Collins v. City of Norfolk

The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in ruling that a referendum election authorized by a city charter provision violates the Constitution of Virginia, when the referendum seeks to amend a city ordinance insofar as it appropriates sums for two items in the city’s capital improvement budget.

The facts pertinent to the issue are undisputed. In May 1991, the City Council of Norfolk enacted Ordinance No. 36,448 “approving the Capital Improvement Program Budget for the fiscal year 1991-92, appropriating the sum of $87,063,000 for certain projects from the sources…