Herndon set to weigh Dulles Rail tax district
By: William C. Flook
Examiner Staff Writer
November 8, 2009
The Herndon Town Council this week will confront the question of passing a $330 million commercial tax district to pay for Dulles Rail, one of the last major funding hurdles for the massive project.
The town's governing body will hold a public hearing Tuesday on whether to accept a tax increase that only some of local landowners have signed onto. Both the Herndon Council and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors need to approve the plan for it to move forward.
The new funds will support three western Fairfax County rail stations in the second leg of the Metrorail project, which runs from Reston, through Washington Dulles International Airport and into Loudoun County.
Supporters have gathered the needed signatures from affected commercial landowners in the proposed district, but still need approval from local governments.
The tax district represents the final link in a long and arduous campaign to fund the more than $5 billion rail project, called the Silver Line. Little along the way has been easy. The federal government -- which is set to put up $900 million -- nearly withheld the funds because it said the rail was too expensive to justify its ridership. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the project's managers, last week voted to raise tolls on the Dulles Toll Road to fund about half of the new track, which no doubt will cause headaches for commuters.
Herndon Councilman William Tirrell said he tentatively supports the tax district, but is open to hearing from affected landowners.
"We still, in all fairness, need to hear," he said. "If we get 60 percent of the landowners banging on the table, I don't say that we will" approve the tax district. The council will hold the hearing at 7 p.m. at the Mary Ingram Council Chambers on Lynn Street.
