Fairfax County will soon join most other Northern Virginia jurisdictions in having a meals tax.
The Board of Supervisors officially adopted a budget on Tuesday (May 13) that will decrease the local property tax rate by a quarter-cent to $1.1225 per $100 of assessed value, though homeowners will still see their annual tax bill for 2025 rise by an average of $499, due to higher home assessments.
To make up for the lost revenue in the budget, which was crafted by County Executive Bryan based on an increased real estate tax rate of $1.14 per $100, the board voted to institute a 4% meals tax on all food and drinks served by restaurants in Fairfax.
The meals tax will be added to bills starting in January and is expected to bring in $67.9 million over the last six months of the fiscal year, which starts on July 1.
The tax will offer some relief for residential property owners, but riled up local restaurateurs who said it would burden the industry and “economically exhausted consumers.”
Though the school board had pushed for the meals tax to be used to help fully fund the schools’ budget, Fairfax County Public Schools only received $119 million more in next year’s budget than they received this year, falling short of Superintendent Michelle Reid’s request for a $248 million increase.
