CLIFTON FORGE – There is still no decision on whether a consolidated government in the Highlands should be a county or city.
Tuesday night, the Citizens Committee to Perfect a Consolidation Agreement for Alleghany County and Covington revised its meeting agendas for May and slated a decision on city-county government for May 18.
The vote to alter the meeting agendas came after the committee spent approximately three hours in closed session at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College to discuss legal aspects of consolidated city government.
Attorney Carter Glass IV of Richmond said Tuesday night’s discussions qualified for closed session because a proposal for consolidated city government would be subject to legal review by the Virginia Commission on Local Government.
Next week, the committee will address service districts, election districts and joint contracts. City/county government, law enforcement, constitutional officers and fire and rescue services will be the topics May 18. At the committee’s final meeting, scheduled for May 25, the name of the consolidated jurisdiction will be the topic of discussion. The committee has a court-imposed June 1 deadline for completing its work.
Tuesday marked the second time the committee held a closed session to discuss legal issues surrounding consolidated city government. The first closed session was held April 27.
Alleghany County committee member Annette Comer was not present Tuesday but she listened to discussions via conference call. Glass said that since Comer was not present, she was barred from participating in the discussions under state code.
Before going into closed session, Glass did address two legal questions posed by committee members. He said that if the committee recommends a consolidated county form of government, some taxing provisions that are granted to cities by state law could be incorporated into the new county government. Approval would be needed by the Virginia General Assembly and local voters in a referendum, however.
Glass also noted that the committee can choose to recommend one of seven forms of county government, which are provided under Virginia law. Ninety-five percent of counties in Virginia operate under the traditional form of county government, he said. Alleghany County currently operates under the traditional form of government.
The citizens’ committee was appointed last November by Alleghany County Circuit Court Judge Malfourd W. Trumbo.
The judge gave the committee until June 1 to complete work on a proposal to consolidate the government of Alleghany County and Covington. The proposal must be approved by voters in each jurisdiction in a referendum to become effective.
Tuesday marked the 19th time the committee has deliberated since December. The committee has agreed on several components of its consolidated proposal, including:
Schools
All schools currently operating in the city and county would remain open indefinitely and be part of a consolidated school division. School board members would be appointed by the consolidated government’s governing body.
Salaries and benefits for employees would be equalized over five years. During the five-year transition period, only administrative staff, itinerate teachers and classified staff would be subject to movement between work sites.
Three teacher pay scales would exist in the consolidated division during the transition period. The pay scales would accommodate teachers from the current city and county, plus new hires. The pay scales would migrate upward until they reach parity. Any job reductions would be handled through attrition.
Limited Service Districts
The consolidated government would have two limited service (utility districts), Covington and Alleghany. The Covington district would be in effect for 10 years and include the geographic area that encompasses the current city of Covington and include residences and business in Alleghany County that presently receive water and sewer service from Covington.
Residents within the Covington district would continue to pay a $10 monthly surcharge that would be applied toward costs at the Peters Mountain Landfill.
Peters Mountain is currently operated by the city of Covington. The city currently adds the $10 surcharge to its monthly water and sewer bills. The surcharge is for refuse collection.
Debts
Debts carried over from the former county and city would be equally shared by residents of the new consolidated government. No special debt districts will be included in the consolidation proposal.
Ordinances
Existing ordinances in the county and city will be grandfather until addressed by the new consolidated government.
Roads
Roads and bridges in the current county would continue to be maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Roads in the current city of Covington would be maintained by the new consolidated jurisdiction, uses funds from VDOT based on lane mileage.