MCA Board Offers County Budget Advice

In a letter sent earlier this week, the McLean Citizens Association has encouraged the Fairfax County Executive's Office to find new, "creative" sources of revenue, offering advice on how to maximize the use of available budget dollars and find additional cost savings.

In the letter, MCA President Sally Horn wrote,

• "Given the substantial shortfall in anticipated revenues, we would urge special focus on key revenue drivers, including pensions for County and school system employees."
• "...we urge establishment of a genuinely independent Audit office, similar to the Board of Supervisor’s Office of Financial and Program Audit, to help the School Board identify areas of savings within the school system and ensure that County taxpayer funds are wisely and efficaciously spent by the school system."
• "With regard to revenues, in light of the state of the economy, we would encourage you to look for creative, new opportunities to increase revenues, while keeping residential real estate tax rates
  constant for FY 2014."

A full copy of the letter is attached as a pdf document adjacent to this article.

"We were told that one of the people who had seen the letter who works for the county thought it was a very useful, serious effort," Horn told Patch. "We didn’t push anything in particular, we offered options for consideration."

In other business at the board's monthly meeting Wednesday at the McLean Community Center, the group voted unanimously on a letter that will be sent to Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton about coordination among various Route 7 transportation projects. 

Horn said the purpose of the letter is to "improve savings and to improve the flow of traffic."

Coming up, board members are holding two important meetings within the next month. Mark your calendars for:

• 8 p.m. Dec. 18: The MCA planning and zoning committee will hear from applicants on two separate McLean projects. Gannett is proposing to change its current zoning to allow for residential tenants and a helicopter pad, among other new uses. The Ashby in McLean is seeking to double its number of occupants and add retail space.
• 7:30 p.m. Jan 2: All six legislators representing parts of McLean in the General Assembly will "discuss issues that they plan to address during their upcoming legislative session in Richmond. There will also be a Q&A period for you to raise your concerns," according to the MCA website. 

All meetings are held at the McLean Community Center.