A Penny For Your Thoughts

On Monday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted a county budget for Fiscal Year 2005 but, in an unprecedented move, provisionally adopted the real property tax rate of $1.13 per hundred. The failure of the General Assembly to adopt a budget for the Commonwealth forced the Board to take this extraordinary step. The final adoption of the real property tax rate will take place at a regularly scheduled Board meeting on or before June 7. That is the last possible date for adoption of the real estate tax rate and still meet requirements of the Code of Virginia.

Budget Chairman Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock) noted that the Board chose a prudent course of action, even while assuming that the state will adopt its budget in the near future. Indeed, later in the Board meeting on Monday, we learned of Senate actions to freeze the car tax at $950 million statewide, which could drop the reimbursement Fair-fax County currently receives from 70 percent to 53 percent. Further action is expected in the General Assembly later this week, but if the state does not meet its responsibilities, the county will be forced to consider drastic reductions to services and programs, as well as rescind the tax rate reduction to which the Board has already committed. If the General Assembly acts on the state budget, the Board would consider the tax rate at its next meeting on May 10. Watch this space….

In brighter news, the annual Christmas in April program fixed up 11 homes in Mason District last Saturday, and the volunteers had as much fun as the homeowners! The program is coordinated by RPJ Housing (www.rpjhousing.org), a non-profit organization that identifies low-income, mostly senior citizen homeowners who need help maintaining their homes. At several homes I visited on Saturday, volunteers from local churches and businesses were painting inside and out, installing handicap ramps and bathroom fixtures, and revamping overgrown flower beds. It was a beautiful day for such work. I try to visit Christmas in April sites every year, and always am amazed that so many people can wield paintbrushes in small spaces without painting each other! Thank you to RPJ and the many volunteers who made Saturday an extra-special day.

Saturday morning also saw another springtime Annandale Community Clean-up. Student volunteers gathered at the George Mason Regional Library in Annandale for their assignments, and spent the morning picking up trash along local roads. Their logo was “Hometown Annandale” and lots of bright orange trash bags were ready for pick up by the Virginia Department of Transportation at the end of the morning. The clean up was coordinated by Helen Winter and Michael Kwon. Michael also has been named Citizen of the Year by the Annandale Chamber of Commerce, and will be honored at the annual awards banquet tonight at Northern Virginia Community College.