103rd VML ANNUAL CONFERENCE - the Virginia Municipal League

Monday, October 20
3:15 - 4:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
Emergency management:
the top 5 things you need to know
Marriott Room 5-7, 4th Floor
Learn how to enhance a local emergency management
program. Attendees will take away five specific recommendations
that will not only improve overall disaster response
services, but aid the locality in recovering costs.
Presiding - Rosemary Wilson, Council Member,
City of Virginia Beach
Speaker - Michael Cline, State Coordinator of Emergency
Management, Virginia Department of Emergency Management
Delinquent tax collection programs
Hampton Room 6, 3rd Floor
What are the steps a locality can take to make sure that
they are collecting as much as they can from the taxes
levied by councils and boards of supervisors? A sound
system for collecting delinquent taxes ensures equity for
all taxpayers, helps localities hold down tax increases, and
helps ensure a sound budgeting process.
Presiding - Jim Councill, Mayor, City of Franklin
Speakers - Molly Ward, Mayor, City of Hampton; Kevin R.
Appel, Legal Counsel, Treasurers’ Association of Virginia,
Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP, Richmond
War Commission; Peggy Haile-McPhillips, City Historian;
City of Norfolk
State budget outlook & its effect on local budgets
Hampton Room 5, 3rd Floor
The state budget faces up to a $3 billion shortfall for
2008-2010, and additional state budget cuts are clearly
on the table. It’s the perfect storm for local governments:
declining real estate assessments, cuts in state assistance,
increased energy costs and a slowing economy. Find out
what to expect in the coming months as cities, counties and
towns grapple with bad economic news.
Presiding - Ella Ward, Council Member, City of Chesapeake
Speaker - Jim Regimbal, Fiscal Analytics
Intergovernmental Relations (town track)
Hampton Room 1-4, 3rd Floor
State law carves out a number of approaches for towns
and counties to establish a good working relationship that
benefits all citizens and both governments. Find out more
about important legal aspects of the relationship between
counties and towns, as well as ways in which towns and
counties can work together, such as sharing offices, reaching
voluntary agreements on annexation, and more.
Presiding - Lance Terpenny, Town Manager, Town of
Christiansburg
Speakers - Richard B. Kaufman, Town Attorney, Town of
Herndon; Susan B. Williams, Local Government Policy
Manager, Commission on Local Government
Community preparation for the sesquicentennial
of the Civil War
Hampton Room 7, 3rd Floor
The 150th anniversary of the Civil War is quickly approaching
and promises to have tremendous tourism and
economic benefits statewide. It also offers an unprecedented
opportunity to offer a broad interpretation of this watershed
event that includes the Union, Confederate and African-
American perspectives. Each county and city has been asked
to form a committee to work with the state commission to
plan for the sesquicentennial. Learn how the state is preparing,
what localities can do to get ready, and potential tourism
and economic development opportunities.
Presiding - Marlene W. Randall, Council Member,
City of Portsmouth
Speakers - Richard Lewis, National Public Relations Manager,
Virginia Tourism Corporation; Cheryl Jackson, Executive
Director, Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil
6 - 9 p.m. Host City Night-Half Moone Cruise
and Celebration Center
Hosted by the City of Norfolk
Cruise in for an evening of food and entertainment in Norfolk’s
award-winning cruise terminal. A feast for the eyes,
the terminal features
three-story glass windows
overlooking the
harbor, and includes
one of the largest
privately-owned model
ocean liner collections.
The center is in easy
walking distance of the
hotels; if transportation
is needed, please
check with the City of
Norfolk exhibit booth
in the Exhibit Hall.
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