Voters to Decide on Meals Tax, Bond Questions

Loudoun County voters will be asked this fall to approve a tax on meals and beverages and about $112.6 million in construction bonds to help the county catch up with its rapid population growth during the past decade.

The Board of Supervisors resolved yesterday to put three bond questions on the November ballot to coincide with the presidential election. Voters will decide whether the county should borrow $82 million for a high school south of Dulles International Airport, $22 million for an elementary school in the same vicinity and $8.5 million for a fire station in the county's northwestern corner.

The board also decided to put on the ballot a proposal to institute a countywide tax of up to 4 percent on prepared meals and beverages, with the proceeds earmarked for schools.

County officials have sought hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds in recent years to build infrastructure for the county's population, which has more than tripled since 1990 to about 280,000. Many residents and a majority of supervisors who took office in January were critical of the growth, which they said was encouraged by misguided policies in the past and has led to crowded classrooms, congested roadways and sky-high taxes.

Although the expansion has slowed with the slump in the housing market, student enrollment continues to surge. Moreover, county officials say they are trying to provide basic services for the people who are in the county already, as well as those who are expected to flow in as the economy improves.

"It's difficult, but that is the reality of things," said Supervisor Susan Klimek Buckley (D-Sugarland Run), who campaigned on a promise to slow growth. "We still have to deal with the consequences of past decisions."

The need for schools is particularly acute. The school district's growth has outpaced that of the county, adding about 3,000 students a year -- enough to fill to capacity an elementary school, a middle school and a high school. Schools officials aim to begin construction on as many as 18 schools over the next six years.

"The fact is that people continue to move here, and they continue to have children who end up in our school system," said School Board Chairman Robert F. DuPree Jr. (Dulles). "We are going to have infrastructure needs as far as the eye can see."

Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac) said a tax on meals and beverages could help alleviate the burden on homeowners, because the county collects most of its revenue through real estate taxes. The budget office estimated that a meals tax of 4 percent could bring in as much as $13 million annually.

"Frankly, eating out is a choice," she said, "whereas if you own your home, you have to pay property taxes."

If voters approve the meals tax, supervisors would have to approve it again as part of budget negotiations in the spring. The tax would apply to prepared meals in restaurants and at deli counters in grocery stores. Towns within the county that already have a meals tax would be excluded.

Loudoun voters have supported bonds to build schools in recent years. But that trend might be tested this year as they struggle with rising food and fuel prices and a sluggish economy. And supervisors earlier this year approved a large jump in the real estate tax rate to make up for dropping assessments.

Supervisors also agreed yesterday to limit some property tax exemptions, to investigate the possibility of levying taxes on cigarettes and event tickets and to consider a commercial real estate tax surcharge to fund transportation improvements.