SB606: Secondary highway system; withdrawal of county from system.

SENATE BILL NO. 606

Offered January 13, 2014
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 33.1-23.5:1 and 33.1-46.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to withdrawal from the secondary state highway system.
Patron-- Watkins

Referred to Committee on Transportation

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 33.1-23.5:1 and 33.1-46.3 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 33.1-23.5:1. Funds for counties which have withdrawn or elect to withdraw from the secondary system of state highways.

Notwithstanding the provisions of § 33.1-23.5, pursuant to subsection A of § 33.1-23.1, the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall make the following payments to counties which have withdrawn or elect to withdraw from the secondary system of state highways under the provisions of § 11 of Chapter 415 of the Acts of Assembly of 1932, and which have not elected to return: to any county having withdrawn prior to June 30, 1985, and having an area greater than 100 square miles, an amount equal to $12,529 per lane-mile for fiscal year 2014, and to any county having an area less than 100 square miles, an amount equal to $17,218 per lane-mile for fiscal year 2014; to any county having a charter and bordering four cities that elects to withdraw after June 30, 2014, an amount equal to $12,529 per lane-mile for fiscal year 2015; and to any county that elects to withdraw after June 30, 1985, the Commonwealth Transportation Board shall establish a rate per lane-mile for the first year using (i) an amount for maintenance based on maintenance standards and unit costs used by the Department of Transportation to prepare its secondary system maintenance budget for the year in which the county withdraws and (ii) an amount for administration equal to five percent of the maintenance figure determined in clause (i) above. The payment rates shall be adjusted annually by the Board in accordance with procedures established for adjusting payments to cities and towns under § 33.1-41.1, and lane mileage shall be adjusted annually to include (i) streets and highways accepted for maintenance in the county system by the local governing body or (ii) streets and highways constructed according to standards set forth in the county subdivision ordinance or county thoroughfare plan, and being not less than the standards set by the Department of Transportation. Such counties shall, in addition, each receive for construction from funds allocated pursuant to subdivision B 3 of § 33.1-23.1 an annual amount calculated in the same manner as payments for construction in the state secondary highway system are calculated.

Payment of the funds shall be made in four equal sums, one in each quarter of the fiscal year, and shall be reduced, in the case of each such county, by the amount of federal-aid construction funds credited to each such county.

The chief administrative officer of such counties receiving such funds shall make annual reports of expenditures to the Board, in such form as the Board shall prescribe, accounting for all expenditures, including delineation between construction and maintenance expenditures and reporting on their performance as specified in subdivision B 3 of § 33.1-23.02. Such reports shall be included in the scope of the annual audit of each county conducted by independent certified public accountants.

§ 33.1-46.3. Agreements between Board and certain counties for operation of certain devices on state highways.

The Commissioner of Highways is empowered to enter into agreements with the governing bodies of Arlington and Henrico Counties and any other county that may elect to withdraw pursuant to § 33.1-23.5:1, upon such terms as may be agreeable between the parties, in order to authorize such counties to install, maintain and control traffic signals, parking meters, lane-use control signals and other traffic control devices at specific locations on the state systems of highways within such counties. Such counties and the Commissioner shall have the authority to do all things which are reasonable or convenient to effectuate the purposes of this section.