Teachers Criticize Fairfax Budget

The School Board will hold a budget hearing in mid-May. It is scheduled to approve a final school budget at the end of May.

Supervisors struggled this year with their toughest budget cycle since the mid-1990s. Declining property assessments pinched projections of property tax receipts, federal interest-rate cuts squeezed county investment income, and inflation in gasoline prices pushed operations costs upward.

Supervisors rejected several cuts proposed earlier in the spring by County Executive Anthony H. Griffin, including reductions in performance-based pay raises for county employees and a market-rate pay adjustment for public-safety officers.

They also reduced from 12 cents to 11 cents Griffin's proposal to impose a property tax surcharge on commercial parcels, citing the softening of the commercial real estate market. The surcharge, authorized by the General Assembly last year as part of landmark transportation legislation, is dedicated to road and transit improvements.

Finally, the supervisors found $1 million to create a third "strike team" to police code violations in older neighborhoods, where crowding and property neglect have contributed to blight and a decline in property values.

What supervisors did not do is tap into the county's reserve fund -- because of what they fear could be an even more difficult budget season next year.

"We have to make the prudent decisions," said Supervisor Penelope A. Gross (D-Mason). "They're hard. We have to look at the next year rather than the one that's happening right now. It's not just what's in our pocket right now. It's what might not be there the next time we look."