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Fairfax City budget unveiled
Fairfax City Manager Robert Sisson on March 11 unveiled a $116.1 million proposed general fund budget that would finance the operation of city government and the delivery of public services for fiscal year 2008-09 beginning this summer.
The total represents an increase of 5.2 percent over the previous fiscal year's expenditures.
Expenditures for all funds, including water and sewer operations, total $128.9 million, an increase of 3.7 percent over FY 2008.
"We have put together a budget that does represent some challenges," Sisson said during his presentation of a budget summary to the city council.
With various tax revenue streams forecast to be flat or declining this year, in parallel with what other jurisdictions around the country are experiencing in the sluggish national economy, Sisson said that, compared to previous years, "the city's fortunes have waned a bit."
In preparing the budget, Sisson said a shortfall of about $9 million was estimated. To help bring the budget into balance, the city manager is calling for an 11.5-cent increase in the real estate property tax rate from 72 cents to 83.5 cents for every $100 of assessed property value.
"There probably is no more unpopular thing to do than recommend a real estate property [tax] increase," Sisson said.
In a formal letter to the council regarding the budget, Sisson wrote, "After directing multiple iterations of cost-cutting in the operating departments, reducing the employee cost-of-living increase by half and eliminating capital improvement projects, the remaining shortfall of $9 million in the general fund (almost 8 percent) could not reasonably be addressed without a significant increase in the recommended real estate tax rate."
After a consistent rise in the assessed values of real estate throughout the region from the early 2000s to about 2006, residential assessments in the city have decreased markedly this year – an average of 6.6 percent for calendar year 2008. However, commercial assessments have increased an average of 14.1 percent.
The combined residential and commercial property assessments in the city total $5.6 billion, which is an increase of $21 million or 0.38 percent over last year.
The city manager is also recommending a personal property tax rate of $4.13 per $100 assessed value, compared to $3.79 last year.
Water and sewer service rates are recommended to increase by 7 percent, while connection fees remain unchanged.
As has been the case in previous budgets, school costs, at $47.7 million this year, represent the single largest expenditure category in the city's budget at about 41 percent of the total general fund. The amount represents a $1.3 million increase over last year.
Although Fairfax City owns and maintains its four public school buildings, the city contracts with Fairfax County Public Schools to provide teachers and curriculum.
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