Taxpayer groups are rallying to fight the army of state and local attorneys who succeeded last week in getting the Virginia Supreme Court to withdraw its April ruling invalidating lease- and appropriation-backed securities.
The court ordered that the case, Dykes v. Northern Virginia Transportation District Commission, be reheard, probably in September. Several taxpayer and citizens groups are considering filing amicus curiae briefs to join forces with the individual taxpayers who instigated the case against Fairfax County and its planned $330 million roadway, said James Falk Jr., attorney for the taxpayer.
Nearly all of the state's officials, from Governor L. Douglas Wilder and Attorney General Mary Sue Terry on down to administrators in small counties such as Rockingham, had urged the court to reverse the ruling because it caused a screeching halt to urgent projects in the state, while endangering the legal status of up to $2.3 billion of outstanding securities.
The citizens groups are amassing forces to counteract the state's "campaign of disinformation," Mr. Falk said. They maintain the decision was narrowly aimed at erasing the "scam they tried to run in Fairfax County" involving a "junk bond" issue that was not approved by voters and offered little security or collateral to investors, he said.
"The big kids got one of their favorite toys taken away from them" when the court stamped out such loosely structured offerings, he said.
The taxpayers will ask the court to reaffirm the April ruling, but make it clear that it was focused narrowly on particularly egregious financings, he said. They also will argue the ruling should be made prospective to remove the possibility of another cloud being cast over the large number of outstanding obligations, he said.
