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.

Board to Advertise Tysons Tax District Rate

Vienna-area residents in the newly-created Tysons District could pay anywhere from $312 to $720 more in taxes, on top of the proposed countywide real estate hike.

Vienna area residents who live in the newly-formed Tysons Tax District will be hit harder than most other county residents on their tax bill in the coming year. It's one of the number of proposed Fiscal year 2014 tax increases the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is expected to advertise Tuesday, kicking off the public hearing and community input process ahead of final approval in April. The district, which hikes property taxes on both residents and developers, will help fund billions of dollars in transportation infrastructure over the next 40 years, moving the area closer to becoming the county’s new urban downtown center. See also: Fairfax Board Approves Tysons Tax District A bill from Del. Mark Keam (D-Vienna) attempted to exempt …

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Fairfax County to Police Illegal Signs, Fine Offenders

Prison inmates will remove signs Tuesday through Friday beginning later this year.

Fairfax County now has the authority to clean up illegal signs placed on roadway medians thanks to an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation. This week, the county Board of Supervisors approved an agreement that has been in the works for months allowing the county to clear signs from public rights-of-way and issue fines to residents who post them. The Town of Vienna does not allow signs, but the roads leading and out of town are often littered with them, especially during campaign season. The program, which supervisors signed off on in an 8-2 vote, will cost the county $150,000. Non-violent prisoners on the Sheriff’s Office Community Labor Force will perform cleanup duties four days a week, Tuesday through Friday, …

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Questions on Fairfax County Budget? Join Thursday's Online Q&A

County Executive Ed Long will chat with residents on proposed $7 billion Fiscal Year 2014 county budget.

Do you have questions about Fairfax County’s FY2014 proposed budget? Your chance to get answers from County Executive Ed Long is coming Thursday morning. Long will host an hour-long chat starting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday to discuss his proposed $7 billion budget, which he unveiled for officials and the public Tuesday. The advertised package includes a 2-cent increase in the real estate tax rate from $1.075 per $100 of assessed value to $1.095. The increase is projected to raise nearly $42 million in count revenue. But when coupled with increases in real estate assessments, the proposed rate would cost the average county household about $262 more in real estate taxes. The budget also reduces funding for parks and libraries, and allots the …

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Fairfax County to Unveil FY2014 Budget Tuesday

The county faces a $169 million shortfall.

Fairfax County Executive Ed Long will unveil the county’s proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget this Tuesday. The county faces budget shortfalls of $169 million and $274 million in fiscal years 2014 and 2015, respectively. In order to better prepare for the future, he says, Long will present a multi-year budget plan for FY2014-2015 during the Board of Supervisors regularly scheduled Feb. 26 meeting. Those shortfalls are based on keeping the tax rate unchanged while also increasing the transfer to Fairfax County Public Schools. Fairfax County School Board officials intend to ask for an increase of 5.5 percent – or $92.4 million – for a total transfer of $1.77 billion. During a joint meeting of the two boards in November 2012, Long included an …

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County Exec: No Pay Increases Expected in FY2014

With budget shortfalls on the horizon, Fairfax County employee pay could take a hit this year.

Fairfax County employees likely won't see pay increases in Fiscal Year 2014, according to County Executive Ed Long. The county faces dramatic budget shortfalls over the next two years and pay increases this year might not be financially feasible, Long told supervisors Tuesday during a divisive discussion of a new proposed employee pay structure. In Long’s proposed plan, which would kick in after FY 2014, county employees would get a cost of living increase (estimated to be about 2 percent) in odd-numbered years and be eligible for regular and performance-based pay bumps in even-numbered years. Public safety employees would still receive increases based on longevity annually, but public safety merit increases would be paid in even-numbered …

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Fairfax Board OKs Massive Spring Hill Development

Supervisors sign off on 3.8 million square foot complex, the third and final part of a larger plan by the Georgelas Group

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved Tuesday another massive development in Tysons Corner, moving along the county’s long-term plan to turn the area into a walkable, urban downtown center. The complex will occupy more than 17 acres: about 10 acres between Route 7, Tyco Road and Spring Hill Road, and another seven acres at the corner of Greensboro Drive and Spring Hill Rd. See map at right. The proposal is the final piece to a three-part plan by the McLean-based Georgelas Group  to transofrm the area around Route 7 and Spring Hill Road. Georgelas earned the county's first application approval in September 2011 for the first two parts of its plan, which calls for five residential/retail buildings — one of them at 300 feet and the…

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Police: Fairfax Needs Tysons Police Station, More Officers

Metro and redevelopment will bring more crime to Fairfax County — which could require dozens more officers and a new station to help police the area's 1.1 million residents.

With massive redevelopment on the horizon, Fairfax County officials are starting to imagine ways to step up the police presence in the area — including where to build a brand new police station. The first phase of the Silver Line is expected to open at the end of 2013, and while it will help drive the county’s economy, it will also bring crime, says Fairfax County Police Captain Daniel Janickey, an officer in the McLean District Station. Janickey says the county needs to prepare for increases in robberies, assault, theft, property destruction and stolen vehicles, as well as a rise in illegal parking and traffic accidents. In order to effectively enforce the law and deter criminals from coming to Northern Virginia, Janickey recommended …

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