Fiscal Year 2027 Proposed Budget Review

Please do not raise the property tax rate. My home’s assessed value already went up by 10% so I will be paying 10% more on taxes.

(This is a City of Fairfax response to Mr. Fuzzell's question below.) Thank you for your question regarding how the city supports our regional partners and especially Northern Virginia Community College. The City of Fairfax is one of nine local jurisdictions that contribute to the Early College and Workforce Programs, as well as other strategic priorities for the college. The requested allocation is based on the population of the jurisdiction at a rate of $2.25 times the population. This brings the city’s share of the program to $54,097. The amount has been fully budgeted for FY 2027 and is a $666 increase from the FY 2026 amount paid. A full listing of all regional partners the city supports can be found in the Non-Departmental section of the city’s budget.

How much of the current budget is going to support Northern Virginia Community College? I am concerned that the city is not helping to fund efforts related to dual enrollment (which receives no funding from the state and no tuition from students), workforce development programs (which are vital in the current environment), and supporting local governance and student programs. NVCC is a vital part of our community and remains a key path for educational attainment and workforce development. I would like to see more of an effort from the city to support the college in order to keep more programming available at the local campus and possibly help to grow programs related to health and medical education at our local campus. That takes adequate funding.

Enhanced revenues through higher taxes is certainly one way to address the importance of maintaining quality of services. That being said, this is one of the most expensive counties in the country to live in. As a working professional, I speak on behalf of many that with all of the other increases in costs, we feel that we are being "priced out" of our homes. I would strongly encourage the team to look at other avenues for revenue, including cutting discretionary expenses.

@rob86 The city benefits from the tax revenue generated by commercial development. Businesses also pay taxes (e.g. real estate., BPOL, business personal property, sales, meals, transient, etc.). Residential development provides similar, albeit smaller, tax benefits, which are somewhat offset by the larger number of services provided to residential taxpayers, schools being the largest example.

Higher tax bills (mostly due to increases in property value) are very frustrating for sure. Nobody wants to see their taxes go up. But we also don't want to see the quality or extent of city services diminished. My family moved to Fairfax City because we have excellent schools, excellent trash service, excellent roads, and excellent community services. Our real estate tax and personal property tax rates are much lower than Fairfax County. Yet if we were living in the county we would have to pay for inferior trash service, lower resourced elementary schools, and would have to share public services among a lot more people. We can't keep this quality of life as costs of everything rise without paying for it. I think it would be foolish to defer school maintenance and community investment. It would only require us to deal with more next year. That said, I would encourage the council to do everything possible to grow the commercial tax base to offset the costs to residents long-term. I would also suggest that the council consider increasing the restaurant tax more than they are to limit property taxes to the extent feasible.

Higher tax bills (mostly due to increases in property value) are very frustrating for sure. Nobody wants to see their taxes go up. But we also don't want to see the quality or extent of city services diminished. My family moved to Fairfax City because we have excellent schools, excellent trash service, excellent roads, and excellent community services. Our real estate tax and personal property tax rates are much lower than Fairfax County. Yet if we were living in the county we would have to pay for inferior trash service, lower resourced elementary schools, and would have to share public services among a lot more people. We can't keep this quality of life as costs of everything rise without paying for it. I think it would be foolish to defer school maintenance and community investment. It would only require us to deal with more next year. That said, I would encourage the council to do everything possible to grow the commercial tax base to offset the costs to residents long-term. I would also suggest that the council consider increasing the restaurant tax more than they are to limit property taxes to the extent feasible.

Year after year my real estate taxes go up. Not just a little but a lot. Over the last three years, my tax bill has increased by nearly 50%! Please do your best to stop all the spending and reduce taxes.

There is no need to be so far below the area median on taxes. Higher rates would support service quality and drive higher value land uses.

Real estate taxes have already increased year over year; with the serious energy rate issues Virginia is currently facing with Dominion, now seems like a terrible time to increase the base cost of living (home+utilities) even further. Look for other funding avenues—strongly oppose increasing property tax rates multiple years in a row… it’s unsustainable.

What financial benefits does the city receive from the residential and commercial developments? What costs does the city incur from residential and commercial developments?