Higher Assessments Top Concern For Many At MCA Budget Town Hall

A video of the full March 11 Budget Town Hall - FY 2025 can be viewed on the McLean Citizens Association's Facebook page.

MCLEAN, VA — Nearly all the chairs were taken in the meeting room at the McLean Community Center on Monday night Residents had come to hear what Fairfax County officials had to say about the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal during the McLean Citizen's Association's annual budget town hall.

" As I approach the budget, I'm always thinking about making sure that we're providing our residents with a world class education for our schools, that were competitively compensating our excellent employees and making sure we have the best employees possible for Fairfax County, both kids in the schools and outside of the schools and that we're trying to moderate burden on taxpayers," Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (D-Dranesville) said, at the beginning of the meeting. "Also, first and foremost, to make sure that you get what you pay for. And lastly, that we're maintaining the programs and services that make Fairfax County a wonderful place to live to learn to start a business with a family."

Also at the MCA meeting were Superintendent Michelle Reid of the Fairfax County Public Schools; Philip A. Hagen, director of the Department of Management and Budget; Chief Financial Officer Christina Jackson; Dranesville School Boardmember Robyn Lady; and FCPS Chief Financial Officer Leigh Burden.

On March 5, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to advertise a 4-cent increase to the residential real estate rate, which matches the increase that Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill suggested in his FY 2o25 Budget proposal in February.

The 4-cent increase would mean the average household tax bill would increase by $524 next year if the board adopts that rate on May 7. Although the board cannot raise the rate more than the advertised rate, it could vote to lower it.

Louise Epstein, who chairs the MCA's Budget and Taxation Committee, has been involved in organizing the group's annual budget hearing since 2012. She told Patch the MCA members that she'd spoken to expressed different concerns about the budget than those they expressed in previous years.

RELATED: 4-Cent Increase To Real Estate Tax Rate In FY 2025 Budget Proposal

"In some years, the focus is more on, 'Can we spend more money on this thing or that thing or something else?'" she said. "This year, and also last year, there was much more concerned about property taxes. The reason that that is the case is partly because of these tax rate proposals, but much more so because of assessment increases. Everybody I know is looking at their assessments over the past three years in particular, but in some cases 10 years, and they're saying what on earth is going on?"

When the county executive introduced his budget proposal in February, he told the board of supervisors that residential assessments had risen by 9.57 percent in FY 2023 and 6.59 percent in FY 2024. As of November 2023, residential assessments in FY 2025 are estimated to increase another 2.07 percent, according to Hill.

While some of the increase in residential assessments was due to an increase in home values, Jackson told the audience that a decline in demand for commercial real estate was also having an effect. More vacant offices means less available commercial tax revenue coming into the county's coffers.

In previous years, the county was operating in an employer's market, not employee's market, according to Bierman. But that's changed. Now the county is competing with other localities for teachers, public safety professionals and other county employees.

"We have huge vacancy rates in certain areas of our system," he said. "We've got huge vacancy rates in certain areas of the schools as well. Last year, that meant, for instance, we had a major step up in what we paid our police officers. It was about a 10.4 percent increase and a $15,000 signing bonus to try and bring down those numbers."

In addition to the 4-cent increase in the residential tax rate, the FY 2025 budget plan includes the reduction of 42 merit-based positions to take some of the tax burden.

"We can't afford to lose our good teachers," Bierman said. "We can't afford to lose our good police officers. We can't afford to lose good employees across the way. You will see your taxes go down if we lose good teachers and good police officers, because your property won't be worth the same. That's what we're fighting for here and this is only the very start of it. That's what we're working on."

The following is the timeline for public input and the adoption of the Fairfax County FY 2025 Budget:

• March 18: Dranesville District Budget, 7 p.m. at Herndon High School Cafeteria, 700 Bennett St., Herndon
• March 19: Board of Supervisors Advertises FY 2024 Third Quarter Review
• April 16: School Board Presents FCPS Budget to Board of Supervisors
• April 16-18: Board of Supervisors holds public hearings on FY 2025 Budget
• April 30: Board of Supervisors marks-up FY 2025 Budget
• May 7: Board of Supervisors adopts FY 2025 Budget
• May 23: School Board adopts FY 2025 Approved Budget
• July 1: FY 2025 Budget Year begins