Politics & Government

Budget: What's On Fairfax Residents' Minds?

Sequestration's impacts on the Fairfax County FY2014 budget plan become a bit clearer at Dranesville District meeting in Herndon.

Parks, libraries, police positions and sequestration were among topics discussed at a Fairfax County Budget meeting in Herndon on Wednesday night.

Residents gathered in the Herndon Town Council chambers for a presentation on the county’s proposed $7 billion budget package for Fiscal Year 2014.

As currently advertised, County Executive Ed Long’s budget would raise the real estate tax rate from $1.075 per $100 of assessed value to $1.095, as well as cut funding from parks, libraries and other county services.

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Like most of this season’s budget meetings, Wednesday’s began with talk of sequestration and its impact on the county.

“We think there will be direct county program impact,” said Chief Financial Officer Susan Datta. “There will probably be cuts in specific services and they’re going to come down a little bit slowly as the agencies themselves how they’re going to be implemented.”

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For example, Datta said the county had already been notified that it would likely be losing some Section Eight vouchers to help low-income families find subsidized housing. She also said long-term furloughs could hinder the county’s sales tax revenue.

Exact dollar amounts are still unknown, but Datta said the uncertainty surrounding the cuts was cause enough for alarm because of the effect it would have on real estate assessments.

Jim Diehl, of the Rock Hill Homeowners Association, suggested the county not cut four of eight vehicle management positions from the Fairfax County Police Department.

Responsible for maintaining the department’s 800 cars, including emergency maintenance and towing, the positions would have to be staffed by existing uniformed officers.

“If those four logistics officers are eliminated, they’re simply going to start pulling patrol officers off of patrol,” Diehl said, adding that patrol officers are needed elsewhere.

County resident Bob Lundegard said he wanted to see the county’s parks and libraries to be considered on the same level with schools, as they were integral parts of students’ educations.

Datta said that with the county in “cutback mode,” parks and libraries would have to get creative in their budgeting. But she was confident they could do it, as both agencies have seen belts tighten in the past few years.

A $374,000 reduction for library materials would result in fewer titles and copies being available to residents at public libraries. Another $200,000 reduction from the Park Authority’s budget will eliminate funding for maintenance and renovations to tennis and basketball courts.

“There’s a lot of recognition about the value of libraries and parks," Datta said. "I don’t that they’ll ever see the same level of funding support … but I think its importance to the county is well recognized."

Public hearings on Fairfax County's FY2014 budget begin on April 9. Click here to sign up.

The Hunter Mill District budget meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. this Saturday, April 6 at Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St. SE, Vienna.

 

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