taxes | FFXnow

Published February 25, 2026 at 8:30AM | Updated February 26, 2026 at 12:50AM

Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell presents his Fairfax County casino bill to the House General Laws Committee on Feb. 24, 2026 (via Virginia House of Delegates)

A bill to make Fairfax County eligible for a casino is advancing through the Virginia House of Delegates after undergoing some significant changes from the version passed by the state Senate earlier this month.

The House’s General Laws Committee voted 12-7 yesterday (Tuesday) to send Senate Bill 756, patroned by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34), to the chamber’s appropriations committee. All four delegates representing portions of Fairfax County, including committee chair Del. Paul Krizek (D-16), opposed advancing the legislation.

Countywide

SCOOP: Draft study estimates tax potential of Fairfax County casino development

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 20, 2026 at 1:45PM | Updated February 20, 2026 at 2:37PM

A lobbying flyer shared with state lawmakers in January 2025 includes a rendering of Comstock's envisioned casino development in Tysons (via Access Point Public Affairs)

Fairfax County could benefit economically from a casino-anchored development, but the numbers might be more modest than previously shared projections, an internal review by the county suggests.

A Fairfax County casino would produce an estimated $313.6 million in gaming revenue, delivering $62.1 million in local and state taxes, the county’s Department of Management and Budget said in a summary of a feasibility study it commissioned from the consultant MuniCap.

Countywide

Fairfax County’s proposed $5.7B budget keeps property tax rate flat, leaves school funding gap

By Scott McCaffrey

Published February 17, 2026 at 2:45PM

County Executive Bryan Hill presents his FY27 budget (screenshot via Fairfax County)

Fairfax County’s real estate tax rate would remain the same, but the typical homeowner would still pay $357 more due to higher assessments under the $5.98 billion fiscal year 2027 budget proposed today (Feb. 17) by County Executive Bryan Hill.

“Fairfax County is stable, competitive and positioned for growth. We are stabilizing and we are also advancing,” Hill told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, officially kicking off the two-and-a-half month budget process.

Opinion

Poll: Will Fairfax County’s new meals tax affect your dining habits?

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 2, 2026 at 9:15AM

Man in business suit pays for drinks at a cafe (photo via Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash)

Fairfax County officially has a meals tax.

The 4% levy on prepared food and beverages took effect yesterday (Jan. 1), aligning the county with most other Northern Virginia localities that have imposed a 3-5% tax for years.

News

Elected officials suggest higher sales tax could be top contender to fund N. Va. transit

By Scott McCaffrey

Published December 5, 2025 at 2:45PM

An Orange Line train pulls into the Vienna Metro station (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Despite political drawbacks, a sales-tax surcharge across Northern Virginia could end up being the main source to increase transit funding in the coming year.

Increasing the sales tax regionally is “probably going to be looked at,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said in a Dec. 4 legislative forum sponsored by the Dulles Area Transportation Association (DATA).

Countywide

Fairfax County staff tentatively forecast $131M budget gap, as real estate tax growth slows

By Scott McCaffrey

Published December 3, 2025 at 2:45PM

Joint meeting of county supervisors and School Board members (via Fairfax County)

Fairfax leaders will have another funding gap to fill in the coming months, as they solidify fiscal year 2027 budget proposals for both the county government and school system.

How much additional funding the county will need to generate or cut, and where they will find it, remain very much up in the air.

Countywide

Fairfax County staff plan to be ‘ready to go’ when meals tax starts on Jan. 1

By Scott McCaffrey

Published December 1, 2025 at 10:00AM

Sign points to the Department of Tax Administration in the Fairfax County Government Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County officials say they will be ready when the first installment of the new prepared meals tax comes due in early 2026.

“We are on track — prepared and ready to go,” Robert Barr, division director for revenue systems at the county’s Department of Information Technology, told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a Nov. 25 meeting of its Information Technology Committee.

Countywide

Visit Fairfax CEO predicts big economic payoff from additional tourism promotion dollars

By Scott McCaffrey

Published November 26, 2025 at 1:45PM

A summer night at Wolf Trap's Filene Center (via Visit Fairfax)

The president and CEO of Visit Fairfax believes an expected increase of $6.5 million a year in funding for promoting local tourism can be leveraged to create more than $1 billion annually in new economic activity countywide.

The tourism sector’s impact on the county economy “will get to $5 billion a year,” potentially within the next “three to five years,” Barry Biggar predicted at the Board of Supervisors’ Economic Initiatives Committee yesterday (Tuesday).

News

Fairfax City Council could push for schools funding, more taxing authority from state in 2026

By Scott McCaffrey

Published November 24, 2025 at 3:45PM

Acting Fairfax City Manager Melanie Zipp (screenshot via City of Fairfax)

Fairfax City Council members continue to consider what priorities they should focus on in the 2026 General Assembly session, and in what order.

At a Nov. 18 discussion on the city’s legislative package, residents evidently opted not to weigh in, with no speakers attending the scheduled public hearing.

News

Board recommends dropping three intersection projects from Reston tax district funding

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 14, 2025 at 10:00AM | Updated November 14, 2025 at 11:35AM

Baron Cameron Avenue at Reston Parkway (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Escalating costs have convinced an advisory board that Fairfax County should scale back its ambitions for funding transportation projects with special taxes collected from Reston property owners.

The Reston Transportation Service District Advisory Board voted at its Sept. 16 meeting to recommend taking three intersection improvement projects out of consideration for funding from the service district: