Please contact my office with any comments, questions, concerns or ideas. I look forward to hearing from you!
February 21, 2018
Greetings,
Yesterday on February 20, County Executive Bryan Hill presented his Advertised (proposed) FY2019 Budget to the Board of Supervisors and the community. The County Executive's proposal recommends a 2.5 cent increase in the real estate tax rate, which would result in an average annual real estate tax bill increase of $268 for homeowners. Under Mr. Hill's proposal the real estate tax rate would go from $1.13 (current) to $1.155 (proposed) per $100 of assessed value.
Feb. 20 - County Executive Bryan Hill presenting the FY2019 Advertised Budget
The proposed $4.29 billion General Fund budget would transfer $2.26 billion to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). This represents a 4.38 percent ($95.1 million) increase to the Schools over FY2018. This amount would meet the budget request of FCPS and covers raises for teacher salaries. This School "Transfer" makes up 52.8% of the County's General Fund Budget. Under the Virginia Constitution, the elected School Board, and not the Board of Supervisors, has "line item" authority over the school budget.
The proposed budget also provides adequate funding for the Board of Supervisors' priorities such as: the expansion of Diversion First (a program where individuals suffering from mental illness are diverted into treatment rather than jail), gang prevention initiatives and combating the opioid crisis. In the proposed budget, our County employee's compensation plans are fully funded. Overall, the County Executive identified $3.4 million in savings, mainly through employee vacancies and turnover trends.
This step is just the beginning of the FY2019 Budget process. Next, the Board of Supervisors and the School Board will meet for a Joint Budget Committee Meeting on Tuesday, February 27 at 3pm to discuss the proposed budget and the advertisement of a tax rate. You can watch the meeting live atfairfaxcounty.gov/cable.
At our Board meeting on March 6, the Board of Supervisors will advertise a proposed tax rate for FY2019. The Advertised Tax Rate becomes the "ceiling" for how high the tax rate could be increased. The tax rate that is eventually adopted can be the same as or less than what was advertised, but not higher.
The County Executive's Advertised Budget will be "marked up" (amended) by the Board of Supervisors at our meeting on April 24th with final adoption following a week later on May 1st.
What we hear from the community matters! In addition to Public Hearings scheduled for April 10, 11 and 12 (
sign up to speak here), community forums and town meetings will be held throughout the County prior to Mark Up. You can
find a list of those here.
What are your thoughts and priorities for the upcoming budget? Please let me know by emailing me at [email protected] or contacting my office at 703-324-2321. I also encourage you to take a look at our FY2019 Budget Process Timeline so you can follow along every step of the way and make your voice heard before important decisions are made.
