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 …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Employee pay an issue as the Board of Supervisors drafts amendments to the FY2014 budget.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors have started adjusting the Fiscal Year 2014 budget package by lowering the proposed tax rate by a penny. But supervisors remain unsupportive of increases in funding to public schools and employee compensation. During a meeting of the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee on Friday, Chairman Sharon Bulova presented a list of amendments to spending plan. The Board will vote on a proposed real estate tax rate of $1.085 per $100 of assessed value — a penny lower than the $1.095 rate proposed by County Executive Ed Long in his original plan. The adjustment is expected to cut county revenue by about $20 million. County employees advocated for higher pay during public hearings earlier this month, but a lack…
Friday, April 19, 2013
"I'll never retire from loving Lorton and Fairfax County," she told Patch.
(Editor's note: In case you missed it, a Lorton legend was honored last week. Here's that story again. Enjoy!) Lortonian Irma Clifton was honored with the lifetime achievement award at the 2013 Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards ceremony on Thursday in Springfield. "I'll never retire from loving Lorton and loving Fairfax County. It's in my heart, it's in my genes," said Clifton, who was born in Lorton and lives in the house her parents bought in 1944. Clifton worked at the Lorton Reformatory for 26 years, and worked tirelessly to ensure that its historical integrity was preserved when it closed in 2001 after 90 years in operation. Fairfax County bought a parcel of the property for $4.2 million in 2004, and the Workhouse Arts Center …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
That figure does not include 'ripple effects' through the economy from an expected slow down in consumer spending.
The White House has released state-by-state information on how sequestration may affect residents of all 50 states—and Virginia stands to lose hundreds of millions. When Patch asked its readers this weekend whether President Obama and Senate Democrats are “to blame” for sequestration or if fault lies with John Boehner and the House Republicans, opinions were mixed. “Both parties are to blamed for this event, as neither are attempting to compromise on the issues that each party brings to the table. Neither party is governing at this point in time,” said reader Roger Todd. See: Thanks to Sequestration, You’re About to Lose Your Job: Who’s to Blame? Another reader, who went by the username cmvorhees, wrote, “It is absurd that the failure of …
Monday, February 4, 2013
What's going on in the Mount Vernon District? Read below and find out.
Sequestration, redevelopment and overcrowded schools were a few of the topics raised Saturday by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland and other local officials at Hyland's 26th Annual Town Hall Meeting at Mount Vernon High School. "Mount Vernon is a hot market for Fairfax County," said Hyland, who spoke to an audience of about 100 people. "And recognizing growth in the student population in schools has surprised all of us." Mount Vernon School Board member Dan Storck said that overcrowding in his District will lead to a boundary change study that will occur sometime between now and the summer. "We've seen an increase of more than 15,000 students in the last three years… Right now, we're defining what schools should be involved …
Sunday, February 3, 2013
What will it mean for the Northern Virginia economy?
Sequestration — $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts to defense and civilian programs over the next decade — will likely happen, and it will mean thousands of layoffs, program eliminations and near-certain economic devastation for Northern Virginia, said Virginia Congressmen Jim Moran (D-8th) and Gerry Connolly (D-11th) on Saturday at a town hall meeting in Mount Vernon. "You need to be aware that this is probably going to happen," said Moran, who spoke at an annual meeting conducted by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland. "It's a democracy and things will ultimately play themselves out, but things are not going well right now (in Congress)." Congress averted the fiscal cliff crisis at the beginning of the year, and …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Report issued late last week says outage following June derecho in Northern Virginia and other parts of the country was "unacceptable."
The Federal Communications Commission plans to introduce new rules to strengthen the reliability and resiliency of 9-1-1 communications networks during disasters. The rules come in the wake of a storm last summer that left Northern Virginia without 9-1-1 service, the federal agency said in a news release this week “These failures are unacceptable and the FCC will do whatever is necessary to ensure the reliability of 9-1-1," Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said. The announcement late last week coincides with the regulatory agency's release of a report (attached with this story) about the 9-1-1 service failure June 29 to 30, after the derecho storm hit Northern Virginia and other parts of the country. The …
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Fairfax County residents gathered Saturday for a four-hour hearing.
Human services funding was a major talking point Saturday during a public hearing before Fairfax County’s delegation to the Virginia General Assembly. About 70 residents and stakeholders gathered at Fairfax County Government Center to speak during the nearly four-hour hearing, advocating for programs including family services funding, the Northern Virginia Training Center and Medicaid expansion, among others. Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, reiterated the county’s need for transportation funding – money many lawmakers in Richmond don’t think will arrive, and the restoration of the "cost of competing" salary assistance program that helps the county to attract and recruit teachers. In Gov. Bob McDonnell’s …
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
What does the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors look forward to in the new year?
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
As 2012 draws to a close, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova has shared with Patch her legislative priorities and goals for 2013. They have been published below. As an added bonus, she also included her New Year's resolutions. The adoption of the Fiscal Year 2014/2015 Budget begins in earnest in late February when County Executive Ed Long releases his Advertised Budget. We already know that Fairfax County is, and will be, affected by the current federal climate. Our income projections (flat to modest) coupled with expenses needed just to maintain our current levels of service result in a projected shortfall of approximately $170 million for FY2014. It is my goal, working with my colleagues and County staff, to adopt…
Friday, November 9, 2012
Fairfax County Supervisor says group should look at long waiting times at some polling spots and recommend ways to improve.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova says she will recommend a commission to look ways to improve the county's efficiency on Election Day. Bulova says she was concerned about long lines, wait times and other voting issues. Voter turnout for the 2012 election in Fairfax County was 80.5 percent. In the last presidential election, the turnout was 78.7 percent (with 72,501 fewer registered voters than today), county officials said. Meanwhile, absentee voting in the county was down 2.7 percent from 2008. Lines and waits varied widely in Fairfax County. In Reston, reported waits varied from a minute to about 30 minutes at peak time in the morning. Bulova says she waited just 20 minutes at Villa precinct Tuesday morning at …
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 ›