Sunday, August 24, 2008

Box In Putin!

In the poll question that closed last night, 53% favored NATO membership for both Georgia and Ukraine. 40% wanted neither, while 6% back Ukraine alone.

The new poll question deals with an idea floated by Councilman Bill DeSteph at this weekend's Virginia Beach City Council Retreat. The proposal: phase out BPOL "over 5-10 years".

1. On the one hand, the tax was enacted originally to pay for Virginia's share of The War of 1812. It's long been paid for. In addition, the way it is applied is cumbersome for businesses.

2. On the other hand, it provides over $42 million per year to the City of Virginia Beach. With the City already facing a $68 million Budget shortfall for FY 2010, some argued that we simply can't afford it.

Have your say.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't see this listed in the top priorities. Did DeSteph have any backers or was this at the direction of the VBTA?

Also, what is the format of this retreat? Do all the council members attend? Do citizens have input?

Avenging Archangel said...

It wasn't listed as a top priority as it didn't get the votes. DeSteph tossed it out there, and most seemed to be annoyed at getting blindsided.

On format, each Councilman is interviewed ahead of time. Any issues they raise become part of the agenda.

Councilmen are normally there. However, sometimes one or two will miss part of the Retreat.

This year, citizens had input through the Community Conversation. Also, you can e-mail Council ahead of time (as I've come to do).