Fairfax County leaders believe they and other Northern Virginia leaders are getting an unfair deal when it comes to state transportation funding.
The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday (May 13) to send a letter to Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sheppard Miller III, expressing concern about being passed over in the latest round of “Smart Scale” funding for transportation improvements.
Advocates for nature and bicyclists appear to be at odds on Fairfax County’s planned Cinder Bed Road Bikeway, but leaders on both sides still hope to find some areas of compromise.
At issue is “Segment 6,” the northern section of the bicycle/pedestrian trail proposed by Fairfax County transportation planners to connect Newington Road and the Franconia-Springfield Metro station.
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.
Fairfax County teachers’ elation at securing a collective bargaining agreement, the first of its kind in nearly 50 years for the district, has proven short-lived.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is set to adopt a budget for fiscal year 2026 that transfers $2.93 billion to Fairfax County Public Schools — up $119 million from the current fiscal year, but well short of the $248 million increase that Superintendent Michelle Reid requested primarily to cover employee pay raises promised by the union contract.
A lower real estate tax rate, smaller transfer than school leaders sought and imposition of a meals tax are all part of Fairfax County’s $5.7 billion fiscal year 2026 budget slated for formal adoption next week.
“Our residents are worried” as they “prepare for the impact” of the Trump administration’s downsizing of the federal government and its related economic fallout, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said at a budget markup session today (Tuesday).
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently marked the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and saluted the Vietnamese American community’s vital role in the local area and nation.
“We honor all the contributions that the Vietnamese American community makes to Fairfax County on an everyday basis,” Board Chairman Jeff McKay said when presenting a resolution at an April 22 meeting. “Anywhere you go in Fairfax County, you can see this.”
Plans for the nearly billion-dollar planned bus rapid transit (BRT) project in the Richmond Highway corridor took another step forward at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting on April 22.
The supervisors formally accepted $47.7 million in grant funding from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) in support of the project, which is currently estimated to cost $979 million. The money will come from the Commonwealth’s “Smart Scale” funding pool.
At their first meeting after a stabbing at West Potomac High School this week, School Board members said safety and the Fairfax County Public Schools budgets are inextricably linked.
School Board members expressed sympathy for staff, students and families affected by the stabbing, but also used it as a rallying cry in an ongoing budget battle with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
Consideration of a meals tax has gained most of the attention this budget cycle, but Fairfax County supervisors also are looking at increasing the transient-occupancy tax paid on hotel stays.
If adopted next month, the increase from 4% to 6% on stays of less than 30 days will raise an additional $13 million in the coming fiscal year, said Phil Hagen, director of the county’s Department of Management and Budget.
Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday (April 22) gave the county school system an extension totaling nearly a full year to submit planning documents for expansion of Centreville High School.
The action did not sit well with the supervisor in whose district the school is located.
