FAIRFAX COUNTY FY 2016 ADVERTISED BUDGET PLAN

FAIRFAX COUNTY FY 2016 ADVERTISED BUDGET PLAN
Testimony Before the Board of Supervisors
April 9, 2015
Sally Horn, President, McLean Citizens Association
 On April 1, 2015, the McLean Citizens Association (MCA), which is
the unofficial town council for the 31,000+ households in the Greater
McLean area, overwhelmingly passed three resolutions related to
Fairfax County’s Advertised Budget Plan.
 The first resolution, which I will address, provides MCA’s
recommendations on the Fiscal 2016 Advertised Budget Plan. The
other two resolutions address Fairfax County’s pension plans and
costs, and the determination of County pension obligations. Dale
Stein, Chair of MCA’s Budget and Taxation Committee, shared our
perspectives on these matters with you on Tuesday.
 With regard to the FY 2016 Advertised Budget Plan, MCA endorses
the Advertised Budget Plan proposal to retain the current tax rate of
$1.09 per $100 of assessed real estate value and to transfer $1.825
Billion to the Fairfax County Public Schools’ Operating Fund and
$187.1 Million for servicing FCPS bond debt.
 We also commend the County Executive and Superintendent of
Fairfax County Schools for their efforts to identify realistic budget
priorities, consistent with current fiscal realities, and for putting
forward a balanced Advertised Budget without the use of one-time,
non-recurring funds to pay for recurring costs. We appreciate their
efforts as well as their collaboration this year, and look forward to
their continuing this approach in the future. Thank you.
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
While the Advertised Budget Plan does not meet all of the County’s
needs, we understand that there likely will be a balance of about
$5.7 Million after all the programs identified in the budget plan are
funded, and that the Board of Supervisors will allocate this balance
to programs that currently are either not fully funded or not funded at
all.
 The McLean Citizens Association urges you to allocate this balance
evenly between the County and FCPS.
 Further, we urge you to use the County’s share in the following
manner:
1. First to restore any funding that was zeroed out in the Advertised
Budget for the enforcement of the County Codes, including
funding to enforce the County Ordinance regarding grass height;
2. Second, to increase funding for enforcement of the Occupancy
Code;
3. Third, to the extent that funds remain, to restore library hours and
personnel, with funding priority to libraries serving low-income
students; and
4. Fourth, to the extent that funds remain, to begin to address
deferred maintenance at County parks; and
 We share the County Executive and Board’s oft-expressed concern
that the revenue sources available to meet County needs are
inadequate and too dependent on property taxes. We believe that
diversifying and broadening the County’s revenue sources would
provide greater stability in funding for County programs; help to
better meet the needs and opportunities of rapid urbanization,
increasing population and changing demographics; and lessen the
pressure on residential real estate taxes. We, therefore, urge the
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Board to consider the following four approaches to broaden the
County’s Revenue base:
1. First, pursuing changes with state legislators that would result in
more favorable allocations of funds from the state to the County,
including a revision of the formula for the LCI;
2. Second, pursuing changes with state legislators that would give
the County the same legal authority as a city for the purpose of
increasing certain local taxes, such as for hotel occupancy and
cigarettes. The reality is that the practical distinction between
cities and large counties, including Fairfax, which may have at
one time provided a basis for different legal authorities, no longer
exist;
3. Third, working toward a referendum for a modest meals tax in
2016; and
4. Fourth, reviewing all fees charged for the services which the
County provides and revising them, if necessary, to ensure that
they fully cover the County’s out-of-pocket costs.
 MCA appreciates that hard choices needed to be made with regard
to which programs and projects to fund in the FY 2016 Advertised
Budget and recognizes that some important priorities were either
deferred or underfunded to keep the property tax rate stable.
 That said, assuming that the FY 2015 Carryover Budget Package
identifies revenues or cost savings, we urge the Board of
Supervisors to use the first $13.1 million of newly identified revenues
or cost savings, if any, in its FY 2015 Carryover Budget Package to
transfer $13.1 million to the School Construction Fund for FY 2016
for Infrastructure Replacement and Upgrade projects.
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 Once this need has been met, we urge the Board of Supervisors to
use a portion of any additional revenues or cost savings in the FY
2015 Carryover Budget Package toward the restoration of library
hours and personnel, and to address urgent park maintenance
deferrals.
 With regard to MCA’s recommendations related to pension plans,
costs and the determination of obligations upon which MCA’s Budget
and Taxation Chairman Dale Stein elaborated on Tuesday, MCA
proposes that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Clarify which cash reserve funds are legally obligated and which
are otherwise available for meeting unanticipated cash
requirements;
2. Restructure the retirement income plans for all new employees
(but not for existing employees) such that the net cost of those
benefits to the County would be similar to the net cost under the
Virginia Retirement System hybrid pension plan; and
3. Determine and implement the optimal means to achieve the
above cost savings by creating new defined benefit pension
plans, or new hybrid defined benefit/defined contribution plans, or
new defined contribution 401(k)-type plans for new employees
only.
 Again, thank you for the opportunity to share MCA’s perspectives
with you.
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