A group of Massanutten residents is considering turning the community into Virginia's first new town in 20 years, and members want to put it to a vote.

If Massanutten were to incorporate, the town would cover 12-square miles and would have a population of roughly 3,000 people.

The group put together a study that says incorporating would open up new funding options from the county, state and federal government.

The study predicts that homeowners would pay less in taxes than they currently pay in property owner dues.

On Wednesday night, the group that wrote the study announced it plans to hold a referendum for those in Massanutten to see if they want to incorporate.

This was announced at an informational meeting with more than 150 community members and leaders.

A state government worker attended the meeting, discussing the incorporation process and how it works, the advantages, disadvantages, and what's required to go through the process.

The writer of the study, Gene Hauze, went through the group's findings, which included things like money that would be saved, things they would have to give up like limited road access, and how this would help them with things like planning and zoning.

As far as organizations like the property owners association and police, they say many positions would probably be shifted over to the comparable positions in a town.

Most people who attended the Wednesday night meeting say they're opposed to the idea, but those working on the study say they're just happy they came to listen and ask questions.

"There's most things that towns get to do, mostly including getting matching funds from the state for things that we're doing that towns do as well, but they get some of the funds and we don't get them," says Jan Lorette, a member of the group called PRESERVE.

"Because we like living a life without the hassle of local government and just small politics, which is what we have here tonight. Just every one of them should be a politician," says David Cooley, who opposes the idea.

As far as the timing of the referendum, the group says it will have to wait until it hears back from the Virginia Department of Transportation about whether or not it would be eligible for about $800,000 worth of funding.

Members also plan on holding more community meetings.

The group was supposed to present the plan to the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors Wednesday afternoon, but that meeting was postponed.

County leaders say they cannot comment on the plan until it is officially presented to them, but they have expressed concern in the past about how the proposal would affect all taxpayers in the county.

The board is planning to see a presentation about the proposal in October.