Fairfax County officials have decided to spread out nearly $4 million in state budget cuts across the county government, declining to target individual programs or let the state choose what gets cut.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a budget adjustment on Monday that includes a reimbursement of $3.9 million to the state, part of the $50 million of reductions in aid to local governments passed by the General Assembly in March for each of the next two fiscal years.
County Executive Anthony Griffin has recommended an across-the-board reduction to the $3.3 billion general fund, said Braddock District Supervisor Sharon Bulova, the board’s budget chairwoman.
When state officials handed down the cuts, they offered local governments a handful of options: Pare down individual state-funded programs, make a lump payment back to the state, do both, or do nothing, in which case the state would pick where to lop off spending items.
Aid to localities, on which Fairfax County is far less reliant than other counties because of its relative wealth, helps pay for a wide array of local government needs, including elections, court and jail costs, libraries and social services.
The cuts are only a glimpse of what the state and county will face in the coming months. Virginia faces a shortfall of at least $1 billion over the next two years, some legislators predict, largely because of slowing revenue from payroll and sales taxes. Fairfax County and its school system are looking at a $430 million cut just in the next fiscal year mostly because of the slumping housing market.
“This is going to be a very, very challenging budget for us as we’re moving forward to fiscal 2010,” Bulova said. “And even though we get as little funding as we do from the state, it still hurts when we’re trying to close a budget deficit of over $400 million.”
Fairfax County supervisors have ordered a broad review of county spending to identify potential areas that can be trimmed, and are holding 20 community meetings to discuss the coming budget decisions.
