Fairfax County residents protesting proposed budget cuts, tax hikes to solve $300M shortfall
Residents sound off on Fairfax County $300M shortfall
Fairfax County is looking to close a $300M budget shortfall by raising taxes, cutting programs -- or a little bit of both things.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Hundreds of people are speaking out against proposed budget cuts and tax hikes in Fairfax County. Public hearings on the county's 2026 budget kicked off on Tuesday.
Public hearings begin as Fairfax Co. faces $300M budget shortfall
Hundreds of people are speaking out against proposed budget cuts and tax hikes in Fairfax County. Public hearings on the county's 2026 budget kicked off on Tuesday.
By the numbers:
Dozens of protesters were out all day on Tuesday — more than 300 people signed up to speak over the next three days of public hearings in Fairfax, where the county is facing a $300 million shortfall.
One of the hot-button issues is tax hikes for homeowners and on meals and on hotels.
"Both bad ideas. When you're looking at declines we're seeing in the restaurant and hotel industry is also seeing a similar decline, it's the wrong time to implement a tax," said Eric Terry, president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association.
"So a 7.5% increase on property tax and a proposed maybe up to 6% meals tax. So this is what we're protesting. We want them to get their spending under control and stop taxing us," Fairfax GOP Chair Katie Gorka said.
Other proposals on the table to make up for that budget deficit include cuts to high school crossing guards, certain after-school programs for middle schools and a reduction in firefighting and ambulance services.
What they're saying:
According to the firefighters' union, their efforts are centered around four EMS Transport Units and two Rescue Squads. Protesters called the cuts catastrophic, and they were out in force on Tuesday.
Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity says he opposes this current budget proposal and suggests several other areas to make reductions. Those include deferring the millions spent on government-subsidized housing, carbon neutrality programs and staff for collective bargaining.
Fairfax County residents speak out about $300M budget shortfall
Hundreds of millions of dollars could be slashed from Fairfax County's budget and people are concerned about what that will mean for their communities. More than 100 people signed up to speak at a public hearing Tuesday night that was still going at 10 p.m.
"This is unacceptable. The board knew this was coming for a long time but they failed to do a deep dive into the budget, they failed to put on the table a lot of things that could be cut instead of critical services," Herrity said.
"I want people to know that your voice matters. Speaking in support of programs you think are valuable really matters," said James Walkinshaw with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
Tuesday’s hearing is expected to go well past midnight. There are public hearings Wednesday and Thursday as well. The final budget will be adopted three weeks from now in May.