A union representing some Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) employees rallied yesterday (Tuesday) for restoration of pay, benefits and staffing levels negotiated last year but not funded by county leaders.
“We’re here to make sure the Board of Supervisors knows … they cannot leave the schools behind,” Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT) President Emily VanDerhoff said at the late-afternoon event, held in front of the Fairfax County Governmental Center.
An Oakton-based nonprofit has been sounding an alarm about Fairfax County’s plans to eliminate funding for a key mental health program.
The fiscal year 2027 budget presented by County Executive Bryan Hill in February would terminate a $618,952 contract for BeWell, a program run by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) and the nonprofit HopeLink Behavioral Health that coaches people living with serious mental illnesses on their overall health and wellness.
The Town of Herndon is planning to maintain its current tax rates in the new fiscal year, but residents should still brace for increases in their property tax, water and trash bills.
Town Manager Dan Hoffman officially submitted a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget to the Herndon Town Council yesterday (Wednesday) that holds local real estate, lodging and meals taxes at their existing rates of 27 cents per $100 of assessed value, 6% and 4.5%, respectively.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors could soon receive a staff proposal on potentially consolidating “placemaking groups” that promote either the county as a whole or specific communities in it.
County Executive Bryan Hill said he expects to detail his proposals to elected officials later this spring.
Two school board members have proposed a new way for Fairfax County Public Schools to add revenue: selling the naming rights to school athletic facilities.
Introduced as “new business” last week, a motion directing Superintendent Michelle Reid to develop a plan to accommodate such negotiations is set to be voted on by the full Fairfax County School Board at its meeting tomorrow (Thursday).
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.
A dispute over ending a sales tax exemption on data centers stood in the way of the Virginia General Assembly passing a state budget passing before its regular session ended.
Over the past 18 years, Virginia became the world’s largest data hub, but community opposition to data centers has swelled. Most recently, in Fairfax County, environmental groups are questioning plans to sell part of a county-owned parcel at 3721 Stonecroft Blvd in Chantilly to data center developer Starwood Capital Group.
The Fairfax County government will not be imperiling its coveted AAA bond rating despite taking on an estimated $2.26 billion in new debt in coming years, county staff told supervisors this week.
Despite the reassurance, staff raised concerns at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ Budget Policy Committee meeting on Tuesday (March 10) that the increasing debt load will put the squeeze on a county budget already facing economic headwinds.
By OLIVIA DIAZ and MARC LEVY Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Nearly two decades ago, Virginia gave tech companies a tax break on equipment and software, and they began to build. The state became a data center hub, and they kept building. Residents bemoaned the noise while they built some more. Artificial intelligence boomed, and the power grid strained — still, more building.
Fairfax County is continuing its recent push to trim costs, pursuing budget cuts that are less drastic than the ones proposed last year but could still result in some notable programming changes.
Released on Feb. 17, County Executive Bryan Hill’s advertised fiscal year 2027 budget plan would reduce spending by $32.9 million and eliminate 107 positions, bringing the total amount of cuts since FY 2024 up to $124.5 million.
