By Amanda Iacone
Virginia Statehouse News

RICHMOND — Delegate Tom Rust’s bill to use some sales tax revenue to pay for transportation projects in Northern Virginia is under attack.

In the past week, three varied groups have criticized the proposal because it would take tax revenue from the general fund and because it provides no long-term funding solution to the state’s transportation needs.

The Virginia Interfaith Center, the Commonwealth Institute and the Coalition for Smarter Growth all said the proposal would shift funding away from other core services.

“We’re not providing a sustainable approach to the future,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the growth coalition.

Redirecting general fund dollars for transportation short-changes funding for core government services, Schwartz said.

The combined $150 million that would be diverted to Hampton Roads and northern Virginia would barely pay for an interchange, but it would pay the salaries for thousands of teachers and police officers,  Doug Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Interfaith Center, said in a written statement.

State officials estimate that $1 billion more a year is needed to maintain and pay for the state’s transportation projects.

Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed borrowing up to $3 billion to pay for about 900 transportation and transit projects. The House Appropriations Committee approved the spending package Monday.

But Michael Cassidy, president and chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, called Rust’s plan a budget gimmick that does not provide a real solution.

But Rust, a Herndon Republican, shot back that the move is “critical” to northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

“It’s a permanent reallocation of a small portion of the sales tax.” he said. ”If we don’t get some additional funds for those two areas, than we’re going to suffer economically.”

Rust said he has heard from businesses that they will leave if the congestion isn’t reduced in northern Virginia because their employees have difficulty getting to work. A reduction in the region’s tax base will hurt the rest of the state because northern Virginia provides a large portion of state tax revenue, he said.

And the Defense Department, the major employer in Hampton Roads, has said it will not open any new installations in the region because of the traffic, said Sen. Jeffrey McWaters, R-Virginia Beach.

McWaters is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill. He said tapping a portion of the sales tax would provide a dedicated revenue stream for Hampton Roads transportation and ensure that sales tax money paid by residents in the communities he represents will stay at home.

He said the state can find areas to tighten in programs and departments to make up for the lost revenue without hurting essential services like education. He said that his proposal would shift just a small portion of the state’s $30 billion general fund.

The state’s general fund pays for social services and salaries and wages to state employees, among other things.

Rust’s bill would provide funding for projects that are part of a six-year transportation plan. McWaters bill would fund projects that among the 900 listed for funding under the governor’s proposal including the Sycolin Road flyover project and the Route 7 interchange in Loudoun County.

But Schwartz said his group others such as the Sierra Club and the Piedmont Environmental Council want the state to focus on maintaining existing roads and bridges, not adding new ones that would allow for more sprawl and add to congestion, not reduce it.

The bridges and tunnels serving the Hampton Roads area need repaired to serve existing business before adding new facilities, Schwartz said.

“Maintenance generates more jobs than construction,” he said.