In this issue…
You Get a Tax Increase, the Board Gets a Raise – At Tuesday’s meeting, I opposed the motion to consider a 45 percent raise for Board members. It is unbelievable that the Board would propose a 37 to 45 percent raise for themselves when residents are struggling with high inflation, a 50 percent increase in homeowner taxes over the last decade, and in a budget that does not address the staffing crisis in public safety and other critical county positions. This comes on top of a $1.1M increase in Board office budgets last year. Also, at the meeting I was the only vote against advertising the tax rate at its current level due to increased assessments and the resulting tax increase. Lots more below, including details on the proposal, an Assessment Town Hall with the Department of Tax Administration (3/15), and my annual Budget Town Hall (3/25).
Teen Job Fairs Start Saturday – I hope you will join me this Saturday at West Springfield High School from 11am to 1pm as we kick off our Teen Job Fair Series. Registration is free and still open for students and businesses. For the past six years, my office has been hosting the fairs with cosponsors Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), School Board Member Laura Jane Cohen, Connection Newspapers, as well as local businesses and chambers of commerce. Throughout March, I will be hosting fairs across the county. See the full fair schedule and additional cosponsors below.
Other News and Information
- Overall Year-To-Date Crashes are Down
- The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
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Scout Night @ West Springfield Station (Mar 14th)
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Building Inspections Course (Mar 22nd)
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You Get a Tax Increase, the Board Gets a Raise – At Tuesday’s meeting, the Board voted 8 to 2 to consider a raise for Board members, which I opposed along with Supervisor Alcorn (Hunter Mill). The raise would increase Board member salaries from $95,000 to as high as $130,000, with an additional consideration to raise the Chairman’s salary to a range of $140,000 to $145,000. It is unbelievable that this Board would propose a 37 to 45 percent raise for themselves when residents are struggling with high inflation, a 50 percent increase in homeowner taxes over the last decade, and in a budget that does not address the staffing crisis in public safety and other critical county positions.
This comes on top of a $1.1M increase in Board office budgets approved last year which I opposed. At the meeting Tuesday, I asked staff how our Board office budgets compare to surrounding jurisdictions. In prior budgets I have proposed reducing the size of Board office budgets. More than 70 percent of my staff’s time is spent helping residents from across the County navigate the County’s siloed bureaucracy and many regulations and it is getting worse. Instead of expanding Board offices, these funds would be better spent improving customer service and reducing and simplifying regulations.
The Board is not proposing similar pay increases for police, paramedics, teachers, and other County employees trying to afford to live in the County. As the proposed budget stands, County employees aren’t even getting a full market rate adjustment (MRA) increase despite our workforce challenges.
For those of you, like me, who want to dig into the details of where this “staff recommendation” and the large increases came from, you will note that they used only jurisdictions in DC and Maryland to compute the numbers (purportedly because they were Full Time positions) showing we were below “market” (59% to 66). If they had compared with just our surrounding Virginia jurisdictions, current Board pay is well above market (154% to 166%). If you include both, we are right at market. Please see the charts here for the details.
As a CFO, I also know that compensation is about more than just the paycheck, it is about the pension benefits, medical benefits and other perks like take home vehicles. While the Board has not approved take home vehicles for Supervisors, I have asked staff for details on take home vehicles provided to Supervisors as well as to include these other benefits in the analysis for a look at total compensation.
My colleagues have repeatedly rejected my proposals to even look at ways to cut taxes by finding efficiencies and reductions in the budget. This proposal to increase Board salaries is just one of many indicators that this Board is not prioritizing what’s important to residents. I strongly encourage you to sign up to testify for the public hearing regarding the increase on March 21st at 4:30pm.
Board Approves Advertising Flat Tax Rate - Largely missed in the furor over the Board salary increases was the vote to advertise the tax rate – the highest rate we can adopt in May. The Board adopts the FY 2024 budget on May 9th which as advertised includes a roughly 7 percent increase in the tax bill for the average resident, even with a flat tax rate, due to rising assessments. While many Supervisors have indicated that they will not support a budget at the current tax rate, they all voted to advertise at the current tax rate. I was the only Supervisor to vote against advertising the current rate. Ninety million dollars in the FY 2024 budget are unappropriated and that should go toward a tax rate reduction. I will continue to ask the Board to address police compensation in this budget as well as rate reductions for our residents.
Assessment Town Hall - I have heard from many of you who want to better understand the assessment process in light of the significant increases, so I’ve worked with our Department of Tax Administration (DTA) to host a virtual Assessment Town Hall on March 15 at 6 PM. DTA staff will walk through the assessment process, including how assessors evaluate property, and how you can challenge your assessment. The Town Hall will also discuss personal property (car) assessments. The Town Hall will cover the general process with some specific examples and an opportunity to ask general questions. We will provide information on how to address property-specific questions.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
· Live on Channel 16
Budget Town Hall - I will also be hosting my annual Budget Town Hall on Wednesday, March 22nd on Channel 16 and Facebook Live at 7:00 PM. We are going to have this town hall virtually this year to allow more people to participate. Questions can be submitted via call, email to SpringfieldBOS@fairfaxcounty.gov or on Facebook @Supervisor Herrity in advance or during the meeting.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
· Live on Channel 16
Teen Job Fairs Start Saturday – I hope you will join me this Saturday at West Springfield High School from 11am to 1pm as we kick off our Teen Job Fair Series! Registration is free and still open for students and businesses. For the past six years, my office has been hosting the fairs with cosponsors Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), School Board Member Laura Jane Cohen, Connection Newspapers, as well as local businesses and chambers of commerce. In March, I will be hosting fairs at West Springfield High School (3/11), South County High School (3/18), and Chantilly High School (3/25). See the full fair schedule and additional cosponsors below.
These fairs focus on students and young job seekers looking for a variety of employment opportunities; full time, after-school, seasonal positions, internship opportunities, and volunteer positions. The fairs have provided thousands of teenagers the opportunity to get in front of employers and for our employers to find talented Fairfax County students to fill their positions. Last year, with the return to in-person fairs, we had over 2,000 students and roughly 100 businesses participate.
West Springfield High School
Saturday, March 11th
11 am to 1 pm
(Final workshops ending at 1:30pm)
South County High School
Saturday, March 18th
1pm to 3 pm
(Final workshops ending at 3:30pm)
Chantilly High School
Saturday, March 25th
1pm to 3pm
(Final workshops ending at 3:30pm)
Students can register here. Student registration is free and open to all teens in Fairfax County looking for employment, volunteer opportunities, or tips on building their resume.
Businesses can register here. Business registration is also free and open to any organization providing positions for students. Free table space and a complimentary table covering will be provided to registered businesses and organizations to advertise their available positions. Participating businesses and organizations must provide positions for students at the fair; soliciting without offering positions is not permitted.
We will also host resume and career building workshops during the fairs with our Chamber of Commerce partners. Students of any experience level are encouraged to attend these workshops.
Thank you to my cosponsors who make these fairs possible!
Fairfax County Public Schools
Connection Newspapers
School Board Member Laura Jane Cohen, Springfield District
South Fairfax Chamber of Commerce
Mount Vernon Springfield Chamber of Commerce
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Other News and Information
Overall Year-To-Date Crashes are Down!
Fairfax County Police Traffic Trends show that our crashes year-to-date are down and citations and DWI arrests are up, keeping our communities safer and protecting our roadways. In March, FCPD will be launching DWI Enforcement initiatives, the “Road Shark” program and “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving” theme, to target aggressive and reckless drivers.
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Thank you to our incredible patrol officers for your hard work and incredible results! |
Information on the Mason Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and their Services
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OllI) at Mason offers hundreds of stimulating educational, social, and cultural courses, clubs, trips, and events each year on topics of interest to adults 50 and older. Classes are held at sites in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Reston. Visit https://olli.gmu.edu/ to sample a class, register now for the Spring term, and pricing information.
Scout Night at West Springfield District Station on March 14th
Officers from the West Springfield District Station will be hosting a Scout Night on Tuesday, March 14. If your den or troop would like to visit the police station and speak with officers, please contact them at the numbers below for available times. They will give a presentation to the kids in the community room, a video tour of the station, and then a hands-on tour of the police car outside.
They are limiting the visits to one den/troop every half hour and have 5:30PM, 6:00PM, 6:30PM, and 7:00PM slots available. You can contact either PFC Liam May at 703-277-2357, or MPO Tony Capizzi at 703-277-2363 for scheduling or further questions.
Fairfax County Course on Scheduling Building Inspections on March 22nd
On March 22nd from 11:30AM to 12:30PM, Fairfax County Land and Development Services will host a Webinar Wednesday discussing how to schedule building inspections in the new PLUS system. This demonstration will focus on the Building module and how customers can schedule inspections for their projects. Register here.
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Email
Office
(703) 451-8873
Website
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March 11th 11AM-1:30PM
West Springfield High School
March 18th 1PM-3:30PM
South County High School
March 25th 1PM-3:30PM
Chantilly High School
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March 15th @ 6PM
Facebook Live and Channel 16
March 22nd @ 7PM
Facebook Live and Channel 16
Fentanyl Town Hall
March 28th @ 6PM
The Little Theatre and Lecture Hall
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Free Summer Concert Series @ Burke Lake Park |
Every Wednesday 7pm
June 28th- August 16th
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Randy Thompson Band
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
The Nighthawks
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
SoHo Down
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Speidel, Goodrich, Goggin & Lille
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
The Skip Castro Band
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
The English Channel
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
The Road Ducks
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
The Colin Thompson Band
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Riptide
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This little lady was one of 14 - yes, you read that right, 14! - stray guinea pigs found left wandering as a stray in Fairfax County! Even though they had a food bowl with them, we're not sure how long they were out there before they were rescued and brought into us. Because of this sweet girl’s history, we don't know too much about her, but that makes for the perfect opportunity for you to come in and find out! If you would like to meet this Guinea Pig, click here to arrange a visit.
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