Virginia Posts 2.6% Revenue Increase in September

Governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell  Gage Skidmore . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

– Significant Month for Revenue –

September Revenues All Pre-Federal Government Shutdown

RICHMOND - Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that September revenue collections increased by 2.6 percent from September of last year. September is a significant month for revenue collections because in addition to normal collections, the state also receives the first estimated income tax payment from individuals and corporations. On a year-to-date basis, total revenue collections rose 2.8 percent through September, ahead of the annual forecast of 1.5 percent growth. Adjusting for the accelerated sales tax program and the 0.125 percent sales tax transfer required by last session’s historic transportation bill, total revenues grew 3.5 percent through September, ahead of the adjusted forecast of 1.4 percent growth.

The increase in September revenue was driven by growth in individual withholding, corporate income taxes and individual nonwithholding. Individual withholding rose 2.9 percent and individual nonwithholding grew by 2.1 percent. Corporate income tax collections increased by 16.7 percent. At the same time, sales and use taxes, reflecting sales made in August, fell 2.7 percent.

Speaking about the September numbers, Governor Bob McDonnell noted, “September was a positive revenue month for the Commonwealth, and we continue to run well ahead of our forecasted fiscal growth for the year. This is empirical evidence that the bipartisan steps we’ve taken here in Richmond to help the private-sector grow and create good jobs for our people are working. Unfortunately, the efforts we’ve undertaken in Virginia to make government function better, and use limited state resources wisely to improve the quality of life of our citizens, are being undermined daily by the dysfunction in Washington D.C. The ongoing federal government shutdown will have a direct negative impact on state revenues in the months ahead, just as it is already having a direct, negative impact on Virginians in their daily lives. The success of our Commonwealth is being threatened by the ineptness of Washington. I continue to call on leaders in both parties to reopen the federal government immediately, and come together to find solutions to the challenges facing our great nation.”

The September revenue numbers are available at this link:http://www.finance.virginia.gov/KeyDocuments/RevenueReports/MasterReportsList.cfm

Related articles

• Virginia Posts 4.8% Revenue Decrease in August
• Governor Bob McDonnell Announces Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate Tops 89 Percent
• Governor McDonnell Announces 15.7 Percent Increase in Film Industry Employment in Virginia
• Statement of Governor Bob McDonnell on the Retirement of Judge Larry Elder from the Court of Appeals of Virginia
• AMC's Colonial Era Spy Series to Film in Virginia

Gloucester crime rates spike for 2012 Says Sheriff Warren

By Matt Sabo, msabo@dailypress.com 

GLOUCESTER — A surge in drug-related arrests and larcenies helped drive an increase of 26 percent in the crime rate inGloucester in 2012, according to figures compiled from Virginia State Police annual crime reports.

While the county had a rise in the crime rate, the level of crime is still low relative to the average, according to the crime reports.

Drug crimes were up 56 percent, an increase Sheriff Darrell Warren said is attributed to a crackdown on narcotics trafficking. He assigned two investigators to drug investigations.

The increase in arrests is "because they're doing what I want," Warren said.

The arrests for larcenies are up 34 percent, according to the crime reports. The rise of larcenies and shoplifting are driven by people stealing items to support their drug habits, including for synthetic drugs such as `spice,' Warren said. The stores that sell the synthetic drugs have been hit by burglars multiple times, Warren said.

"We obviously still have a lot of individuals who are addicted to these synthetic drugs," Warren said. "They tell me it's supposed to be a synthetic marijuana, but marijuana is not addicting like `spice.'"

Shoplifting just at Walmart accounts for 14 percent of the total increase in crimes in the county, Warren said. He estimated that Walmart may account for as many as five shoplifters a week. "They're doing a great job up there," Warren said of the loss prevention officers at Walmart.

Crime rates can also be driven up by a relatively few number of people, Warren said. He cited the examples of three suspects who were arrested, released from jail on bond and while out on bond committed additional crimes.

One of the suspects has 11 adult felony arrests since 2010 and was jailed on April 3 on a probation violation, but was released on bond that day. The next day he was arrested in connection with the burglary of a residence.

"Why is this guy out?" Warren said. "We shouldn't have to deal with this."

Fraud-related crimes increased 11 percent in 2012, Warren said. Fraud can be crimes committed online or by telephone or mailings, Warren said.

Simple assaults, such as fighting, were up 12 percent, Warren said. Violent crimes dropped significantly in 2012 compared to the previous year. A murder-suicide counted as two violent crimes, where the previous year had eight.

But five of those crimes classified as murders involved a murder-for-hire plot and no one was actually slain. Becky West was charged and convicted last year of soliciting the murders of five witnesses who could have testified in a criminal case against her brother.

"All of our violent crimes are down, including rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults," Warren said.

The office has the same number of deputies as 13 years ago, but his deputies and investigators are answering 9,000 more calls for service a year, Warren said.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/gloucester-county/dp-tsq-mid-gloucester-crime-reports-0627-20130626,0,5151593.story  Link back to the Daily Press where this story originated.

Related articles

• Property Crime Down, Violent Crime Up in 2012: FBI
• Crime stats show homicide rate rising
• Youth crime rates continue steady decline

VIRGINIA’S ANNUAL CRIME ANALYSIS REPORT - VIRGINIA STATE POLICE

English: The state seal of Virginia. Српски / Srpski: Застава америчке савезне државе Вирџиније. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

RICHMOND – Virginia’s official and only comprehensive report on local and statewide crime figures for 2012 is now available online at the Virginia State Police Web site at http://www.vsp.virginia.gov, under “Forms & Publications.” The detailed document, titled Crime in Virginia, provides precise rates and occurrences of crimes committed in towns, cities and counties across the Commonwealth. The report breaks down criminal offenses by the reporting agency as well as arrests by jurisdiction.

The following 2012 crime trends within Virginia are presented in the report:

ü   Virginia experienced a decline in violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) of 3.0 percent compared to 2011; the FBI figures for the same period of time are not yet available.

ü   Property crime such as burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft decreased 3.3 percent; the FBI figures for the same period of time are not yet available.

ü   The homicide rate increased slightly for 2012 (3.86) compared to 2011 (3.77) per 100,000 population. Based on the ages reported, victims tended to be older than offenders; 23 percent of homicide victims were 50 years of age or older, while only 6 percent of offenders were in the same age group.

ü   Motor vehicle thefts and attempted thefts decreased 8.0 percent.  Of the 8,988 motor vehicles stolen, 4,729 or slightly over one-half were recovered (52.6%). Automobiles and trucks stolen had the highest percent recovered (62.4 percent, 62.9 percent), while recreational and “other” motor vehicles (motorcycles, mopeds, snowmobiles, etc.) had the lowest percent recovered (35.6 percent, 32.5 percent). Four out-of-ten (40.3 percent) of all motor vehicle offenses were reported stolen from the location of residence or home. The value of all motor vehicles stolen was $59,806,194, while the value recovered was $33,021,149 (52.2 percent).

ü   Drug and narcotic offenses showed slight decreases in 2009 (-2.5%) and 2008 (-3.5%). For the past three years drug offenses have increased compared to the previous year (5.3 percent in 2010, 7.1 percent in 2011 and 9.4 percent for 2012).

ü   Fraud offenses increased by 7.5 percent when compared to 2011.

ü   Robbery decreased 13.2 percent. Of the 4,729 robberies and attempted robberies, 37 percent took place between 8 pm. and midnight. The days of the week showed little variability with the most robberies occurring on Saturdays (16 percent) and the fewest on Thursdays (13 percent).

ü   Of the weapons reported, firearms were the most frequently used in homicides (71 percent) and robberies (57 percent). 

There were 143 hate crimes reported in 2012. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) were racially or ethnically motivated. Bias toward sexual orientation was next highest (19 percent) while bias toward religion comprised 16 percent. The remaining 2 percent reported was attributed to a bias against a victim’s physical or mental disability. The offense of destruction/damage/vandalism of property was associated in just over half of all reported bias motivated crimes (51 percent).

The report employs an Incident Based Reporting (IBR) method for calculating offenses, thus allowing for greater accuracy. IBR divides crimes into two categories: Group A for serious offenses including violent crimes (murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault), property crimes and drug offenses, and Group B for what are considered less serious offenses such as trespassing, disorderly conduct, bad checks and liquor law violations where an arrest has occurred.

For Group A offenses, between 2011 and 2012, adult arrests in Virginia decreased less than one percent (-0.88 percent). Juvenile arrests for Group A offenses decreased 11.8 percent statewide during the same period of time. Crime in Virginia reports that Group B arrests decreased 5.1 percent for adults, and decreased 5.8 percent for juveniles between 2011 and 2012. For both Group A and Group B offenses, there were a total of 355,595 arrests in 2011 compared to 341,557 arrests in 2012, representing a decrease of 3.9 percent.

Per state mandate, the Department of Virginia State Police serves as the primary collector of crime data from participating Virginia state and local police departments and sheriffs’ offices. The data are collected by the Virginia State Police Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division via an automated system, and then compiled into Crime in Virginia, an annual report for use by law enforcement, elected officials, media and the general public. These data become the official crime statistics for the Commonwealth and are sent to the FBI which modifies and incorporates them in their annual report, Crime in the United States.

Related articles

• Mixed stats in newly released Virginia crime report
• Violent, property crimes down in Virginia
• Violent crime edges up in United States as property crimes tip down
• Crime stats show homicide rate rising
• Preliminary 2012 Crime Statistics Violent Crime Up, Property Crime Down