Fairfax County agencies have suggested broad cuts to local bus service, nonprofit aid and economic development advertising, on top of a host of other reductions, as supervisors mull how to close a gaping budget shortfall.
The lists of budget-cutting measures are part of the latest round of “Lines of Business” reviews, a grueling line-by-line purge of county spending overseen by the Board of Supervisors. Officials hope the process, at least partially, will help solve the $500 million gap the county faces in fiscal 2010, the result of plummeting real estate values. Agencies earlier this year were asked to propose how they could cut 15 percent of their expenditures.
County transportation officials proposed to shrink the Fairfax Connector service, saving $7.7 million by slashing 86,479 hours of bus service. Officials wrote in a presentation to supervisors last month that, if the cuts were put in place, “county residents who rely on the Fairfax Connector for their transportation needs will experience some difficulties getting to jobs, appointments and completing tasks.”
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, the agency tasked with attracting and keeping businesses in the county, suggested eliminating its advertising program, which would save $910,000. Over recent decades, the EDA has used the funding to build up Fairfax County’s name recognition across the country, said Jerry Gordon, the agency’s president and chief executive officer.
“We’ve got 25 years of momentum going, and if we stop now … we’re starting all over again,” Gordon said.
Increasing the agency’s advertising budget helped bring the county out of the early 1990s downturn faster than other jurisdictions, Gordon said.
The Consolidated Community Funding Pool, which awards competitive grants to nonprofit and faith-based groups, has suggested targeted cuts for prevention programs and assistance for independent living, or an across-the-board 17 percent reduction, excluding crisis intervention.
