With extra tax revenue rolling in, Fairfax County officials are expected to give county employees their first raise in three years. It’s uncertain how much additional money the county will collect from sales and business taxes, but it’s likely to be enough to cover the $10 million cost of giving county workers a 1.12 percent raise, said Susan Datta, the county’s chief financial officer.
That additional revenue, which will be tallied in mid-July as the fiscal year comes to a close, represents higher-than-expected revenues for fiscal 2011 and lower-than-expected costs.
The county’s 2012 budget, passed in late April, recommended that any additional revenue received by the close of fiscal 2011 go toward raises for county workers.
Fairfax Board Chairwoman Sharon Bulova said that extra revenue likely would also go toward rebuilding the county’s savings, much of which was depleted by an economic downturn over the past three years.
In fiscal 2010, $60 million in additional revenue was divided largely between a reserve fund and future pension requirements.
Fairfax teachers received a 1 percent pay raise as part of the school board’s fiscal 2012 budget, their first since 2008.
School employees’ raises would kick in at the start of the fiscal year in August. County employees will need to wait until October to see a healthier paycheck, allowing time for the county to confirm and approve the allocation of the extra tax money.
Sales tax receipts, which usually come in at between $140 million and $150 million each year, are trending higher than anticipated, Datta said. The Business, Professional, Occupational and License taxes also are expected to exceed expectations. Their typical annual gross is about $140 million.
Should Fairfax follow through with raises for county employees, it will be the first of the District’s large suburban jurisdictions to be able to do so since the recession took its toll on local budgets.
