Fairfax County should raise taxes to upgrade an aging network of pipes and facilities that keep pollutant-laden runoff from reaching local waterways, a county environmental panel recommended this week.
The proposal faces long odds as the county prepares to confront a $315 million budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year, along with a $179 million schools shortfall. The Board of Supervisors will face pressure from all sides as competing interests like human services, public safety and education vie for any new revenues, and cash-strapped homeowners bemoan any increase in taxes.
Nevertheless, Fairfax needs more money to replace some of the 1,237 storm-water management facilities, 1,400 miles of pipe and 45,000 drainage structures, some of which were installed in the 1940s, according to the Environmental Quality Advisor Council. Much of the infrastructure, which helps control erosion and pollution in the county’s streams and rivers, is simply approaching the end of its natural life span, said Stella Koch, the council’s chairwoman.
“It’s not sustainable,” she said.
The county now sets aside a penny of every $1.04 collected in real estate tax for stormwater projects. That fund is worth about $20.5 million but is expected to decrease in value next year. The council, in its annual report released this week, recommended that amount be upped to a penny-and-a-half.
Local government’s inability to adequately control stormwater runoff has been closely linked to the poor water quality in the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, as well as the local streams that feed into both waterways.
“I don’t think there’s a county in this region that has started looking at infrastructure replacement for stormwater,” Koch said.
The tax proposal will be part of next year’s budget discussions, said Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova. But she was quick to note the county’s fiscal bind.
“I don’t know, this is a tough year,” Bulova said. “We’re also trying to find funding for the schools, the libraries, the parks, public safety. Whether or not we’ll be able to do an additional half-penny for stormwater, I’m not sure.”
