Charles R. & Linda L. McAndrew

12808 Willow Glen Ct.

Oak Hill, Va. 20171

Mrs. Katherine Hanley Mr. Michael Frey

Chairman, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors County Board Supervisor

Fairfax Government Center Suite 205

12000 Government Center Parkway 5900 Centreville Rd.

Fairfax, Va. 22035 Centreville, Va. 20121

Subject: Real Estate Tax Increase

Dear Mrs. Hanley and Mr. Frey:

My wife and I wish to protest both the real estate assessment and the Fairfax County budget increases. We request that you roll back the assessment rate of $1.21 per $100 of assessment to a lower rate commensurate with the inflation rate for this area. My wife and I have been homeowners and taxpayers in Fairfax County since 1968 when we initially moved into a new home in the Greenbriar subdivision. In 1984, we moved to a new home in the Franklin Farm subdivision.

The recent Notice of Assessment Change from Fairfax County indicated that our tax assessment has increased 10% or $495 for 2003. Our assessments have risen 50% in the last four years totaling over $2,000. This means that we have had double digit increases each year for four years. These increases are outrageous and far exceed any other item in our household budget! Overall, the County average for assessments jumped 14.6% to $317,240 in 2002 (1). However, according to an article in the newspaper, (2), our zip code of 20171 was shown with no significant change in median home sales from 2001 through 2002. Yet, we have had our house reassessed resulting in another huge tax increase.

The county allows the budget to grow to the level obtained by maximizing every available income source. This means that if the County reduces the tax assessment rate, it plans to raise sewer, telephone, cell phone tax and other "hidden taxes." Revenue decreases in other areas are made up by increasing the real estate property tax burden of the homeowner — which is now 59% of the County’s revenue. When housing values drop, as they do when inflation rises along with interest rates, will you then increase the rate to an astronomical level?

We both are retired so our income remains constant while our real estate taxes continue to soar! We understand that the County offers some seniors real estate tax relief but, unfortunately, not for us. It appears that the Fairfax County Government does not want retired folks living in the County. We don’t understand why this is the case. Retirees without children attending Fairfax County schools do not cost the County the $10,000 per pupil annual school cost. When we complain, we are told that we should be happy with the fact that our house value is rising. Since we both have elderly parents in the Northern Virginia area, we cannot sell our house at this time. If interest rates rise, our house value will fall.

The overall Fairfax County non-school budget is an estimated $2.6 billion for FY04, which exceeds 4% over last year’s budget. Fairfax County’s school budget is an estimated $1.4 billion — exceeds 6% over last year’s budget. However, the consumer price index only increased 2.4% for calendar year 2002 for the Baltimore/Washington area (3). As a past civic activist from many years ago, I have noted a trend in Fairfax County spending since 1975. The rate of increase each year in the County budget usually exceeds the inflation rate by two to three times. Again, this year is no exception! It is time for the County Executive and his staff to trim the budget. Every program should be carefully reviewed, every budget item scrutinized, and all waste eliminated. According to Supervisor Elaine McConnell, Fairfax County only gets back 19 cents on each dollar sent to Richmond (4). It is time for the County officials to get tough with our State representatives and insist that the County get its fair share!

The school budget needs to be carefully analyzed as this is been a "sacred cow" for many years — the largest item in the overall budget. Most civic associations have not addressed this issue of gigantic increases year after year because the association members have children in the system. We understand that the school system has about 13,000 teachers, some of which are guidance counselors and social workers out of a total of 21,000 school employees (5). What do the 8,000 school employees do for a living? We also understand that some are school administrators, what are the rest? Why do schools remain crowded with trailers?

My wife and I are appalled to learn from Judy Johnson, President of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers local union, that "teachers cost of living have averaged 3% each year of the past 5 years, while the superintendent’s annual raises averaged 15% for a total of $250,000 per year" (6). This is not fair! Has the County considered a consolidation of administrative functions? For example, consolidating personnel, financial, payroll, general services, and other administrative functions to save money? The Department of Defense did this and was very successful at saving the taxpayers billions of dollars.

Why doesn’t the County have an Office of Inspector General (OIG)? For a huge county with about 11,500 non school employees and about 21,000 school employees with a budget of $2.6 billion non school and $1.4 billion school budget plus other funds that total approximately $5.7 billion represents tremendous budget that rivals some Federal agencies and departments in both budget and employees. All Federal departments and agencies have an OIG with a function to conduct and supervise audits and investigations relating to programs and operations; promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the administration of the organization; prevent and detect waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in programs and operations; and in the case of Fairfax County, report to the County Board of Supervisors. The OIG has proven to be very effective throughout the Federal government saving billions of dollars.

In conclusion, we urge you, as responsible elected officials, to institute sound fiscal responsibility and good management practices. You should treat the County budget as you would your own personal budget. Therefore, we recommend you make judicious budget cuts now without dramatic increases in taxes. My wife and I look forward to your comments to this letter.

Sincerely,

Charles R. McAndrew Linda L. McAndrew

cc: Mr. Gerry Hyland, Vice Chairman, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

Ms. Penelope Gross, Supervisor,

Ms. Catherine Hudgins,

Ms. Sharon Bulova,

Mr. Dana Kauffman,

Mr. Gerald Connolly,

Ms. Elaine McConnell,

Mr. Stuart Mendelsolm,

Mr. Anthony Griffin, County Executive, Fairfax County Government

Mr. Daniel Domenech, School Superintendent, Fairfax County

Mr. Kevin Greenlief, Director, Department of Tax Administration, Fairfax County

Mr. Edward Long, Director, Department of Management and Budget, Fairfax County

Mr. Arthur Purves, President, Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance

Mr. James Parmelee, President, Republicans United for Tax Relief

Senator William Mims, Va. General Assembly

Delegate Gary Reese,

Delegate Thomas Rust,

Mr. Art Wells, President, Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations

Mr. Larry Danforth, President, Board of Trustees, Franklin Farm Foundation

Sources:

1. Fairfax Journal 3/12/03
2. Washington Post 3/19/03
3. US Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. Herndon Times 3/26/03
5. Centreville News 3/20-26/03
6. Washington Post 3/27/03