Governor McAuliffe signed Senate Bill 549 in March, 2016, creating new restrictions on proffers in the Commonwealth of Virginia for new residential development. Although the law was intended to lower the burden on homeowners who ultimately bear the additional costs of mitigation, there have been unintended consequences.

Proffers are "voluntary" monetary contributions given by developers to localities in order to offset the impacts of the new residents on public facilities such as schools, public safety, transportation, and parks and recreation. Under the new law, existing proffer policies around the state have come under scrutiny or been repealed for fear of the legal risk.

A standard county-wide cash proffer determined by localities, which had become the norm over the 30-40 years proffers have been accepted in Virginia, is no longer permissible under the law. This gap between the precedent and the new law has created uncertainties for both developers and jurisdictions unsure of how to mitigate the impact of developments on public facilities.

This post is a summary of an article shared by Charlottesville Tomorrow; read more here.

It is the mission of Virginia Proffer Solutions to solve this dilemma for both developers and jurisdictions by providing data-driven, objective analysis of the impacts new residential developments place on local public facilities in accordance with the new legislation. Contact us to learn more.