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THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1995 <br /> <br />Regarding the issue 'of unfunded mandates, Vice-Mayor Oakes asked the <br />legislators to not support any new mandates and to examine the <br />elimination of mandates which are currently imposed. <br /> <br />In response to a question by Councilman Crabtree, Delegate Reynolds <br />said the decision for the State to allow localities to provide and pay <br />for a 3% increase in retirement benefits for employees covered by the <br />Virginia Retirement System (VRS) was geared toward not imposing a <br />mandate on localities to provide the increase. Delegate Reynolds <br />stated that due to the settlement of the Federal retiree taxation <br />issue, the state income tax exemption for retirees of the VRS had to be <br />repealed. In order to offset the effects of the taxation, the State <br />provided and paid for a 3% increase for "State" retirees, present and <br />future. Localities were given the option of either providing the <br />increase or not providing it. Several Councilmen expressed the opinion <br />that this placed localities in a difficult position, with <br />Constitutional Officers receiving the benefit and many School Boards <br />voting to provide the benefit, even though the local governing bodies <br />are responsible for paying a significant portion of VRS premiums for <br />Constitutional Officers and all of the VRS premiums for School Boards. <br />Councilman Teague asked that the deadline for providing the increase <br />retroactive to October 1, 1994 be extended from January 1, 1995 to July <br />1, 1995 so that localities can assess the budgetary implications of <br />providing the increase. <br /> <br />Mayor Adams suggested the State Code be'amended to provide that the <br />Board of Trustees of the Virginia Museum of Natural History be changed <br />from an administrative board, with overall management responsibility of <br />the museum, to an advisory board,.with management'responsibility being <br /> <br /> <br />