Fairfax County leaders are eager to get a jump start on a new option to automate monitoring for excessive vehicle noise.
The county’s Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on July 14 to direct County Executive Bryan Hill to report a timeline by this fall for implementing the authority newly granted by the General Assembly to Fairfax and some other Virginia localities.
Fairfax City voters will decide in November whether to approve a general retail sales tax increase of up to 1% that could generate up to $13.5 million to fund construction projects and long-term maintenance of the city’s schools.
The Fairfax City Council voted unanimously last Tuesday (July 14) to request that the Fairfax Circuit Court order a special election on Nov. 3 asking voters whether the city should levy the tax. Long sought by the city, the ability to implement the sales tax was authorized by the General Assembly’s new state budget late last month.
The Fairfax County School Board recently passed a resolution affirming its support for a possible 1% sales tax to fund its $400 million backlog of maintenance and capital improvement projects.
In light of the new state budget adopted by the Virginia General Assembly late last month allowing local jurisdictions to increase their sales tax rate up to 1% to support education and transportation, the school board voted unanimously on July 9 to ask the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to place the issue before voters as a referendum during a general election.
Optimism among Northern Virginia business leaders is improving, although some expressed worries about taxes and the state’s approval of a paid family and medical leave program.
That’s according to the second-quarter 2026 Business Leader Survey released last week by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and public relations firm Pinkston, revealing the sentiments of the region’s CEOs, senior executives and business owners.
The Commonwealth of Virginia is putting some money behind plans to add a visitor center at the heart of the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail.
The two-year state budget adopted by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger in late June includes $1 million for the Town of Vienna to help acquire the land needed for the future hub, a project spearheaded by the W&OD Railroad Regional Park’s owner, NOVA Parks.
Virginia is creating a new office focused on studying the impacts of climate change, and it will be housed at George Mason University.
Mason was authorized to host the Virginia State Climate Office by a provision in the state budget that took effect on July 1 after last-minute negotiations between Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the General Assembly. The governor ultimately signed the two-year spending plan into law on June 29 — just before the end of the fiscal year.
Fairfax County leaders have begun working to determine what local steps are needed to implement changes in state cannabis laws, and what regulatory powers they will have.
“We want to make sure we put in place what we need to put in place,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said at the July 7 meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use Policy Committee.
Fairfax County staff are beginning preparations for adhering to a new state law loosening zoning regulations on development of affordable housing.
Legislation known by proponents as the “Faith in Housing” bills was enacted by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) earlier this year. Set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027, it requires localities to establish a streamlined process for construction of affordable units on land owned by religious organizations or nonprofit groups.
Northern Virginia leaders are treading cautiously with newly granted power to increase the sales tax in local jurisdictions.
Under the biennial state budget adopted in Richmond late last month, Northern Virginia localities now have the power to hold voter referendums to increase sales taxes by up to 1%, with the extra funding going to transportation, education or a combination.
Virginia is facing another lawsuit over its newly adopted but not-yet-enacted ban on future sales and manufacturing of assault firearms.
The Trump administration sued the Commonwealth of Virginia and Virginia State Police in federal court today (Wednesday), arguing that its planned restrictions on gun sales violate the Second Amendment.
