Fairfax City secures road money in roundabout way

City of Fairfax:

“The City of Fairfax is moving ahead with an arrangement that will allow the city to collect its full share of transportation funds without increasing taxes. Last year’s state transportation bill imposed new local taxes and fees for Northern Virginia, including a new local sales tax. Seventy percent of the new revenues are designated for regional projects, as selected by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, and the other 30 percent is to be distributed to the individual jurisdictions to spend on transportation projects of their choice.

In order to receive their full share of those funds, however, localities must first maximize their commercial and industrial tax, a funding mechanism the General Assembly approved several years ago to allow localities to raise money for transportation projects by taxing commercial properties. The maximum rate is 12.5 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The City of Fairfax’s current commercial and industrial tax rate is 5.5 cents per $100 of value, and the City Council has been reluctant to increase the tax. It is the only Northern Virginia jurisdiction that has not already maxed out its commercial and industrial tax rate.”

~Writes Kali Schumitz of The Fairfax Times

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