County covers up 15 percent tax hike on apartment dwellers As required by law, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors announced in the Washington Times on March 8 and 9 a proposed 3.5 percent increase in next year's real estate taxes. However, the county's Office of Public Affairs refuses to post this announcement in the county's online NewsWire.
Actually, the county's announcement is misleading because it does not include the portion of the real estate tax rate dedicated to stormwater management. With the stormwater included, the proposed real estate tax increase next year is 4.4 percent, not 3.5 percent. Here are the computations that should have been in the county's announcement:
However, assessments on apartment buildings increased 12.6 percent, so real estate taxes on apartments would increase 14.7 percent, which apartment owners will pass on to Fairfax County's lowest income families - renters. 
Tax hike cover-up: County candidates
hiding $186 million post-election tax hike You won't read about it in supervisor and school board candidate websites and glossy mailers. You can read about it, however, in the Fairfax County budget (p. 199) and Fairfax County Public Schools budget (p. 189): a $186 million post-election tax hike. To find out how the tax hikes are spent, see the FCTA 2011 Fall Bulletin. (Download PDF version).
Are candidates asking for your money, time, or vote?
Candidates are avoiding the difficult issues of a post-election tax hike, the high costs of county and state pensions, high taxes so county workers can be better compensated than private-sector taxpayers, and $20 tolls on the Dulles Toll Road. Ask candidates seeking your vote to declare themselves on these issues. Download the FCTA 2011 Candidate Questionnaire.Ask them them these questions.  The federal government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Tax hikes are not the answer to the deficit crisis. The deficit crisis is the result of out-of-control federal spending. 
Download previous FCTA Bulletins
Federal Budget Issue - Eliminating the Federal deficit without a Value Added Tax (VAT) requires large cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (Fall, 2010)Fairfax County Budget Issue - High real estate taxes give county and school employees bigger raises and better benefits than the taxpayers who fund them (Spring, 2010) Virginia Budget Issue - State budget doubles in ten years driven by education and Medicaid budgets that increased several times faster than population, school enrollment, and inflation (Fall, 2010)  
| Identify your elected representativesState Delegate, State Senator, U.S. Congressman, U.S. SenatorsFairfax County Magisterial District Note: The magisterial district link is slow and the form is hard to understand. Your street number, street name, street type (Road, Lane, Court, etc.) all go in separate boxes. Once you identify your magisterial district go to the Board of Supervisors and School Board pages to identify your supervisor and school board representative. The total expenditures for FCPS for 2011 will go down by -0.74% vs 2010 yet FCPS plans to cut programs more drastically than -0.74% because of the growing burden of the mandatory retirement contributions which will go up by $71 million. Given the total budget went down slightly it means that to fund the additional $71 million in retirement benefits, the FCPS had to cut $71 million worth of programs. Read more.
Note that in 2009 spending per pupil was $12,839. In 2011 it's projected to be $12,869. Inflation hasn't gone up that much so if spending per pupil is the same as 2009 why can't we have the same level of school services as 2009? The answer always points back primarily to the FCPS employee retirement plans. It is gobbling up money from a fixed budget. |
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