HOUSE BILL NO. 2100 Offered January 10, 2007 Prefiled January 8, 2007 A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.1-796.87 of the Code of Virginia, relating to dog and cat licenses. ---------- Patron-- Orrock ---------- Committee Referral Pending ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 3.1-796.87 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 3.1-796.87. Amount of license tax.

The governing body of each county or city shall impose by ordinance a license tax on the ownership of dogs within its jurisdiction. The governing body of any county, city or town which has adopted an ordinance pursuant to subsection B of § 3.1-796.85 shall impose by ordinance a license tax on the ownership of cats within its jurisdiction. The governing body may establish different rates of taxation for ownership of female dogs, male dogs, spayed or neutered dogs, female cats, male cats, and spayed or neutered cats. The tax for each neutered or spayed dog or cat shall not be less than one dollar and not more than ten dollars for each year. If the dog or cat has been spayed, the tax shall not exceed the tax provided for a male dog or cat. The tax for a dog or cat that has not been neutered or spayed shall not exceed $20, provided that the locality has reached a 75 percent licensure compliance rate.  The compliance rate shall be based on the number of dogs and cats owned in the county or city, and shall be calculated by multiplying the number of households, as determined by the most recent Census, by the number of dogs and cats owned per household, as determined by the most recent survey of the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.  Any ordinance may provide for a license tax for kennels of ten, twenty, thirty, forty or fifty dogs or cats not to exceed fifty dollars for any one such block of kennels.

No license tax shall be levied on any dog that is trained and serves as a guide dog for a blind person, that is trained and serves as a hearing dog for a deaf or hearing impaired person or that is trained and serves as a service dog for a mobility-impaired person.

As used in this section, "hearing dog" means a dog trained to alert its owner by touch to sounds of danger and sounds to which the owner should respond and "service dog" means a dog trained to accompany its owner for the purpose of carrying items, retrieving objects, pulling a wheelchair or other such activities of service or support.

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