RESTON, VA — Rising residential assessments, compensation for Fairfax County teachers and affordable housing were among the questions raised during Monday night’s virtual town hall hosted by Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn.
Alcorn was joined by Fairfax County’s Chief Financial Officer Christina Jackson and representatives of the county’s Department of Tax Administration to answer residents’ questions about the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget.
Hunter Mill District School Board member Melanie Meren was also on hand to present a briefing and answer questions about the Fairfax County Public Schools’ FY 2024 budget proposal.
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“We’ve been talking about this budget in terms of stabilizing our core, meaning providing pay increases for our employees and supporting our existing programs,” said Jackson, who kicked off the meeting with a summery of the budget proposal. “Certainly, we’re seeing an outsized impact of inflation on the county this year, as we’re experiencing even in our personal lives. We’ve needed to put additional funds in for inflationary adjustments, contract rate adjustments, certainly beyond what we would normally include in a budget.”
In February, County Executive Bryan Hill proposed a FY 2024 General Fund Budget of $365.46 million, with $144.10 million in funding FCPS, $134.51 million for county priorities, and $90.22 million as an available balance for the board’s consideration. The $144.10 million for FCPS is 7 percent less than the $159 million requested by Superintendent Michelle Reid.
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One caller asked whether the budget proposal included an increase in pay for Fairfax County teachers.
The budget proposal does contain a market scale adjustment, Meren told the caller.
“We’re seeing a total of $249.6 million. Of that, $128 million deals with compensation,” she said.
The compensation would include a market scale adjustment and a step increase for eligible employees. The county will also match the 1 percent retention bonus the state is offering teachers who began last year and continued on through this year. There will also be a step extension for all pay scales, and then a teacher leadership stipend at elementary schools, according to Meren.
“There’s also some other things in the works,” she said. “I’ve been particularly active on seeking appropriate stipends for our fine arts, performing arts or other performing arts educators — orchestra band, chorus, guitar. We’re aware that our surrounding jurisdictions compensate more for these.”
Related: Real Estate Assessment Increases 6.97% For Fairfax County Homeowners
“I’m just here to express my dismay over the increasing real estate taxes or assessments,” said a caller named Denise. “I realize we don’t know what the tax rates are going to be for sure, but in our particular case, we’ve gone up 30.5 percent in two years. I just think that’s outrageous, and it’s unaffordable for us.”
Tom Reed, the director of the DTA’s real estate division, told the caller the county was bound by statute to use a property’s fair market value to determine an assessment.
“If you’ve had a substantial increase as you suggested, 30 percent I believe over two years, it’s going to be based on sales,” he said. “We don’t raise these assessments without a lot of justification.”
Reed encouraged the caller or anyone who had a question on how property values were determined in their neighborhood to visit the county website. If a property owner believes their assessment is incorrect, they can file an appeal with DTA.
The board voted at its March 7 meeting to keep the advertised real estate tax rate is $1.11 per $100 of assessed value. That is the county’s current rate and was proposed to remain the same under Hill’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal.
Related: Higher Real Estate Tax Rate Ruled Out By Fairfax County Supervisors
Even with a flat tax rate, property owners whose property assessment values went up would see higher tax bills. Fairfax County homeowners had an average increase of 6.97 percent in their 2023 real estate assessments. The average tax bill will increase just over $520 under the current tax rate.
Another caller from Reston had a question about her assessment.
“When I calculate the assessment per square foot, my house is coming up at an assessment that’s significantly higher than some of the houses that sold recently in my neighborhood,” she said. “Yet, they are 1,000 square feet bigger than mine, but my assessment is probably 10 to 20 percent higher than theirs is if you look at it per square foot.”
Aruna Pearson, DTA’s assistant director residential assessments, said there were many variables that go into determining an assessment.
“It’s the type of construction, the quality of construction, how much of the above grade square footage is there in your home,” she said. “What is the size of the footprint? What amenities are there? If you have a basement and if it is finished or not. All those variables are taken into consideration, so the simple calculation of the assessment per square foot is not the appropriate comparison.”
Pearson said that anyone with a question about how their property was assessed can speak to a county appraiser directly, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for holidays, by calling 703-222-8234.
Another caller asked what was in budget proposal that addressed affordable housing.
“We haven’t included an increase in baseline funds for affordable housing as part of this budget, but what is included in the baseline is a penny on the real estate tax rates,” Jackson said. “About $31.4 million goes for affordable housing.”
If the proposed budget is adopted, Fairfax County’s Department of Housing and Community Development will use that money as a part of blueprint to see if developers will partner with the county for the development of affordable housing, according to Jackson.
In addition, the board of supervisors included a one-time, $10 million investment in affordable housing as part of the third-quarter review, which was going to be presented to the board on Tuesday. Jackson said an additional investment in affordable housing would be coming from American Rescue Plan Act funds.
One participant asked about the pay raise proposal for members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which was scheduled for a public hearing late Tuesday afternoon at the government center.
Related: Herrity: 45% Pay Hike Outrageous; Board Out Of Touch Union Chief Says
Alcorn answered the question by saying that he was one of only two board members who voted against the measure when it was introduced by Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust at the board’s March 7 meeting.
Currently, supervisors are paid $95,000 and the chairman earns $100,000. If the measure is adopted after Tuesday’s public hearing, the new pay range for supervisors would be between $125,000 and $130,000, and $140,000 to $145,000 for the chairman. The new pay rates would go into effect when the new board is sworn in next January.
Alcorn will be hosting an in-person town hall to answer questions about budget at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28 at James Madison High School, Warhawk Lecture Hall, 2500 James Madison Drive in Vienna.
Here is the full budget process timeline:
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