Fairfax County is facing “tough budget times” because property values are in a slump and tax income is not increasing as rapidly as in the past several years. Virginia’s largest county has been on a spending spree for the past four years.
In four years, Fairfax County spent more than $1 billion more than would have been the case had spending simply kept pace with the Consumer Price Index and population growth. That is the conclusion of a new study by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy — Virginia’s leading foundation focused at government reform.
Of this $1 billion overspending, the county government spent $386 million of that amount and the school system spent $697 million more than the CPI-student population increase formula.
This year, spending slowed because of the decrease in property values combined with this fall’s elections. But this new budget study shows that the four-year spending increase is dramatic. And this happens to coincide with the four-year term of every member of the Board of Supervisors in Fairfax
County.
As could be predicted, some folks are already calling for tax increases next year. This would allow county government to continue to grow at a rapid clip. And once the elections this fall are over, the Board of Supervisors might increase the tax rate so that the spending spree won’t end.
This Jefferson Institute analysis of Fairfax County’s budget used official budget documents to show that dramatic spending increases took place above andbeyond the increase of inflation and population growth. This is the initial step in what should be a complete management review of spending in that county.
This year’s budget analysis also shows that the Board of Supervisors spent more than $400 million more than its own approved budgets. That’s right. Every year over the past four years, the Board of Supervisors adopted a budget and then promptly spent, on average, $106 million more.
Had the supervisors simply kept spending within their own approved budgets, they would have stayed within the CPI-population growth formula. But they simply couldn’t stop themselves. It is as if the supervisors have a spending disease that can’t be remedied. Every dollar that comes in must be spent.
The Fairfax County school system spent well beyond the CPI-population growth formula — in this case, the institute used student population for its analysis. Over the past four years, the schools spent $698 million more than the inflation-population formula, twice as much as the supervisors.
And yet, the school system spent $99 million less than its approved budgets over that same four-year period.
So spending by the schools is rising dramatically, but the system spent $98.9 million less than was budgeted.
The contrast between the Board of Supervisors and the school board is dramatic. The supervisors spend an average of $106 million more that their own budget each year, and on the other hand, the school board spends $24.7 million less than is budgeted each year.
Spending more than $1 billion beyond the Consumer Price Index and population growth in four years should be a “trip wire” for our elected officials to demand a complete review of spending.
A complete independent study of county spending should be a top priority of the next Board of Supervisors and school board. Fairfax County is full of government budget experts and business experts who can do this job and do it extremely well.
And the voters might ask, “Why did the supervisors and the school board allow this spending spree to take place?”
Michael Thompson is the president of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy and can be reached at [email protected].
