THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503150101
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
The city's worst fear was not realized this year when Gov. Allen's initiative to phase out a substantial local business tax was defeated in the General Assembly.
The Business, Professional and Occupational License tax is a local business tax that Gov. Allen wanted to phase out over a five-year period.
If the BPOL tax had been eliminated, Portsmouth would have lost about $4.4 million in revenues.
Legislators also restored $65,000 in funding for the newly opened Children's Museum.
The city also received a boost in funds for ticketing drunken drivers. Under the new legislations, cities the size of Portsmouth will be reimbursed for the costs of investigating and ticketing people found guilty of driving under the influence. The reimbursements come through fines collected for the penalty.
A bill to restrict the use of car covers also was passed. The bill is aimed at allowing Portsmouth stricter enforcement of its abandoned vehicle code.
Meanwhile, the proposed Pinners Point Interchange could get a boost from new legislation that would allow private firms to build public road projects in Virginia. Such an interchange would connect the Midtown Tunnel to the Western Freeway. Under current traffic patterns, all of the Western Freeway traffic heads directly into the Port Norfolk neighborhood. The legislation could accelerate the interchange's construction.
Other legislation prevents the state from passing any new unfunded mandates after July 1, 1999.
Mayor Gloria O. Webb has long lobbied against unfunded mandates. ``I guess it's better than nothing,'' Webb said, ``but I think it's a pretty cautious approach.'' by CNB