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Testimony at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
FY 2026 Carryover Hearing -- September 15, 2026
Arthur Purves - President, Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Board,
Thank you for holding this hearing. I'm Arthur Purves, president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance.
The FY2026 Carryover Package should be a year-end review. It should compare actual and budgeted expenses. It doesn't. It does not show the FY2026 approved budget. Instead, it compares actual expenses with the revised budget from the Third Quarter Review and gives the impression that actual expenses were less than budgeted expenses. That is false. Actual county General Fund Expenditures exceeded the budgeted amount by $73 million. Actual Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Operating Budget Total Disbursements exceeded the budgeted amount by $56 million.
The carryover package should also compare actual expenses for the past two years. It doesn't. It does not show the FY2025 actual budget. Between FY2025 and FY2026 actual county General Fund Direct Expenditures increased $146 million. Actual FCPS Operating Budget Total Disbursements increased $216 million. The county and school carryover packages are covering up $363 million of spending increases in one year.
The Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) carryover package justifies spending $227 million of carryover in just three sentences. We asked the FCPS Chief Financial Officer for a more detailed justification. The reply, for justifying $227 million of spending, was just 248 words.
There's also no transparency in the annual assessment notice. We asked that the notice show the County Executive’s proposed tax rate instead of TBD. We asked that the budget hearing date and time be printed on the front of the notice instead of the back, where no one sees it. This suppresses taxpayer participation in the budget hearings.
Given the county's lack of transparency, the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance recommends that the county refund to the taxpayers the $460 million of carryover funds not allocated to reserves by sending us checks. The check would amount to $1,000 per household.
We’ve asked that encumbered expenses be audited for last-minute use-it-or-lose-it spending. That hasn't happened. Pay for encumbrances from the FY2028 budget instead of from the carryover.
If the extra expenses identified in the carryover packages are essential, why were they not in the adopted budgets?
The Alliance is concerned about waste and mismanagement in both county and school budgets.
The Northern Virginia Chamber's Roadmap document states, "The region is facing a crisis without precedent." The crisis is that we have a single-industry economy -- federal government. High taxes and stifling regulations have deterred businesses from moving here. Laid-off federal workers cannot find good private-sector jobs. The Economic Development Authority's job hub boasts 90,000 jobs. But are they real?
I just attended the Black Agenda Summit held by the NAACP Fairfax Branch. In one breakout session it was mentioned that small businesses are struggling with county regulations and taxes. The housing justice session said it is unjust to force families to leave their neighborhoods for affordable housing. That is exactly what the county's soaring taxes are doing to seniors.
We are also concerned about infrastructure. Despite raising real estate taxes three times faster than household income for a quarter of a century, the Pennino Building and the Old Historic Courthouse are closed for repairs. The county and schools have about a $500 million maintenance backlog. School renovations are occurring every 40 years instead of the recommended 25 years.
Where are you spending the tax increases?
Each year the supervisors give the school system almost $3 billion without asking for any accountability. SAT scores dropped 29 points between 2018 and 2025. Thomas Jefferson saw an 82-point decrease in 2025 alone. Only five of 25 high schools score above the 1,240 SAT threshold needed for competitive colleges. Only the affluent get educated. Freeze the school transfer until achievement is high for all demographics. Low achievement is due to bad curricula, not lack of money.
Thank you.
