Tuesday, March 5, 2013
As part of Registry Week, volunteers searched the woods to find those who live in encampments. The information will be used to track them - and hopefully get them into homes.
Fairfax County officials and volunteers counted 462 homeless living outdoors during the recently completed Registry Week, part of the national 100,000 Homes Campaign to track homeless individuals and their progress in finding permanent housing. More than 200 volunteers scoured the woods and other hidden areas of the county last week in order to count, photograph, and get names and histories of the county's homeless. The results helped create a registery local agencies can use in the future to measure the progress on the fight to end homelessness, officials said. Reston Interfaith CEO Kerrie Wilson said she saw great honesty from those living outdoors. "I was struck by the differences in talking with someone in their 'home' – in their space…
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
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 …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
No employee pay increases in Fiscal Year 2014 spending plan, which would increase average household taxes by $262 and give Fairfax County Public Schools $62 million less than officials asked for.
Fairfax County Executive Ed Long unveiled Tuesday his $7 billion FY2014 budget proposal, a plan that raises real estate taxes and cuts funds to parks and libraries, among other services. Long’s advertised budget 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 county 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. Revenue projections are generally flat for the coming year, showing a slight decrease in growth from 2.79 percent in FY2013 to 2.77 percent in FY2014. With sequestration around the corner, Long said the …
Monday, February 25, 2013
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 …
Thursday, February 21, 2013
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 …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Unions, some supervisors say proposed changes to how Fairfax County pays its employees — namely, an odd-even pay increase system — need more discussion.
Proposed changes to Fairfax County employee compensation were met with criticism and questions from county officials and union representatives Tuesday. County Executive Ed Long first presented a new employee compensation structure to supervisors in December, which would disband the current system — in which employees are eligibile for pay increases every year — and replace it with an odd-even schedule for cost of living and merit raises. But union reps urged supervisors Tuesday not to pass the plan as part of the FY2014 budget process, saying such drastic changes required more careful debate. Many supervisors agreed, saying they didn't want to rush the matter. “I don’t believe we should be doing this during the budget schedule,” Supervisor…
Monday, February 11, 2013
Tuesday vote will authorize program to survey mosquitoes for West Nile Virus, which killed a county resident and affected eight others in 2012.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve Tuesday the 2013 Disease Carrying Insects program, a series of measures to prevent outbreaks of West Nile Virus and other illnesses. The county’s annual fight against insect-borne disease involves monitoring mosquitoes and ticks, surveillance on any human cases in the county, and educating residents on effective prevention. According to a Fairfax County Department of Health report, more than 5,300 cases of West Nile Virus were reported across the United States in 2012, 243 of the ending in death. In Virginia, 29 residents were diagnosed with West Nile, three of whom died. Of the eight cases reported in Fairfax County last year, one resident died. Under the program, mosquitoes …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Vienna's Sen. Chap Petersen speaks out against proposal that would allow localities to impose a 1 percent income tax without voter approval.
The Virginia State Senate has passed a bill that would enable Virginia localities to create a local income tax to fund improvements to transportation infrastructure. Under the legislation, SB 1313, which is now awaiting review in the House of Delegates, local governments would be allowed to establish an income tax of up to 1 percent without approval from voters. The bill would affect the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park. Current Virginia law dictates a jurisdiction’s residents must approve a local income tax in a referendum. The majority of Virginia localities, like Fairfax County, rely on road maintenance from the state, with the …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Vienna commuters may spend an extra $1,398 per year in gas and time sitting in traffic, according to report from Texas Transportation Institute.
We’re No. 1 — but it's not something to brag about. Traffic congestion in the Washington, DC metro area has been ranked worst in the country by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). The study rates our region’s traffic worse than San Francisco-Oakland, Los Angeles, New York-Newark and Boston. This is not the first time D.C. has been ranked No. 1: The area tied with Chicago for the honor in 2011. TTI’s Urban Mobility Report, released Tuesday, includes a “Planning Time Index,” which measures “travel reliability.” That factor designates “the amount of extra time needed to arrive on time for higher priority events, such as an airline departure, just-in-time shipments, medical appointments or especially important social commitments.” “PTIs…
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Community offers feedback to proposed Fairfax County Connector routes, which will launch with the opening of the Silver Line later this year.
Vienna and Tysons area residents want Connector bus services in their communities, but residents don’t agree on how they want the routes to run once the first half of the Silver Line opens at the end of 2013. During a two-hour meeting at Westbriar Elementary School, Fairfax County Department of Transportation officials presented a series of proposed modifications to bus service to and from Silver Line stations. But residents raised concerns about route layouts, bus frequency, parking facilities and more. The meeting was one of several planned this week and over the next few months as the Board of Supervisors looks to approve bus service changes by May. The county’s 2010 Transit Development Plan recommends 12 new routes be added to Tysons, …
FairfaxMango
8:37 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
So many of the County homeless don't live in the County, but rather in the City of Fairfax, because of the programs and benefits provided by the Lamb Center. I hope this program took that into consideration. more ›