Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Supervisors approve amendment to reduce average tax bill hike Tuesday but leave employee pay and schools funding unchanged.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a series of amendments to the Fiscal Year 2014 budget Tuesday including one that lowers the proposed real estate tax rate increase by a penny, a move that will cost the county $20 million in revenue. Supervisors voted 9-1 to adopt the amendments, noting that in a particularly tough budget year, the package was the best they were going to get. “I wince now when I read through my remarks from last year’s mark-up that we were ‘hopefully beginning to see the dawn of a new day,’” Chairman Sharon Bulova said in a statement. “The Fiscal Year 2014 budget is one that makes no one happy. It is, however, a responsible fiscal plan that reflects our current difficult situation.” The budget plan will …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
With third straight year of zero funding for program, cyclists say some transportation improvements are threatened; county to look toward Arlington for model
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors formally adopted a $6.7 billion budget Tuesday morning, a spending plan which put aside more money for human services, schools and employee pay but, for the third consecutive year, not bicycle programs. Although the county funds a full-time bicycle coordinator in its transportation department, the bicycle program has gone without funding since fiscal year 2011, according to Fairfax County staff reports provided to supervisors this year. The county's formal bike program was launched in 2006 as the Comprehensive Bicycle Initiative. Early projects included developing the county's first bike route map, retrofitting connector buses, and adding bike racks to county park and ride lots. The program received…
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The FY 2013 budget passed in an 8-2 vote.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted Tuesday a fiscal year 2013 budget that raises taxes and fees to support funding for human services and other programs. The budget adoption motions were approved in an 8-2 vote. Supervisors Pat Herrity (Springfield-R) and John Cook (Braddock-R) voted against the budget, maintaining their opposition from the markup session on April 24. The budget raises the county real estate tax rate to 1.075 cents per $100 of assessed value, up a half-cent from the current 1.07 level. That half-cent was shifted from former County Executive Anthony Griffin’s proposed one-cent increase in the Stormwater Fee, which increases to 2 cents from 1.5. The shift frees up nearly $10 million that would have gone to a …
Monday, April 30, 2012
Staff recommends $11 million in contracts to non-profits.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to formally adopt the 2013 budget Tuesday morning. The $6.7 billion budget, which the board adjusted during a meeting last week, slightly raises taxes and fees to support higher school funding, employee compensation, human services and more. According to Tuesday meeting’s agenda, the board is also scheduled to vote on the award of contracts to non-profit organizations financed through the county’s Consolidated Community Funding Pool for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. County staff has recommended that more than $11 million in contracts be granted to various organizations, including United Community Ministries, Homestretch Inc., FACETS and nearly 90 others. Eighteen of the recommended …
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The Board of Supervisors identified $24.8 million to fund more programs.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors identified $24.8 million that will fund county employee compensation, human services, longer library hours, and other programs during a Tuesday mark-up session of the county’s fiscal year 2013 budget. The adjustments passed by a vote of 8-2. Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, on his first day back after recovering from successful open-heart surgery, and Braddock District Supervisor John Cook voted against the $6.7 billion budget. "Today, while not entirely out of the woods, we are beginning to see evidence of a recovery — a slow and sluggish recovery, but a recovery nonetheless," Chairman Sharon Bulova said. "Hopefully, we are beginning to see the dawn of a new day." For the first time …
Thursday, April 12, 2012
A live blog covering the comments and presentations during Thursday's Fairfax County Board of Supervisors public hearings on the FY2013 budget.
Patch has been live blogging the public hearings on the fiscal year 2013 Fairfax County budget this week. Thursday's public hearing starts at 3 p.m. Also see: County Budget: Schools, Housing, Arts Among Public Hearing Topics Live Coverage: Wednesday's Public Hearing Live Coverage: Tuesday's Public Hearing
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Residents and county employees will speak at 3 p.m. in the second day of a public hearings on the 2013 budget.
Almost 50 residents and county employees spoke Tuesday evening at the first of three public hearings about the 2013 budget. (See Tuesday night's live coverage for the play-by-play of comments.) The public hearings continue Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center. Join Patch at 3 p.m. as we live blog coverage of Wednesday's hearing.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will be taking public comments on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on the FY 2013 budget.
Tuesday afternoon, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will host two public hearings — one on on the effective tax rate increase and another on the fiscal year 2013 budget. The current property rate tax rate is $1.07 per $100 assessed value, but the county has been advertising an increase of one cent to $1.08. The tax rate hearing is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and the budget hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Two more budget hearings are scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in the Board Auditorium in Fairfax County Government Center. Patch will be covering all of this week's budget-related public hearings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If you wish to speak at any of this week's hearings, fill out this online form. For more …
Monday, April 9, 2012
Public hearings on fiscal year 2013 budget, tax rate and potential movement on county executive search during the April 10 Board of Supervisors meeting.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on the county’s participation in Phase II of the Dulles Metrorail project. Anthony Griffin, who will retire as county executive later this month, is recommending the board confirm its participation in the project while remaining vigilant in its pursuit of additional funding for the $2.7 billion extension. Failure to participate could mean significant changes to the direction of the project. Some Fairfax County residents think the project is too expensive, and are worried about drastic increases on the Dulles Toll Road, which is funding much of the project. The Virginia State Senate included $300 million in its budget specifically for Metrorail, but the Washington Post reports the …
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Fairfax County mailed property tax assessments to homeowners this week.
Some Lorton homeowners will notice that their property values have increased by about 1.5 percent when they open their new real estate assessment notices this week. The Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration started mailing more than 350,000 real estate assessment notices to Fairfax County taxpayers Tuesday. Lorton ZIP code area properties on average increased in value by 1.52 percent, from $325,838 in 2011 to $330,800 in 2012. The ZIP code area is essentially any property with a mailing address of “Lorton, Va.” “Property owners are cautioned against assuming that any percentages reported here have been applied to any individual assessment. The percentages are only shown as a measure of the change in mean value for a large group …
Crash Froelich
3:38 pm on Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Fairfax County is large, populous and relatively prosperous. Unfortunately, because of the spending habits of the past, under Gerry Connolly's administration, the size of government ballooned as if there was no such thing as economic cycles. It's refreshing to see the Board or Supervisors acting with restraint -- now. Unfortunately, Mr. Connolly is carrying on in his usual idiom in Congress and … more ›