Finance committee forwards City of Richmond�s Diamond District off-cycle funding recommendation to full authority

The Central Virginia Transportation Authority Finance Committee voted Dec. 10 to forward the Technical Advisory Committees recommendation on the City of Richmonds Diamond District off-cycle funding request to the full authority for consideration.

Staff briefing: Mister Parsons summarized staffs report and said TAC had vetted technical eligibility. TAC recommended, for funding purposes, an 80/20 split: 80% of the project need funded from CBTA interest income and 20% funded by the City of Richmond using non-CBTA regional sources. TAC also recommended that the city forfeit a Round 5 wild-card application as part of the off-cycle acceptance to preserve fairness to other localities.

Committee discussion: Members expressed general support for moving the TAC recommendation to the authority. Several members described the approach as precedent-setting but defensible because of the process followed and TACs review. One member said the flexibility built into CBTA when it was established was intended to allow funding of high-priority, time-sensitive projects that arise between rounds.

Vote: A committee member moved to adopt the TAC recommendation; the committee conducted a roll call and the motion passed. Staff will prepare both the TAC recommendation and the alternate materials requested for the January full authority meeting.

Next steps: The committees action will appear on the authoritys January agenda so the full authority can make a final decision.