|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
2008: Good riddance to a bad year
Foreclosures, budget cuts, layoffs and an unending presidential campaign — it's no wonder a lot of people are glad to see the back end of 2008.
Transportation
The region's woes started back in February when the Virginia Supreme Court declared the new transportation taxes and fees to be unconstitutional. The ruling held that the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority couldn't impose taxes to pay for transportation because the authority isn't an elected body.
The decision was hailed by the many foes of the transportation plan, but it left a gaping hole in the region's road budget.
That hole only got bigger a month later when the General Assembly repealed the wildly unpopular abusive driver fees that had been adopted the year before. The fees, which ranged from hundreds to thousands of dollars per incident, were tacked on to traffic tickets — but only for Virginia drivers.
That 2007 policy had been met with a groundswell of outrage from voters and it was quickly overturned in the 2008 legislative session. However, since the state's transportation plans were funded in part by those fees, their repeal left another hole in the road budget.
The General Assembly returned to Richmond over the summer to try to find a new way to fund transportation but the legislators ended up going home empty handed.
That paved the way for an announcement in December that the state is looking at a $2.6-billion reduction in transportation spending over the next six years.
Housing
Then there was housing. Prince William has had had one of the nation's highest foreclosure rates this year.
“We have seen the notices go up,” Prince William County Sheriff Glen Hill said in September of the foreclosure issue. Hill estimated that the number of eviction notices being processed by his department is about three times what it was just four years ago.
On top of that, housing prices have also crashed and homes on the market are going unsold.
In September, Stephen Fuller, director of George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis and an expert on the regional economy, explained the housing crash in Prince William.
Part of the problem, he said, is that people were paying too much for houses in Prince William to begin with.
The prices buyers paid for homes several years ago “had nothing to do with the value of the house,” Fuller said. “We have to eat some of this ill-gotten gain.”
The other problem in Prince William is that the demand has dried up for large four-bedroom, Toll Brothers-type homes and now sellers are having a hard time unloading them.
Economy
By early December, unemployment numbers rocketed up to 6.1 percent nationwide and a net of 533,000 people lost their jobs nationwide in November.
Virginia has been beating the national average but times are still tough and Prince William business owners have been feeling the hurt as residents spend less money on non-essential items.
“What we’re seeing in terms of talking to people is a lot of uncertainly,” said Jason Grant, the communications manager for the county’s Department of Economic Development.
Grant emphasized that in Prince William, issues with the economy should be viewed through a sector-by-sector prism. Some industries, like construction, have experienced a downturn while others, such as social services and data centers, have not.
Unemployment for September, the month the stock market began its swan dive, actually declined to 3.5 percent from the 3.9 percent figure it had one month prior. It held steady for October.
However, there have been changes.
Unemployment in Prince William was roughly a full point lower in December 2007 than it is now. There is a “more cautious approach by businesses” in the county, now according to Grant.
“As consumers have more uncertainty, they’re going to be less inclined to spend personal dollars," he added.
Power line
Environmental activists and concerned residents took a not-unexpected hit in October when the State Corporation Commission approved construction of a 500,000-volt transmission line through the Piedmont.
Dominion Virginia Power and Trains-Allegheny Interstate Co. began planning for the controversial tri-state line in 2006 and since then, western Prince William residents have been up in arms over the idea.
Despite vigorous opposition from the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), community groups and hundreds of landowners, Dominion insisted it needed the line to avoid “rolling blackouts” in Northern Virginia.
Opponents argued conservation, new generation and infrastructure upgrades would preclude the need for the proposed line.
The Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) and three area counties, including Prince William, have appealed the decision to the Virginia Supreme Court.
Elections
And in the middle of it all came the presidential elections. For the first time in decades, Virginia was considered a swing state and the votes of Northern Virginians were critical to the strategies of both campaigns.
It started in February, when Democratic contender Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigned in Manassas, drawing crowds and wowing fans in the run-up to the primaries.
Then in June, it was Sen. Barack Obama's turn. Obama turned out thousands at the Nissan Pavilion in Gainesville, just days after declaring victory in his bid to become the Democratic nominee.
His running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, wasn't far behind. In September, Biden swung through town, holding a town hall meeting about the economy at George Mason University's Manassas Campus.
It only picked up from there. A week later, the Republican team turned up in neighboring Fairfax, pulling in 20,000 people from around the region. Notably, it was vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin who was credited with the big draw. Her rock star status eclipsed the popularity of her running mate, presidential contender Sen. John McCain.
McCain himself was back in October, this time traveling without Palin as he rallied fans at the McCoart Building in Woodbridge.
But nothing could top the last-minute appearance of Barack Obama. On the eve before the election, the soon-to-be-president-elect made a final stop in Manassas, pulling in between 90,000 and 100,000 people in his last stop before becoming the first African-American to win a presidential election.
The following day, 56 percent of Prince William voters threw their support to Obama.
Budget cuts
But the year didn't end on a high note. In December, county officials announced that they plan to lay off staffers starting in February and that the county's infrastructure budget will be pared down to the absolute minimum in 2009.
That means its unlikely that Silver Lake Park in Haymarket will open any time soon and road projects such as Old Carolina Road will not receive any new funding.
Bright spots
But as the year drew to a close, there were a few bright spots on the horizon. After a summer of gas prices that rose above $4 a gallon, drivers in December could fill up for $1.55 or so.
And while those gas prices were skyrocketing in the hot months, drivers were turning into riders.
About 100 million more people hopped on the Metro this spring than in 2007 and VRE set a ridership record during a three-month period over the summer.
What’s more is that the numbers for late 2008 are still better than they were a year ago, meaning many riders didn't go back to the roads as gas prices fall.
That's welcome news for transit providers, as well as for the commuters still driving the somewhat-less-congested highways.
What's more, the falling economy, particularly the abysmal housing market, will have a bright side as well this coming spring.
In November, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors unanimously decided to create a budget that will ensure that the average homeowner's tax bill drops by about 18 percent in 2009.
In addition, every homeowner will see their tax bills drop by at least 6.6 percent.
At least there's some silver lining.
You must be logged in to post a comment.