Morning Poll: What should Fairfax County prioritize in its budget?

Fairfax County’s budget season is in full swing.

The Board of Supervisors will hold public hearings at 3 p.m. today through Thursday (April 12-14), giving residents, community groups, and other stakeholders an opportunity to highlight their concerns and priorities for the spending plan that will take effect on July 1.

About half of the county’s general fund spending goes to Fairfax County Public Schools, which allocates the money based on its own adopted budget. The rest goes to county services, such as the fire and police departments, parks and libraries, public transportation, and more.

Today’s board meeting will also feature public hearings on the property tax rate and proposed water and sewer rate increases.

The budget was advertised with the same property tax rate as this year — $1.14 per $100 of assessed property value.

If the board chooses to keep that in place when the budget is adopted on May 10, property bills will increase by about $666 on average because of rising property values, but officials have the option to lower it.

A new tax rate under $1.06 per $100 of assessed value would bring in the same amount of revenue that the county saw last year.

The county plans to increase sewer service bills by about 6% to $38 on average. The changes, including usage and quarterly base charges, are intended to address increased costs associated with the system.