County leaders have now joined School Board members in pushing for more early budget collaboration, to avoid repeating an impasse that soured relationships last spring.
At a Sept. 16 meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Policy Committee, County Executive Bryan Hill said school leaders needed to develop a “budget of reality” for fiscal 2027.
Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) officials see a way to avoid considering any serious budget cuts for nearly a decade, but it hinges on a big gamble: construction projects starting on schedule.
For fiscal year 2027, which will begin on July 1, 2026, the public library system is seeking its current funding of $36.5 million after the county directed all agencies stick to their existing service levels, according to a memo submitted by FCPL Director Eric Carzon to Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget Director Phil Hagen on Friday (Sept. 12).
Some Fairfax County School Board members hope closer collaboration with their Board of Supervisors’ counterparts will make for smoother future budget processes than was experienced earlier this year.
Fairfax County Public Schools needs to convince local elected officials and the broader community that “we are being as strategic as possible with every dollar,” Mason District School Board member Ricardy Anderson said during a school board work session on Tuesday (Sept. 9) about budget planning and communications strategies.
Reston Association is weighing another increase in its annual membership fee, as staff hammer out a new budget for the coming year.
In an initial draft presented to the Board of Directors on Aug. 28, RA Chief Financial Officer Ed Vroom proposed raising the assessment to $923 in 2026 — an increase of $75 or 8.8% from the current rate of $848 — to keep up with rising capital project costs and inflation, among other challenges.
Fairfax County Public Schools has received millions in federal funding that was held up for nearly a month by the Trump administration.
FCPS spokesperson Julie Allen told FFXnow yesterday (Wednesday) that the school division has confirmed receipt of the $13.1 million in withheld funding.
Due to budget cuts, the Fairfax County Police Department is no longer offering free child car seat installations and inspections.
The department officially terminated its child safety seat program this past Tuesday (July 1), which marked the first day of fiscal year 2026.
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has no intention right now of shipping off a centerpiece of its Chantilly facility to Texas.
The federal budget bill that squeaked through the Republican-led U.S. Senate on Tuesday (July 1) includes a provision directing NASA to transfer the Discovery space shuttle from its longtime home at the Udvar-Hazy Center to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, allocating $85 million toward transportation and construction costs.
Fairfax County School Board members faced the embarrassment earlier this year of having to reduce salary increases previously promised to staff under a landmark labor contract.
Moving forward, school board representatives said at a work session on June 17 that they need to drastically change how Fairfax County Public Schools’ needs and commitments are communicated throughout the budget process.
Fairfax County leaders hope to soon have a better gauge of how much they’re getting back from tax revenue sent to Richmond.
The Board of Supervisors voted yesterday (Tuesday) to direct County Executive Bryan Hill and staff to return before the end of the year with an analysis of how many local tax dollars flow to the state government, and how much comes back.
Fairfax County Public Schools staff will receive most, but not all, of their planned salary increases under a revised fiscal year 2026 budget proposal shared last week by Superintendent Michelle Reid.
However, in order to preserve as much of the promised raises as possible, some positions and services will be cut after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors declined to approve Reid’s full funding request.
