(RICHMOND, VA)—Yesterday Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment that would allow local governments to offer partial tax relief to homeowners and businesses who invest to protect their property from recurrent flooding. Chesapeake Bay Foundation Virginia Executive Director Rebecca Tomazin issued the following statement.
"This constitutional amendment provides an exciting opportunity to increase resiliency while improving water quality. We will work with Senator Lynwood Lewis, the amendment's sponsor, and other state legislators to ensure the required enabling legislation doesn't encourage development in flood-prone areas. The legislation should also incentivize natural solutions to flooding such as constructed wetlands and living shorelines, which have the added benefit of preventing polluted runoff."
