.  The following summary comes from the Virginia Supreme Court website: 102409 City of Richmond v. SunTrust Bank 03/02/2012 The question presented by this appeal is whether a municipal corporation has the authority to tax a non-exempt entity for the [...]

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 [...]

The Virginia Supreme Court issued these new opinions affecting Virginia local government law on June 9, 2011: 100347 Riverside Owner v. City of Richmond 06/09/2011 In a taxpayers’ action for relief from allegedly erroneous assessment of taxes on real property under Code § 58.1-3984, seeking a refund of overpayments, and recovery of attorney’s fees, the [...]

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 [...]

Businesses seeking a local government approval (or a denial for someone else’s proposal) may need some guidance. Local governments behave in a way that is different than businesses behave, for legal and political and many other reasons. As an attorney who has practiced local government law most of my career, I have seen approaches to [...]

Virginia Supreme Court Opinions Affecting Local Government Law, issued on April 21, 2011: The Virginia Supreme Court issued several opinions today affecting Virginia local government law.  The following summaries come from the Virginia Supreme Court website: 092583 Volpe v. City of Lexington In a suit by the administrators of a minor decedent who was an [...]

The Virginia Supreme Court handed down several opinions impacting the practice of Virginia Local Government Law today.  These summaries are pulled from the Virginia Supreme Court website. They include: 092158 Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Chesterfield County   In ruling on a taxpayer’s application for refund of business, professional and occupational license taxes paid to a county, [...]

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