After weeks of discussions, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted along party lines on Tuesday (Dec. 3) to adopt policy packages establishing its 2025 priorities for the Virginia General Assembly and Congress.
The packages seek additional funding from the state legislature, particularly for education and transportation, and set up potential conflict areas with the incoming Trump administration.
At the state level, the county government’s top priority will be securing more K-12 education funding for localities.
“Progress must be made in the upcoming General Assembly session on this issue,” Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw said. “Our teachers, our schools, our kids cannot wait any longer for the Commonwealth of Virginia to fulfill its commitment to fund its share of education.”
Fairfax homeowners would see an average reduction of over $1,000 in their local property tax bills if the state funded its full share of education, according to Board Chairman Jeff McKay.
As suggested at a legislative committee meeting last week, Fairfax officials will seek the General Assembly’s approval for a pilot program to monitor vehicle exhaust noise. There also will be an effort to toughen sanctions against those drivers convicted of street takeovers and stunt-driving.
“Our fundamental priorities remain the same,” said Walkinshaw, who chairs the board’s legislative committee.
For their recommendations to federal legislators, county leaders worked hurriedly after the Nov. 5 election to incorporate passages that push back on policy pronouncements made by Donald Trump and those in his orbit.
With county leaders hoping to convince the incoming administration to keep federal workers in the D.C. region, the package states that efforts to “dramatically” eliminate or relocate federal jobs and to replace civil servants with political appointees “could have a devastating impact on the local economy.”
Proposals to move federal employees and agencies out of the D.C. region represent “a direct attack on Virginia and a direct attack on Fairfax County,” Walkinshaw said.
The county board’s legislative strategy for Congress include opposition to “large-scale immigration enforcement actions that increase fear among all immigrants,” highlighting the Trust Policy adopted in 2021.
It also signals continued support for federal regulations to curb climate change, funding for social safety net programs, improvements in access to child care and enhanced consumer protections, among other positions.
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, the board’s lone Republican, voted without comment against the packages.
Supervisors authorize bond sale
At the same meeting, the Board of Supervisors authorized the sale of up to $400 million in voter-approved bonds, which will raise funding to support local schools, parks, transit and other projects.
The funds are among about $1.2 billion in bonds that were approved by Fairfax voters over the past decade but not yet sold. The vote to authorize the upcoming sale was unanimous.
The majority of the bond proceeds — $230 million — will be used to support school projects. Of the county government’s $170 million share, funding would back $55 million for public-safety efforts, $44 million for Metro, $25 million for parks, $25 million for human services and $21 million for libraries.
County officials will present an overview of the bond sale and current county economic conditions to the nation’s three major bond-rating houses on Dec. 16 and 17. Updated bond ratings are expected in early January in anticipation of a sale later that month.
Earlier this year, Fairfax sold $350 million in bonds to Bank of America at an interest cost of 3.27%
Fairfax County to partner with South Korea city
The Board of Supervisors set the stage for a partnership with a key city in South Korea.
The relationship “would offer great economic-development opportunities,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said in seeking support for the proposal to team up with Yongin, South Korea.
The city of approximately 1 million residents — on par with Fairfax’s population — is a major player in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, space and quantum computing, McKay said before the vote.
Supervisors approved the partnership unanimously. The agreement could be signed in January, when Yongin’s mayor is slated to visit the Washington region.
Representatives of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority staff recently visited Yongin to discuss the requested partnership. In general, the agreement will have minimal to no fiscal impact on the Fairfax County government’s budget, McKay said.
