A study comparing taxes and government in Northern Virginia and Long Island delivered a decisive victory to suburban D.C., finding the region has fewer agencies, less spending and greater satisfaction with services and taxes.
New York-based Long Island Index released “A Tale of Two Suburbs” Thursday, a three-part comparison of the two comparably sized areas. It defined Northern Virginia as Fairfax and Loudoun counties and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and Long Island as Nassau and Suffolk counties. It found Long Island, with twice the population, has 26 times the government bodies and almost twice the per-capita government spending.
The public perception on taxes between the two areas differed greatly. Some 84 percent of Long Islanders ranked high taxes as an “extremely or very serious” problem, compared with 45 percent of Northern Virginians. Also, 58 percent of Long Island residents reported difficulties in paying their rent or mortgage, while only 36 percent had the same problem in Northern Virginia.
The results, expectedly, were welcomed in Fairfax County, where satisfaction with government services outranked the other localities.
“Our citizens perceive they’re getting quality services in return for the taxes they pay,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly said.
The study was based on 808 interviews in Long Island and 605 interviews in Northern Virginia. The region was selected, according to the study, “because it stood out in stark contrast to Long Island with the lowest per capita property taxes and the lowest number of government municipalities.”
