On September 14^th at 4:30 p.m. the Board will hold a public hearing on a 5-cent plastic bag tax for grocery stores, convenience stores, and drugstores to go into effect as early as January 2022. This plastic bag tax is coming while we’re still dealing with the pandemic, gas prices are jumping, inflation has risen at the fastest rate in 12 years, unemployment is still a struggle for many families, and property taxes have increased 45 percent over the last decade. It should go without saying that this is the wrong time for any new tax. 

To add insult to injury, the proposed plastic bag tax is regressive. While people who are well-off will largely feel little impact, it will disproportionately burden lower-income families both in cost and convenience without changing their behavior (see study here). The increased cost of implementing this tax will be passed from businesses to customers who will in turn buy less. In other states like Connecticut that have implemented bag taxes customers started shopping outside the regulation area to avoid additional costs. These taxes hurt consumers and local businesses. 

If customers want to avoid costs, there are no good options right now. Reusable bags are not only more expensive and difficult to store for people who use public transportation, they are also prohibited at many stores right now to prevent the spread of germs. One study found that on average people do not ever clean their reusable bags. The other option would be to use paper bags, which are also more expensive and there is a severe shortage nationally that many industry leaders do not believe will return to normalcy for at least five years. 

With such detrimental economic impacts and logistical hurdles to overcome, you would expect the revenue for this tax to be desperately needed. Instead, one of my colleagues said that the goal of the tax is “really not about charging people…[but] reminding people to change their behavior and helping them along to do it.” This is not the kind of “help” that I would want from my local government at a time like this. I encourage you to sign up to testify at the public hearing by phone, pre-recorded video, or in-person.

From a sustainability perspective, this tax also misses the mark when it comes to choosing environmentally friendly products and solving our litter problem. Plastic bags are highly recyclable as opposed to reusable plastic bags which cannot be recycled in the U.S. once made. They have the smallest carbon footprint when compared with reusable bags and paper bags. To offset the environmental impact of a plastic bag, it only needs to be reused once as opposed to anywhere from 35 to 20,000 times for reusable plastic bags. For more information on the environmental myths about plastic bags see here.

While my colleagues waited for the General Assembly to pass the law for authority to implement a bag tax, I was proposing solutions to address litter in our community. The first program I proposed is No Charge, a non-profit out of Augusta County that addresses both criminal justice reform for non-violent, first-time offenders and had incredible success in removing litter from the community. Not only is this program highly successful in cleaning up litter, it saves taxpayers the court costs that would be spent processing offenders who are better served through this program. The second program I’m working on is providing more places to recycle plastic bags in a similar manner to the highly successful purple glass recycling bin program. When we provide a place to dispose of things correctly and securely, they don’t end up in the environment. Not only are plastic bags highly recyclable, but there is also already a market for them in Virginia. Businesses convert recycled plastic bags into new, sanitized plastic bags, as well as playground parts, benches, and decking. 

I strongly encourage you to consider the disproportionate economic impacts and sustainability inconsistencies of this proposed tax and sign up here to testify at the public hearing on September 14^th 4:30 p.m.

Other News & Information...

“Please be advised that Fairfax County is temporarily allowing solid waste service providers to collect trash and yard waste together if they are experiencing labor shortages that prevent them from completing their routes in a timely manner. This means that some providers may not pick up yard waste separately beginning on August 31, 2021. As a result, you may observe your service provider collecting yard waste and trash together. The temporary change is in response to national labor shortages adversely affecting our region. Refuse and recycling will continue to be collected separately. The requirement to separately collect yard waste for recycling will be reassessed in mid-October depending on workforce conditions. Thank you for your patience.”

For other frequently asked questions about trash collection in Fairfax County, please see this page: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/recycling-trash/county-collection-customers/yard-waste

For more information or to review and comment, please visit the Braddock Park Master Plan Revision project website; or contact the Public Information Office at 703-324-8662 or via [email protected].

The Park Authority is seeking public comment on its recently completed pickleball study – in addition, it will be holding a virtual public meeting on the pickleball study on Tuesday, September 14. I have been working with the Park Authority and the pickleball community to increase the number of pickleball-only courts available in Fairfax County for this fast-growing sport. For more information, click here: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/planning-development/pickleball-study

This will be a virtual meeting on Zoom. For questions, please email [email protected]

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8601359715?pwd=NThOakEvZ3M5TUFZUnNtbzBpUjhnUT09

   Password: 3rd8aM

Or Telephone:

   Dial:

   USA 602 333 0032

   USA 8882709936 (US Toll Free)

   Conference code: 628171

   

Find local AT&T Numbers: https://www.teleconference.att.com/servlet/glbAccess?process=1&accessNumber=6023330032&accessCode=628171

Strategic Plan Will Guide County Spending and Taxes (September 24)

I strongly encourage you to provide input to the County’s strategic plan that will map out County priorities and spending moving forward. Community input is sought through September 24, to participate click here.

Your feedback is very important as this plan will be used to determine future budgets and to justify raising your taxes as the priorities adopted in the Strategic Plan will guide future County policies and spending. You can find the full plan as it stands here.

You can take the Countywide Strategic Plan survey here and sign up to receive updates on the plan progress here. You can also share your general feedback by emailing [email protected].

First, there does not seem to be enough community input yet for a document that is intended to guide all future policies and spending. Most residents I have talked to have not heard of the strategic plan or its community engagement process. With a County of 1.2 million people, I hope we will only adopt a plan that has received feedback from a more significant percent of our population.

Low-Cost Rabies Clinics are back! To register, please visit this page.

Apply here.

Registration and sponsor packages are available at this page.

Please note that Donations are NOT being accepted at the Dulles Expo Center at this time. However, many local organizations are eager provide support, and Fairfax County does partner closely with local refugee resettlement agencies to share information, establish points of contact for benefit coordination, and provide training on available programs and services. The local resettlement agencies for the Northern Virginia area are the following, please contact them if you would like to provide assistance:

For a list of resources and services available to refugees, please see: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/topics/afghan-refugee-information-and-resources

To be eligible, an applicant must be a small business or 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (as defined in 31 C.F.R.; 35.3) operating in one or more of the following sectors:

To learn more and start your application, click here. 

Fairfax County is in need of election officers who can speak Korean or Vietnamese to serve in the Nov. 2 gubernatorial election. Officers are especially needed in Annandale, Centreville, Chantilly and Falls Church areas. Apply by Sept. 13 at this link.

To sign up and learn more, click here.

For more information, please see: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health/novel-coronavirus/vaccine/registration

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced that providers across the Commonwealth could begin vaccinating those aged 12-15 following federal approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in adolescents. Previously, this vaccine was only authorized for individuals ages 16 and older.

The announcement follows both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children ages 12-15 earlier this week and a recommendation yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For more information, please see this page.

If you are interested in him, send in a completed adoption questionnaire and we will go from there to share all the info the Animal Shelter has, answer any questions, and schedule a visit! If you have a dog at home already, the Animal Shelter will schedule a dog-to-dog intro as well to see if they get along. All adoption info, steps, and forms can be found online at: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/animalshelter/adopt/steps