Watchdog of the Taxpayer's Dollar Since 1956 Fairfax VA

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• Sun Gazette coverage of FCTA testimony at the April 9, 2007, Board of Supervisors budget hearing. (4/11/07)
• Virginia Education Association major roadblock to transportation funding Chronicle Newspapers (2/07)
• Tax hikes not needed for transportation DC Examiner (2/16/07)
• Chichester Wrong on Taxes Chronicle Newspapers (3/31/06)
• Connection article cites FCTA opposition to school bond referendum Cost of interest for bonds increases the price of a new school by forty percent. (10/5/2005)
  The school system's response that government needs bonds just as homeowners need mortgages is invalid. For a homeowner, the cost of a new house is many times larger than the homeowners' salary. For government, however, the annual cost of building construction and renovation is only about ten percent of annual tax revenues.

  If Fairfax County Public Schools cannot find $200 million each year in its $2 billion budget for buidings, how then is it able to increase staff four times faster than enrollment?

  A homeowner's annual mortage cost is only about one-tenth of the amount borrowed. However, due to excessive bond sales, Fairfax County each year spends about as much repaying old bonds as it gets from selling new bonds. Fairfax County is $2 billion in debt. How can the County justify owing $2 billion when the amount it borrows each year is the same as the amount it repays for bonds already sold?

• Taxpayers Alliance Urges Defeat of Bond Questions, Washington Post, Fairfax Extra Voters Guide, pg VA26 (10/28/04)
• FCTA Letter to the editor responding to a Republican delegate's arguments for higher taxes (submitted to the Hampton Roads Daily Press).
• Northern Virginia Journal editorial scores outgoing school superintendent for arresting Taxpayer Alliance president, December 9, 2003
• Sun-Gazette article on Governor's tax hike, December 4, 2003
• Washington Times article on proposed gas tax, December 8, 2003
• FCTA cited in Washington Times lead editorial, December 2, 2003
• Open letter to Braddock District Transportation Panel, Connection, July 10, 2003
• Taxes go up, up, up, Northern Virginia Journal, March 22, 2002
• FCTA response to Roanoke Times editorial, Roanoke Times, February 23, 2002
• Roanoke Times pro-tax editorial, Roanoke Times, February 17, 2002
• Proposed Sales Tax Hike Will Only Reward Irresponsibility, Fairfax Journal, Jan 29 2001
• SOLs are standards worth defending, by FCTA board member, Elizabeth Smith, Fairfax Journal, Dec. 115, 1999
• SOLs unmask schools' shortcomings, Fairfax Journal, Dec. 21, 1999
• Fund Capital Needs from Operating Budget, Not Bonds, The Times Community Newspapers, February 19, 1999
• Yea or nay on county bond referendums? Pro and Con columns from the Fairfax Journal, October 29, 1998.
  
  • YEA: Citizens Bond Referendum Committee
  • NAY: Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance
• Spending spree robbed Fairfax of school construction money, Fairfax Journal,April 2, 1998
• Response to the above column by Fairfax County School Board Chairman Mark Emery (view column) appeared in the April 30, 1998, issue of the Fairfax Journal).
• Mr. Emery states, "Since the implementation of the seven-period day in fiscal 1992, student achievement has soared." However despite a substantial increase in school spending Fairfax County Public Schools' standardized test scores have been flat since 1977.
• Correction by Mr. Emery to his 4/30/98 column (letter) appeared in the May 13, 1998, issue of the Fairfax Journal).
• Letter supporting s Personal Property Tax Relief Act, March 19, 1998
• Should Fairfax County approve the $232 million school bond? Pro and Con columns from the Fairfax Journal, October 23, 1997.
  • CON: Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance
  • PRO: Fairfax County Council of PTAs

Updated October 21, 2007