After reviewing its third-quarter financial picture, the Fairfax County government has identified about $52 million in additional funding that local leaders could spend or save, as they desire.
“There’s a number of good news stories in here,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said after a March 24 staff presentation to the Board’s Budget Policy Committee.
Staff has proposed additional expenditures totaling about $44.3 million and putting just under $6 million into a reserve fund. That would leave an additional $2 million unallocated.
Having funding left over after each quarter of the fiscal year is typical. Much of the unanticipated extra revenue — $30.25 million — in the third quarter of the current fiscal year 2026 came from increases in personal property taxes connected to both vehicle taxes and data centers. An additional $19.93 million is from higher-than-budgeted interest on investments.
Supervisors now will have five weeks to mull what to do with the $52 million before making final decision on April 28.
“We are continuing to monitor all our revenue categories,” said Phil Hagen, director of the county’s Department of Management and Budget.
Staff have recommended allocating $18 million in additional support for renovating and upgrading “existing facilities which have significant needs,” the budget director said.
Another $15.7 million would go toward information technology needs, while $6.9 million would cover public safety overtime costs related to emergency responses to recent winter weather events and a hiring shortfall at the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office.
About $5 million will support repairs and upgrades at Fairfax County Park Authority recreation centers, and $730,000 will support nursing services for at-risk students.
A $100,000 budget addition will allow for the expansion of the park authority’s ongoing playground study so it can also evaluate facilities operated by Fairfax County Public Schools and the county’s Department of Neighborhood and Community Services.
About $1.27 million will fund costs associated with the multiple special elections held across the county in recent months. Another $350,000 would be allocated to use of outside legal firms.
About $1.87 million will be transferred to Visit Fairfax, representing its share of the recently enacted increase in the county’s hotel room tax. Nearly half those funds — $850,000 — would be used to promote the county to visitors celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday later this year.
County staff is proposing 66 new “merit” (permanent) positions, but the figure comes with an explanation.
The proposed positions are funded by the state government or by revenue related to services provided. For example, the county anticipates recouping the costs of five new staff positions to augment enforcement of its expanding speed and school bus stop-arm cameras through fines levied on drivers.
State funds will pay the cost of an estimated 13 new employees in the Department of Family Services. The new staffing aims to address workload issues related to increased Medicaid applications among county residents.
Before making a final decision on how to allocate the third-quarter review revenue in late April, supervisors will have access to another month’s worth of economic data and how it is affecting the national and local areas.
“To call it anything other than unstable would be unreasonable,” McKay said of the current economic picture.
To meet the moment, “we’re trying to stabilize what we have [and] reduce recurring costs,” he said.
Supervisors on April 14-16 will conduct public hearings on the proposed new expenditures. The hearings will be held in conjunction with those held on County Executive Bryan Hill’s $5.7 billion proposed fiscal 2027 budget.
