Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance

10/06/2026

Thank you Chairman Jeff McKay and Supervisor Pat Herrity
for this expression of bipartisan collegiality in recognizing the 70th anniversary of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance, founded in 1956.

09/30/2026

In FY 2026, Fairfax County allocated approximately $57 million in taxpayer dollars for economic development initiatives, primarily through increases in the Real Estate Tax and Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) rates. We don't need you to invent solutions for the problems you already created, we need you to return money back to the taxpayers which would eliminate many of Government Created Problems. This would result in an Economic Boom in the Private Sector.

Previous Image 1/2 Next Image Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday lauded the service of Victor Hoskins, who spent more than seven years as president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority before departing over the summer. Hoskins was honored at the same meeting supervisors ex...

09/27/2026

FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — Fairfax County leaders unveiled a COVID Memorial this week. It sits right next to police headquarters and the Herrity building--where there isn’t much pedestrian traffic.

But this isn’t the only project the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is spending tax dollars on. Far from it. The board also voted to spend taxpayer money on an arts hub.

Fairfax County Chairman Jeff McKay commissioned the COVID memorial, which cost more than a quarter of a million dollars. The project was meant to honor those who died during the pandemic.

But the Taxpayer Protection Alliance said this is not where taxpayer money should go, especially since county leaders couldn’t find the money for crossing guards at local high schools and have continued to raise local taxes year after year.

“When the Board of Supervisors spends $300,000 for a COVID memorial, it shows that they are out of touch with the people of Fairfax County,” said David Williams, the president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. “The people of Fairfax County don't want more spending. They want tax relief.”

Last week, the Board of Supervisors voted to spend 900,000 tax dollars for the design and permitting of an arts hub in Chantilly.

Supervisor Pat Herrity was perplexed that so little information was available about the project before they voted. When asked why the board should approve close to a million dollars to plan an arts hub in her district, Supervisor Kathry Smith shared her concerns.

“It's definitely not a completed process,” said Smith. “But we want to be able to keep it moving.”

“We don't want to lose momentum,” Smith added.

“What’s the total amount?” Herrity asked. “We are going to spend 900 now; what's the total amount we are going to spend to get there?”

“The developer is working through the site now,” Smith said. “It's going to take a couple of years

A COVID memorial and a $900,000 allocation for arts hub planning have drawn questions about Fairfax County’s spending priorities.

09/26/2026

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors earlier this month allocated nearly a million dollars to continue planning for a Chantilly arts hub.

The funding came from dollars left over at the end of the county’s fiscal year 2026 budget and was requested by Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith.

The $900,000 appropriation will support design, permitting and bid-administration efforts over the next two years.

“We want to be able to keep it moving. We don’t want to lose momentum,” Smith said of the project at the board’s public hearing on Sept. 15.

Last December, supervisors approved development plans allowing Timber Ridge Management to construct a new 67-unit residential community in Westfields. As a condition of securing the approval, the property owner agreed to contribute funds to support construction of a 15,000-square-foot arts center on the site.

The building would be located at the northeast corner of Westfields Blvd and Newbrook Drive, and would be owned and programmed by the county government.

Facilities will include a performance hall, studio spaces and classroom space, Board Chair Jeff McKay said.

At the Sept. 15 meeting, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity said he was uncomfortable with allocating the planning funds without more specifics about the project’s long-term costs.

“If we’re going to spend $900,000 now, what’s the total amount?” he asked. “Funds are scarce right now. If this $900,000 is committing us to another $3 million or whatever it is down the road, I’d like to know.”

Herrity’s motion to move the proposed funding into a reserve fund, rather than allocate it immediately, drew no support from his colleagues. Like the other supervisors, he still voted for the overall FY 2026 carryover package because it included funding to restore crossing guards at public high schools.
In a statement to FFXnow, Smith described the county’s contribution to the Chantilly arts hub as part of “a strong partnership” with Timber Ridge Management, which is contributing $1.3 million. The combined funding will advance the project ahead of a planned site transfer in 2029.

“Through proffers, the developer is providing the land, site grading, utilities, shared infrastructure, parking, and $1.3 million in monetary contributions — delivering a pad‑ready site at no cost to the County,” Smith said.

The possibility of an arts center in the area was first discussed in 2022 after Fairfax County identified a shortage of Sully District facilities while crafting a Countywide Arts Master Plan. Adopted in July 2023, the final plan noted that discussions were underway with the developer for a “community-serving” black box theater designed for dance and musical performances.

After Timber Ridge Management’s rezoning application was approved, the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services added the Chantilly arts hub to its list of planned capital projects in June. Planning for the facility’s programming and conceptual design work were completed this past spring, Smith says.

“With the developer expected to finish the residential community and transfer the site by 2029, completing design, permitting, and bidding over the next two years is essential,” Smith said in her statement. “Advancing this work now ensures the County can begin construction as soon as the site is available and prevents newly built infrastructure from sitting unused and deteriorating.”

As part of the carryover package approved on Sept. 15, supervisors also allocated $45,000 to add 24/7 voting drop boxes at the North County and Mount Vernon governmental centers and $20,000 to continue covering costs of an intern in the office of the county auditor.

Funding totaling $1 million to purchase new library materials was also part of the carryover package adopted at the meeting.

“I’m not saying it’s enough, but it’s a good start,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said of the library funding.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors earlier this month allocated nearly a million dollars to continue planning for a Chantilly arts hub. The funding came from dollars left over at the end of the county's fiscal year 2026 budget and was requested by Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith. The $900...

09/26/2026

Fairfax County leaders are setting the stage to become more aggressive and nimble in competing for economic development deals.

That could include new financial incentives for businesses seeking to relocate to or within the D.C. region. “If we want to be a player, if we want to be successful, we’ve got to be able to put dollars on the table,” Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said at a Sept. 22 meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Economic Initiatives Committee.

Lusk, who worked for the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority before winning elected office in 2019, said the proposals discussed at the meeting represented a “sea change” in the county’s approach to economic development.

“We have never provided dollars of investment into projects,” he said. “We have only provided infrastructure.”

While no final decisions were made at the meeting, supervisors reacted generally favorably to staff proposals on how to reconfigure and fund economic development initiatives. It was time to “think different,” County Executive Bryan Hill said.
“We need to be more competitive,” he said. “If we do it right, we will reap the benefits.”

Earlier this month, as part of a carryover review process to allocate unspent funds from the end of the county’s last fiscal year budget, the Board of Supervisors agreed to move $15 million into what will be known as the Economic Growth Fund.

The new fund will be a more flexible tool than the existing Economic Opportunity Reserve (EOR) Fund, said Christina Jackson, the county’s chief financial officer.

Established in 2019, the EOR provided one-time seed money to projects identified as having a potential economic benefit to the county. Recipients included the nonprofit McLean Project for the Arts for its new Berlage Arts & Education Center in downtown McLean and the Tysons Partnership to assist with its transition into the Tysons Community Alliance.

The initiative was also used to establish a Fairfax Founders Fund that provides up to $50,000 in grant funding to startups.

The new Economic Growth Fund will have two primary focuses, staff said:

Supporting a number of current and potential economic-development programs
Providing rapid-response funding to address specific development proposals
Review by the Board of Supervisors would be required to spend the funding, which would provide “both speed and accountability,” said Rebecca Moudry, director of the county’s Department of Economic Initiatives.

A final proposal for what county leaders call the Economic Development Framework will likely come to the Board of Supervisors in early 2027. At the Sept. 22 meeting, the concepts met with a largely favorable response.

The goal is “coming up with a unified vision on moving forward,” Board Chair Jeff McKay said.

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09/17/2026

The FCTA recommends that the county refund to the taxpayers the $460 million of carryover funds not allocated to reserves by sending us checks. The check would amount to $1,000 per household. Not covered by the Media - See FCTA's full testimony at

Testimony at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors FY 2026 Carryover Hearing -- September 15, 2026 Arthur Purves - President, Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance

09/04/2026

Expect a $300 million Fairfax County budget "crisis" to be announced in November. Every year the supervisors want $300 million of new revenue to give 40,000 county and school employees 4% raises.

07/18/2026

Fairfax County School Board recently passed a resolution affirming its support for a possible 1% sales tax to fund its $400 million backlog of maintenance and capital improvement projects. In light of the new state budget adopted by the Virginia General Assembly late last month allowing local jurisdictions to increase their sales tax rate up to 1% to support education and transportation, the school board voted unanimously on July 9 to ask the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to place the issue before voters as a referendum during a general election. Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn noted at that July 2 meeting that Fairfax County’s previous three referendums proposing additional funding for schools all failed. With all of the county’s Board of Supervisors and school board seats up for election in fall 2027, supervisors may decide to tread carefully around the issue.

The Fairfax County School Board recently passed a resolution affirming its support for a possible 1% sales tax to fund its $400 million backlog of maintenance and capital improvement projects. In light of the new state budget adopted by the Virginia General Assembly late last month allowing local ju...

06/21/2026

Todays Farm Market in Burke went very well. Enjoyed the opportunity to meet 17 incredibly great hardworking taxpayers who eagerly interacted on tax issues, are very interested in what we are doing, and what they can do to make a positive impact on real change in Fairfax County.

05/05/2026

In August 2025, Fairfax County Public Schools purchased a new high school for $150 million. In 2015, when the county’s leaders anticipated that a new high school would be necessary, student enrollment was about 186,800. Ten years later, the district’s enrollment was 177,007 and slated to be 165,325 in 2030. And now, the district’s leaders are having a hard time filling desks at Skyview High School, scheduled to open its doors this fall.

In August 2025, Fairfax County Public Schools purchased the former King Abdullah Academy in the western part of the county for $150 million.