Fairfax County is officially seeking public input on a potential meals tax.
The Board of Supervisors voted today (March 18) to advertise a public hearing on amending the county code to impose a meals tax of up to 4%, starting as soon as next January. The board will also advertise a base real estate tax rate of $1.14 per $100, up from the current $1.125, as recommended by County Executive Bryan Hill.
The Town of Vienna plans to stick with its current real estate tax rate, breaking from the hikes floated by many of its neighbors in Northern Virginia, including Fairfax County, the Town of Herndon and Fairfax City.
However, rising property values will still result in higher bills for most residents, while enabling the town to fund employee pay raises, an initial allocation toward a potential swimming pool and fitness center, and other priorities, according to the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget released on March 5 by Vienna Town Manager Mercury Payton.
A Great Falls businessman has been ordered to serve prison time and pay restitution for stealing nearly $4.5 million from the IRS and his customers.
A federal judge sentenced Rick Tariq Rahim, 56, on Friday (March 14) to six years and six months in prison after he pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and intentionally failing to report and pay taxes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.
Fairfax County will need to hire more than 20 new staff and spend about $2.8 million a year to administer a countywide meals tax, if one is authorized in the coming months.
Even with the additional expenses, overall revenue would far exceed the costs of administering the program, which would tax food and drinks served by restaurants and other food service establishments, staff told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a budget policy committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday).
The Town of Herndon is joining Fairfax County, Fairfax City and other Northern Virginia localities in contemplating real estate and meals tax rate increases to address growing expenses and prepare for potentially tough economic times ahead.
The proposed fiscal year 2026 budget released yesterday (Monday) by interim town manager Christopher Martino bumps up the property tax rate by 1 cent — from 26 cents to 27 cents per $100 of assessed value — and the tax rate on prepared food and beverages from 3.75% to 4%.
Homeowners in Fairfax City could face an average 16.9% increase in real estate taxes under the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget released Feb. 25 by City Manager Bryan Foster.
In order to meet increasing costs — especially for schools — Foster proposes increasing the city’s real-estate tax rate from $1.03 per $100 of assessed value to $1.125.
Additional taxes, including the possibility of a meals tax, program and staff cuts and less-than-requested funding for the school system are all incorporated in the Fairfax County government’s draft $5.7 billion fiscal year 2026 budget proposed by County Executive Bryan Hill.
“I don’t think anybody is happy with this budget, but this is where we are,” Hill said when delivering his proposal to the Board of Supervisors this morning (Tuesday). “We have been working diligently to figure out how to make this mildly palatable, to find the right balance.”
For the fourth consecutive year, Virginia lawmakers have sent the governor a bill allowing all localities to impose a 1% sales tax for school construction. Now, all eyes are on Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has vetoed similar measures before.
Youngkin, who has historically opposed these tax proposals, will once again review the legislation. After the last session, he blocked the measure, citing the state’s existing efforts to fund school construction and concerns over its impact on taxpayers.
Its future remains uncertain, but legislation in Richmond could bring the towns of Herndon, Vienna and Clifton more money to spend on environmental and social-service initiatives.
A bill patroned by Del. Marty Martinez (D-29) would allow Virginia towns to get a portion of the plastic bag tax revenue collected by their surrounding county. After passing the House of Delegates on a 52-45 vote on Jan. 23, the measure advanced from a Senate Committee on Local Government on a party-line tally of 8-7 on Monday (Feb. 10).
When Vienna Town Manager Mercury Payton shares his proposed new budget in early March, it won’t include any meals tax increase.
The Vienna Town Council agreed on Monday (Jan. 27) to defer voting on a proposal to temporarily raise the tax on meals sold at restaurants from 3% to 4% in order to fund an aquatics and fitness center at the Annex, a 3-acre site at 301 Center Street South that was previously occupied by the Faith Baptist Church.
