County supervisors voted yesterday (Tuesday) to withhold some funding for a planned Fairfax County Park Authority initiative, saying it should be considered as part of the fiscal year 2027 budget process next spring.
County Executive Bryan Hill had recommended giving $1.8 million to the project as part of the county government’s fiscal year 2025 budget carryover process, where excess funds are redistributed in the next year’s budget.
The amount included a one-time allocation of $1 million for the initial development of a new registration system that can support an income-based sliding fee scale for some recreational programs as well as $820,000 in recurring money for new staff needed to manage the system.
But Board Chairman Jeff McKay did not like the idea of adding the recurring funding — and new five permanent, full-time staff positions — outside the regular budget process.
“I don’t think this is the time,” he said.
His view carried the day with colleagues, including Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who noted that it was “extremely rare” to add ongoing staff positions during the budget close-out period.
Park Authority leaders now will have several months to further refine their proposal — which is part of the agency’s strategy to ensure equitable access to park facilities and services — and decide whether to include it in a fiscal year 2027 budget request.
The board was briefed and largely made decisions on where the excess funding from fiscal 2025 should be reallocated during a committee meeting on Sept. 16. A total of about $124 million for the county government and $173 million for public schools will be moved over into the current FY 2026 budget.
The reallocated funding authorized by supervisors on Sept. 30 included:
- $135,000 for additional invasive-species removal
- $130,000 for marketing the Richmond Highway corridor
- $8,000 for a part-time intern for the county auditor’s office
McKay won support for an additional $250,000 in Park Authority funding for field and court maintenance after the Sept. 16 meeting.
The $1.43 million left over after all the changes had been made will go into a Reserve for Economic Uncertainty, bringing it to about $23.5 million. It is one of several rainy-day reserve funds maintained by the county.
“Our economic future looks a bit uncertain,” noted Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk in perhaps the understatement of the meeting.
The overall package received support from the board’s eight Democrats, short the currently empty Braddock District seat. The lone Republican, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, abstained.
“I don’t agree with everything that is in here, but I agree with a lot,” he said, adding his voice to support of eliminating the $820,000 for
Lusk praised the additional funding to promote the Richmond Highway corridor, which is about to see massive disruption due to construction on a road widening project and a bus rapid transit system.
The additional funding “will help both the people and the businesses” of the corridor, Lusk said.
The public hearing that preceded the board’s vote drew four speakers.
Arthur Purves, president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance, said the funds being added to the FY 2026 budget represents “a case study of out-of-control spending.”
“If the carryover items were important, they should have been included in the adopted budgets,” he said.
Kerrie Wilson, co-chair of the county’s Affordable Housing Advisory Council, praised supervisors for their commitment to “consistent, renewable funding” in support of housing, while also putting money in reserves.
She said the board’s vote represented “fiscal discipline and our values.”
Mark Welch, speaking on his own behalf, questioned the decision to give Fairfax County Public Schools more than $170 million in carryover spending without more justification for how it will be used.
Having leftover funding to parcel out simply means “you extensively overtaxed your constituents” over the past year, Welch said.
Preparations for the FY 2027 budget process already are ongoing, with agency directors having been directed to submit lists of potential cuts totaling 5% of their total budgets.
“We’re entering some challenging times. We have to be open to change,” McKay said. “The times call for a level of creativity.”
He acknowledged those efforts may cause heartburn.
“People in the county don’t always like change,” McKay said.
