FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Four Fairfax City council members on the November ballot supported the city's last two annual budgets, but their votes diverged on a meals-tax increase, George Snyder Trail and housing proposals.
Stacy Hall, Rachel McQuillen and Anthony Amos are seeking council seats. Tom Peterson is running for mayor.
Their records offer voters a way to compare how they handled specific decisions while serving together.
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This review focuses on taxes and budgets, Willard-Sherwood, trails and development. It includes both unanimous and divided decisions, and separates votes to postpone a proposal from votes to approve it.
The budget votes determined how Fairfax would pay for city services, school costs, employee compensation and capital projects. Council members voted separately on the overall spending plans and the taxes supporting them.
In 2026, those decisions included raising the meals-tax rate from 4% to 4.5% and setting the real estate tax rate at $1.0725 per $100 of assessed value. Staff described the meals-tax increase as a way to draw revenue from visitors as well as residents and reduce reliance on real estate taxes, while opponents raised concerns about affordability.
All four candidates supported the fiscal 2026 budget adopted in May 2025 and the fiscal 2027 budget adopted in May 2026. Both overall budget votes were unanimous.
They split on setting the meals-tax rate at 4.5%, effective July 1, 2026. Amos and Peterson voted yes; Hall and McQuillen voted no. The measure passed 4-2.
"I fully support fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget," McQuillen said in a statement recorded in the May 5 minutes. She cited food affordability in explaining her opposition to that tax increase.
All four supported the separately adopted real estate tax rate of $1.0725 per $100 of assessed value. They also backed the July request for a November referendum on a sales tax of up to 1% for school and/or public transportation capital projects. That action added a sales tax referendum to the 2026 ballot, giving voters the power to decide whether to approve the 1% sales tax.
The Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center is a joint city-county project that would replace the Joseph Willard Health Center and connect the new building to the existing Sherwood Center. It would bring together county health services, a new childcare center and city programs currently housed at Green Acres, creating a campus for health, fitness and community activities.
The council's decisions progressed from land-use and design approvals in 2025 to construction authorization in April 2026. That authorization excluded an optional renovation and addition to Sherwood's performing-arts space.
In October 2025, Amos supported all six land-use and design approvals for the Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center. Hall and Peterson opposed all six. McQuillen opposed five and supported the design certificate for the city site at 3740 Blenheim Blvd.
All four voted in April 2026 to proceed with construction, excluding the optional performing-arts renovation and addition at Sherwood, and to amend the joint development agreement. The authorization passed unanimously.
The October land-use decisions and April construction authorization were separate stages of the project, with different motions before the council.
George Snyder Trail would have linked Chain Bridge Road/Route 123 with Fairfax Boulevard/U.S. 50, connecting two sections of the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail. The project incorporated existing trail sections and was included in the city's transportation and recreation plans.
The city had received $20.6 million in I-66 Outside the Beltway concession funding, but construction bids exceeded the $16 million remaining. Staff sought another $4.6 million to cover the shortfall, including construction management, state oversight and contingency costs.
On Jan. 13, 2026, Amos supported the additional funding; Hall, McQuillen and Peterson opposed it. The appropriation failed 3-3. Hall, McQuillen and Peterson then joined Billy Bates in voting to cancel the project. Amos and Stacey Hardy-Chandler opposed cancellation, which passed 4-2.
The cancellation reversed the council's June 2025 decision to proceed with the trail. The repayment requirement stemmed from a November 2016 resolution in which the city agreed to reimburse VDOT for costs already incurred if the project was canceled.
Trail opponents obtained that agreement through a public-records request while questioning whether the city owed the full amount. A city spokesman told Patch that the agreement covered the concessionary funding and required repayment of all such funds spent.
As part of the FY 2027 adopted budget, the city council split the repayment into two installments. The first $1.1 million was paid to VDOT in July and the remaining $2.4 million will be budgeted as part of the FY 2028 budget and will be paid in July 2027.
All four supported the Affordable Housing Strategic Plan in February 2026 as a framework, with future actions subject to resources and council approval.
In July, Hall, McQuillen and Peterson supported postponing an accessory dwelling unit ordinance. Amos opposed delay. After the deferral failed 3-3, Amos and Peterson supported the ordinance; Hall and McQuillen opposed it. The ordinance passed 4-2.
At Highlands at Mantua on Sept. 22, Peterson again supported postponement and then supported rezoning after the delay failed. Hall and McQuillen supported delay and opposed rezoning. Amos opposed postponement and supported rezoning.
The council split 3-3 on postponement, with Mayor Catherine Read voting against delay. The Council Reporter records 4-2 approval of both rezoning and design, naming Hall and McQuillen as opponents, and unanimous approval of a separate comprehensive-plan amendment.
The individual reports below examine those decisions alongside other votes, including the Davies property and Combined Courthouse proposals.
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