(Updated at 5:30 p.m.) Juneteenth will be celebrated across Fairfax County and the nation Sunday and Monday this year.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed into law Juneteenth, June 19, as a federal holiday. This year, the holiday will be observed on Monday (June 20).
County Seeks Feedback on Covid Response — While the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, Fairfax County is starting to evaluate how it handled the crisis. The county government is conducting two surveys — one for the community and one for businesses — to gather feedback on people’s experiences. The surveys are available online and at county libraries until July 5. [Fairfax County Government]
Fairfax City Community to Weigh in on Street Renamings — “Fairfax City Council is hosting a public hearing at its regular meeting Tuesday night to solicit feedback on a proposal to rename 14 streets in the city whose current names are associated with the confederacy, slavery or the ‘Lost Cause.'” [Patch]
A sewer infrastructure project in the Vienna Metro station area is in the works, anticipating future needs in northern Fairfax County.
The Accotink Gravity Sewer Improvements Project will upgrade existing facilities that are projected to be insufficient, county staff say.
Memorial Day weekend is upon us. While there will be plenty of activities to keep Fairfax County occupied, the holiday also means closures and schedule changes on Monday (May 30) for many public facilities.
Public schools
Fairfax County hopes to rely entirely on electric and non-carbon-emitting vehicles by 2035, but projected costs could become an obstacle.
While the county government already has electric vehicle charging stations across several parking garages, future installations could require double or triple the current estimated cost of $75,000 per site, Kambiz Agazi, the director of the county’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination, reported on Tuesday (May 17).
Fairfax County has a plan to help address the local effects of climate change, which already contributes to storms and other challenges that have caused tens of millions of dollars in damage.
The draft Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan for Resilient Fairfax is now open for public comment through June 15. The county’s Board of Supervisors could approve it in September or October this year.
Fairfax County has gotten a little help from the federal government for its efforts to increase the availability of affordable housing.
The county was awarded a total of $8.9 million in grants and other funds by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner announced on Friday (May 13).
Fairfax County’s Merrifield Center has a new, slightly more descriptive name.
The Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health was officially christened at a dedication ceremony yesterday (Thursday), taking its name from the former Board of Supervisors chairman who helped develop the Diversion First initiative aimed at shifting people with mental health and substance use challenges to treatment instead of incarceration.
Fairfax County saw a slight drop with its annual January count of people experiencing homelessness, reversing a yearslong trend.
Released yesterday (Tuesday), the 2022 count recorded 1,191 individuals experiencing homelessness in the county, including those using shelters. Nearly one in four were chronically homeless, and over a quarter was under the age of 18, an increase from last year.
While many Fairfax County homeowners are bracing for jumps in their real estate tax assessments, the overall property tax burden on commercial and industrial property owners is projected to drop.
With the market upended by the pandemic, telecommuting, and other factors, the county’s property tax revenue for commercial and industrial properties will decrease by $8 million for fiscal year 2023, which starts July 1.
