Today, the Virginia Supreme Court issued one opinion affecting the practice of Virginia local government law.  The following summary comes from the Virginia Supreme Court website:

102409 City of Richmond v. SunTrust Bank 03/02/2012 The question presented by this appeal is whether a municipal corporation has the authority to tax a non-exempt entity for the exempt entity’s ownership interest in property owned by the two entities as tenants in common. Because the municipal corporation’s arguments based on purportedly applicable case authority and a non “public purpose” use theory are without merit, and its statutory authority argument is procedurally barred, the circuit court’s judgment ruling that the city lacked the authority to impose the tax is affirmed.

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