Senior Tax Relief, Redistricting: Items To Watch At Fairfax Supervisors Meeting

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The Board of Supervisors' last full meeting of 2021 will include an agenda of district-specific and countywide proposals. The major items up for consideration are redistricting of the Board of Supervisors and School Board districts as well as expansion of tax relief for seniors and people with disabilities.

The redistricting of the local election districts is mandated by law every decade after the U.S. Census to ensure fair representations as populations change. This will only affect Board of Supervisors and School Board districts but not state legislative and congressional districts.

Over the summer, 20-member Redistricting Advisory Committee was appointed to recommend new proposed maps, and the public was also invited to submit their own maps. The committee submitted 24 maps and the public submitted 40 maps for the board to review at a Nov. 7 public hearing. All 64 proposed maps are available to view online.

Tuesday's meeting is a decision only on an ordinance to adopt new local election districts. The board may choose to adopt any of the proposed maps completely or in part with amendments. The board must also consider legal criteria and policies when adopting local election districts.

Fairfax County currently has nine Board of Supervisors and School Board districts, but state law allows as little as five electoral districts or up to 11 districts. The Redistricting Advisory Committee's own proposed maps include 13 that maintain nine districts, 10 maps with 10 districts, and one with 11 districts. The public submitted 19 plans with nine districts, 15 plans with 10 districts and six plans with 11 districts.

When an ordinance is approved, the county attorney will submit the adopted redistricting plan to the Virginia attorney general for certification on Dec. 21, and redistricting would be complete after state certification on Feb. 20, 2022. Representatives will finish their current terms.

As for the Redistricting Advisory Committee, the board extended its work to evaluate names of the county's election districts and report back after March 1, 2022. For now, county staff are recommending the board retain all current names in the ordinance approval Tuesday.

More information about the redistricting plans is available online.

Real estate tax relief expansion

The other major item on the agenda is a public hearing on expanding real estate tax relief for eligible seniors and people with disabilities, as well as creating a tax payment deferral option. Currently, Fairfax County offers real estate and car tax relief for seniors 65 or older as well as people with disabilities who meet income and asset eligibility requirements.

The board will consider changing the tax relief program's qualifications for the first time since fiscal year 2006. The proposed changes would happen in phases over two years.

The first changes would involve the income and net worth limits to qualify for tax relief on Jan. 1, 2022. The maximum gross income to qualify for real estate tax relief (25 percent tax relief) is proposed to increase from $72,000 to $90,000. The cutoff for 50 percent tax relief is proposed to increase from $62,000 to $80,000. To qualify for 100 percent tax relief, the maximum income would increase from $52,000 to $60,000. In addition to proposed income eligibility changes, the net worth limit would increase from $340,000 to $400,000.

The other changes are recommended to start Jan, 1, 2023. A new proposed bracket to qualify for 75 percent tax relief would be available to incomes up to $70,000. In addition, residents would also have the option to defer tax payments if their household has a maximum combined income of $100,000 and net worth of $500,000. Deferred taxes would collect interest at the Wall Street Journal prime rate plus 1 percent per year, or a maximum of 8 percent per year.

More information about the proposed tax relief changes is available online.

See the full Tuesday, Dec. 7 Fairfax County Board of Supervisors agenda.