Fairfax County officials Thursday announced a mix of public and private funding options — many of which involve raising taxes — to pay for the road network for a redesigned Tysons Corner.
Planners had called it perhaps the most daunting in a series of hurdles that must be cleared before supervisors can sign off on plans next month.
Options include using an extra penny from property taxes, establishing a 4 percent meals tax or designating special tax districts. Officials say they also could turn to general obligation bonds, a commercial transportation tax or tax-increment financing to drum up cash.
They contend $1.4 billion in transportation improvements — a new grid of streets, road enhancements and transit investment — are needed to absorb growth in Tysons over the next 20 years. During that period, the area is expected to see more than 80 million square feet in development.
Officials are proposing the government foot more than $800 million of the bill for projects, including all transit enhancement, and that the private sector pay for the remaining chunk, highlighted by $444 million for a grid of streets.
Despite years of planning, questions have swirled about money for the vast transportation network needed to sustain such dramatic redevelopment, and planners say they won’t be able to bank on state and federal funding.
“I think it would be imprudent to count on the state and the feds to fund a significant amount of these projects,” said Scott Sizer, the county’s revitalization program manager.
County Director of Transportation Kathy Ichter said officials don’t favor any of the proposals at this point.
“Now we need to get the public input on which of these are most supported,” she said.
Supervisors are expected to vote on the final plan in late June.
Phasing of development around the four Metro stations, planned as part of the transit extension to Washington Dulles International Airport, also must be resolved in the coming weeks.
Many business owners have said the zoning densities weren’t extensive enough to encourage investment, while area residents have claimed they will overwhelm the community.
Tysons Corner, already the country’s 12th-largest business district, is expected to house 200,000 employees and 100,000 residents by 2050.
