One Week Left to Build Your Own Fairfax County Budget

The deadline for Supervisor John Cook's new exercise is Monday, April 8.

Fairfax County residents who want to know if they’re as smart as their supervisors have a week left to build their own Fiscal Year 2014 county budget. Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) introduced the tool which allows residents to sit down and construct a budget based on the proposed package from County Executive Ed Long. The deadline for the exercise is Monday, April 8, before the first budget public hearing on April 9. Using Long’s list of reductions to agencies and another list of reductions not taken, residents are asked to make funding increases or reductions to nine different areas of spending, including schools, public safety and compensation for county employees. Residents also choose a tax rate based on the changes they make. …

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Foust to Host County Budget Meeting for Residents

Residents will be able to ask questions about the budget process and Fairfax County's spending on Wednesday.

Fairfax Daycare Owners Urge Officials to Raise Child Limits

Providers fear they will be forced out of business if they can't care for more kids than the law allows.

Fairfax County home day care providers will have to wait a little longer to find out whether officials will raise the number of children they’re legally allowed to care for. The county Planning Commission voted Wednesday night to defer its decision on a proposed permit that will let providers care for 12 kids instead of 10, the current limit with a permit. With a license from the Commonwealth of Virginia, a provider can care for up to 12 children. But Fairfax County ordinances only allow for seven children unless the provider applies for the special permit. The county rarely enforced the law and many providers took on a dozen children, arguing they were allowed by the state. But new regulations require the county to enforce the by-right …

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Build Your Own Fairfax County FY2014 Budget

A new tool from Supervisor John Cook's office will allow residents to design their own budget package.

Residents who think they can balance a budget better than their elected officials will get the chance to prove it thanks to a new tool introduced by a Fairfax County supervisor Tuesday. Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) is launching a program over the next two weeks that allows residents to build their own Fiscal Year 2014 budget plan based on the current package proposed by County Executive Ed Long. Long has proposed a $7 billion budget that raises the real estate tax rate and eliminates about 90 county jobs. Long has also released a list of reductions to agencies, as well as a list of reductions considered but not taken.   Using those lists, the tool asks residents to identify spending increases or reductions they would make in nine …

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Fairfax Gets New Acting Police Chief

Edwin Roessler will take over as acting chief as search for permanent Fairfax County police chief continues.

The Fairfax County Executive appointed Lt. Col. Edwin Roessler the acting chief of the Fairfax County Police Department on Tuesday making him the third chief the department has seen in five months. Roessler will take over for Lt. Col. James Morris, who has been serving as acting chief since October 2012, when former chief David Rohrer was appointed deputy county executive for public safety. Morris was named chief of the Town of Vienna police last month; he starts next week. Roessler will receive an annual salary of $183,815. He starts Saturday. Roessler’s appointment comes after 24 years of law enforcement. He began his career in the New York City Department of Investigation before moving to Fairfax County, where he has served as deputy …

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Long Lines at the Polls: Fairfax Supervisors to Hear Election Report Tuesday

After studying voting wait times in Fairfax County in the 2012 presidential elections, a local election commission will release its finding on voting efficiency.

Those who endured hours-long lines at the polls in November will get some of the answers they've waited for Tuesday as Fairfax County's bi-partisan commission on election efficiency presents its report to the Board of Supervisors. Chairman Sharon Bulova proposed forming the commission in December 2012, after some November voters reported low wait times of about a half-hour, but the last polls in the county closed at 10:30 p.m. — a wait of more than 3 hours for residents who got in line for the 7 p.m. poll cutoff. The commission is looking critically at the county’s election process, identifying efficiencies at polling places and other ways to streamline the process for voters on Election Day. State of Fairfax County's Economy Also on …

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Fairfax County Budget Work Starts Tuesday

Tax hike, no employee raises are some of the issues supervisors will tackle in committee meeting for Fiscal Year 2014 spending plan

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will begin to dig into the meat of the Fiscal Year 2014 budget during its first budget committee meeting Tuesday afternoon. Supervisors will gather at 1 p.m. Tuesday in conference rooms 9 and 10 at Fairfax County Government Center to begin hammering out the details of County Executive Ed Long’s $7 billion advertised budget, which features no raises for employees and a slightly higher tax rate. The committee is also expected to go over the $2.5 billion Fairfax County Public Schools budget for fiscal 2014. School Board members requested $95 million from supervisors - a 5.5-percent increase in transfer - for a total of $1.78 billion. But Long was only able to give schools a 2 percent increase in …

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Red Light Cameras Could Return to Fairfax County

Fairfax County officials are looking at costs, benefits of a red light camera program to catch drivers who run red lights.

Red light cameras could return to Fairfax County after a nearly decade-long absence. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors members asked staff Tuesday to study how much it would cost to bring back camera enforcement for select red lights in the county, and where cameras could be effective. The former red light camera program, implemented at 10 intersections from 2002 to June 2005, was successful, but costly: During the program’s run, the county lost more than $1.3 million. That figure, Supervisor Michael Frey (R-Sully), should indicate this isn't a move to generate more revenue, but instead, make roads safer.  “That’s the point,” he said. “Raising revenue isn’t.” Frey’s renewed interest in the program was sparked following the release of a …

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Schools Officials: Fairfax County Budget Proposal Falls Short

Superintendent Jack Dale, some school board members say lower-than-expected increase in transfer from the county won't meet classroom needs.

Fairfax County schools officials said Tuesday they were surprised at County Executive Ed Long's lower-than-expected proposed increase in transfer to the school system, which will leave school board $62 million short on their own Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Just more than half of the county's revenues go toward Fairfax County Public Schools each year; nearly three quarters of the school system's annual budget relies on a transfer from the county.  Long's proposed $7 billion budget includes an increase of 2 percent in transfer to Fairfax County Public Schools, or $33.7 million. Schools officials requested $95 million, a 5.7 percent increase in transfer, for a total of $1.78 billion in FY 2014, largely to fund what is expected to be an …

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