Fairfax County Puts $11 Million Toward Pedestrian Improvements

Savings from two other projects leaves enough money to tackle road projects elsewhere in the county—near Tysons, at the Hunter Mill Bridge.

Thanks to a reallocation of some funds and savings on two big county projects , the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has identified about $11 million to complete planned improvements to pedestrian and road projects across the county. The money became available when two other large transportation projects were unexpectedly completed under budget. Burke Centre’s Virginia Railway Express parking was finished with $3.9 million to spare in federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funds; another $7 million in federal Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP) money was left over after the widening of Route 29 and Gallows Road to three lanes. Supervisors also approved the use of $1.65 million in commercial and industrial (C&I) …

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Fairfax County Homeless Population Down 12 Percent from 2012

Officials will highlight successes, challenges in full report to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments on April 10.

Fairfax County’s homeless population has declined 12 percent in the last year and 26 percent since 2007, according to a new report from the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness. The Connection reports that according to agency’s annual “point-in-time” survey, the number of homeless people in the county has decreased by 184, from 1,534 in 2012 to 1,350 in 2013. The number of homeless has also decreased by 463 since 2007, down from 1,813. The count was conducted over a one-day period in January, per requirements from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Only people who are literally homeless and living in shelters, transitional housing or on the street are counted in the survey. This …

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One Week Left to Build Your Own Fairfax County Budget

The deadline for Supervisor John Cook's new exercise is Monday, April 8.

Fairfax County residents who want to know if they’re as smart as their supervisors have a week left to build their own Fiscal Year 2014 county budget. Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) introduced the tool, which allows residents to sit down and construct a budget based on the proposed package from County Executive Ed Long. The deadline for the exercise is Monday, April 8, before the first budget public hearing on April 9. Using Long’s list of reductions to agencies and another list of reductions not taken, residents are asked to make funding increases or reductions to nine different areas of spending, including schools, public safety and compensation for county employees. Residents also choose a tax rate based on the changes they make. …

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Foust to Host County Budget Meeting for Residents

Residents will be able to ask questions about the budget process and Fairfax County's spending on Wednesday.

Build Your Own Fairfax County FY2014 Budget

Do you think you can balance the Fairfax County budget better than our elected officials? A new tool lets residents design their own budget package.

Residents who think they can balance a budget better than their elected officials will get the chance to prove it with a new tool introduced by a Fairfax County supervisor Tuesday. Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) is launching a program over the next two weeks that allows residents to build their own Fiscal Year 2014 budget plan based on the current package proposed by County Executive Ed Long. Long has proposed a $7 billion budget that raises the real estate tax rate and eliminates about 90 county jobs. Long has also released a list of reductions to agencies, as well as a list of reductions considered but not taken.   Using those lists, the tool asks residents to identify spending increases or reductions they would make in nine different…

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Touch Screen Voting 'Unreliable,' Commission Says

Fairfax County Election Commission says electronic ballot scanning machines and other tools could make lines at the polls shorter.

Last November, some Fairfax County residents reported long lines and wait times of more than three hours to cast their vote at the polls; some abandoned voting all together. But some 50 recommendations from Fairfax County’s new election commission — many of them focused on technology that will speed up parts of the voting process — could solve the problem. How quickly changes are made, though, depends on how much room officials can find in this year's budget to implement new programs in time for the next presidential election. Electronic Polling Books Among the recommendations in a report delivered Tuesday to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors was using Electronic Polling Books (EPBs), which would streamline the check-in process for …

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Wednesday: Speak Out on Fairfax Home Day Care Limits

Fairfax planning commission seeks input on proposal to raise the number of children allowed in home daycares — but even raising the limit might not be enough, providers say.

Home daycare providers and parents will have the opportunity Wednesday to speak to the Fairfax County Planning Commission about a proposed permit that would allow providers to care for more children. But it remains to be seen if even an expanded limit will be enough to accomodate some of the area's daycares. The Commonwealth of Virginia allows for up to 12 children in a licensed daycare, but Fairfax County ordinances allow for only seven. Providers in Fairfax can apply for a special permit that allows for a maximum of 10. The county law was rarely enforced, so many providers took in a dozen kids, as allowed by their state licenses. But new state regulations that require formal documentation from zoning officials will have many providers …

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Fairfax County Budget Work Starts Tuesday

Tax hike, no employee raises are some of the issues supervisors will tackle in committee meeting for Fiscal Year 2014 spending plan

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will begin to dig into the meat of the Fiscal Year 2014 budget during its first budget committee meeting Tuesday afternoon. Supervisors will gather at 1 p.m. Tuesday in conference rooms 9 and 10 at Fairfax County Government Center to begin hammering out the details of County Executive Ed Long’s $7 billion advertised budget, which features no raises for employees and a slightly higher tax rate. The committee is also expected to go over the $2.5 billion Fairfax County Public Schools budget for fiscal 2014. School Board members requested $95 million from supervisors, a 5.5-percent increase in transfer, for a total of $1.78 billion. But Long was only able to give schools a 2 percent increase in transfer…

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Average Fairfax County Tax Bill Could Jump $262

Supervisors advertise a higher real estate tax of $1.095 per $100 of assessed value, a 2-cent increase from the current rate but not as high as one supervisor hoped.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has set the FY 2014 budget’s advertised real estate tax rate at $1.095 per $100 of assessed value, a 2-cent increase from the current rate of $1.075. Supervisors approved the rate in a 9-1 vote Tuesday after killing an amendment from Supervisor Gerry Hyland (D-Mount Vernon) to raise it another 1.5 cents to $1.11 per $100 of assessed value. Hyland’s proposal would have hiked the average resident’s taxes $332, but was shot down in a 8-2 vote against the amendment. Once the Board sets an advertised tax rate, it can’t legally adopt one any higher. Hyland argued that with the unknown effects of sequestration on the horizon, the Board should advertise a rate that would give it room to adjust to cuts and …

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