Republican congressional hopeful Keith Fimian is stepping up his attacks against his primary opponent’s local tax votes, painting Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity as inconsistently conservative because of his support of the county budget.
Herrity, who has voted against two of the three budgets during his tenure on the board, supported a spending plan in 2009 that raised the real estate tax rate but — because of the housing downturn — still resulted in a lower tax bill for the average homeowner. The Fimian campaign has taken several swipes at Herrity over that vote.
The two Republicans are competing in an increasingly nasty primary for the right to take on 11th District Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly.
Herrity has dismissed his opponent’s charges as “lies and distortions.”
“I’ve been a leader in cutting spending and cutting taxes in Fairfax County, and for him to claim that I voted for the largest tax increase in 30 years is ridiculous,” Herrity said.
Fimian campaign manager Tim Edson called the assault “fair game.”
“That’s a debate we’re happy to have, and we need to have,” Edson said.
The debate comes down to the difference between the tax rate and tax bill — Fimian is resting his argument on the former, Herrity the latter.
The April 2009 budget vote raised property taxes by 13 cents per $100 of assessed value, to $1.05, allowing supervisors to prevent large-scale services cuts and layoffs. But because the average home value fell 12.6 percent, the typical tax bill was slightly smaller than a year before.
“It was a tax reduction,” Herrity said. “I would not have voted for it if it was a tax increase.”
Without the rate increase, homeowners would have seen a far larger reduction in tax bills, Edson replied.
The argument is likely to spill into the general election after the June 8 primary. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, under Connolly’s chairmanship, lowered the property tax rate during a time of rising home values. Connolly framed the move as a tax cut even though homeowners’ bills increased.
