FCPS Budget Cuts - are you willing to share the burden?

Have you been following the discussion about FCPS budget cuts for the 2010-2011 school year?

• Fairfax County is expecting a shortfall of $315.6 million in its budget.
• This means that Fairfax County Public Schools is expecting a shortfall of at least $176 million
• As a result, FCPS is considering the elimination and/or reduction of many programs and services.

Many advocacy groups have formed to urge the retention of these programs. However, the groups are now realizing that they do not want to argue against one another for the preservation of one program at the expense of another. Rather, they are starting to realize that what is really required is a solution that preserves the funding of these programs on an ongoing basis.

On September 25, 2009, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority reported that, in 2008, median household income was over $107K per year and stated "Fairfax County ranks number one for household income level among large U.S. counties." (Source: http://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/print/1234)

At the budget discussion meeting on Saturday, November 14th 2009, at Sherwood Hall Library, there was much discussion about how to avoid these proposed, drastic, eliminations of programs. The bottom line seems to be raising taxes. Generally, the group was more than willing to pay higher taxes.

I understand the current property tax rate in Fairfax County is $1.04 per $100 value of a property i.e. for a house worth $100k, the owner pays $1040 in property taxes. Indeed, the projected value of one penny in taxes for FY2011 is $18.1million (Source: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/government/budget/county-fiscal-outlook.pdf). Therefore, it seems that a 27 cent increase in taxes, suggested as a possible tax raise in several forums, could more than eliminate the county budget shortfall. If that would maintain the current programs in the schools and support our public agencies, it should be considered. Apparently, an 11 cent tax hike keeps most tax bills equivalent to last year (given the fall in our property values), so an additional 16 cents probably won’t send us bankrupt.

I have read that there needs to be seven votes from the Board of Supervisors to pass a tax increase. If you agree with the thrust of this post, please contact your Board of Supervisors Representative and encourage them to support this essential revenue raising strategy.

One other point that needs to be taken into account: 70% of Fairfax County residents do not have children in the school system. In order for more funds to flow to the schools, a majority of taxpayers need to recognize the value of a strong school system. These people also need to be convinced to support a tax increase.

So , have you asked your neighbors, co-workers, relatives? Will they call the budget hotline and say "I don't have kids in the schools, but I'm okay with a tax increase to get us through this crisis"?

The ideas presented in this post have been drawn from the Fairfax Parents Discussion Group