News

WJLA

By Nick Minock

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — Shoplifting in Fairfax County is on the rise.

According to data from Fairfax County Police Department, there have been more than 1,000 cases of shoplifting so far this year compared to this time last year in Fairfax County. That is a 41.7 percent increase.

Everything from shopping malls to grocery stores are feeling the impact.

As shared on Facebook, a video posted by a Fairfax County resident shows at least four people storming down an escalator at Tysons Galleria allegedly stealing purses. The Fairfax County Police Department says the suspects allegedly stole items worth $150,000 and fled the store at 11:00 am on May 22nd. The case is still under investigation.

Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity says customers are feeling the impact of shoplifting too.

“I think the bigger impact is the cost to your groceries,” said Herrity. “You are talking about millions of dollars being stolen. And the stores have to recover that cost and that goes right into the cost of merchandise. You are going to have some places where the store closes down.”

Giant Food stores are taking action across Northern Virginia to address a spike in thefts, including, closing certain entrances and exits, limiting items at self-checkout to 20 items or less, reducing store hours an hour earlier, and training employees on de-escalation.

Fairfax shoplifting stats. (Fairfax County Police Department)

A Giant Food spokesperson sent 7News the following statements:

“Due to the significant increase in crime and theft across our market area, we are implementing some new processes to mitigate theft in our stores and prioritize the safety of our customers and associates. We have implemented these changes in many of our stores and will continue to test other theft prevention tactics in other stores. We know that these changes are disruptive for everyone, and we would prefer not to have to put these measures in place. Unfortunately, at this time we are in a position where these steps are necessary.

The safety of our associates and customers is our first priority. We continuously monitor for situations that may jeopardize that and take necessary measures to ensure our stores are safe for everyone. At the same time, we must also operate profitably to continue serving our customers. Giant has served the DMV community since 1936 and we have every intention of continuing to do so. Closing stores is the absolute last thing we want to do, but the increased theft and violence we’re experiencing across our footprint puts every retailer in a position of weighing that option. Therefore, we work diligently to balance the measures we must take to create a safe shopping environment and operate profitability. We recognize the inconvenience some of these measures place on our customers, and we appreciate their continued support and understanding.”

Giant Food stores in Fairfax County, Loudoun County, and the City of Alexandria are taking precautions.

“We are increasing patrols just about everywhere because again we are trying to look at all facets and tried to make everyone feel safe, secure, and let them know where there,” said Marcel Bassett, the Alexandria City Police Department Public Information Officer. “As you can see we have police across the street from where we are now. We do have off-duty details at different shopping plazas throughout the city. We are working with city senior leadership and things of that nature to see other ways we can approach from a holistic or social standpoint. So, there are many things in the works.”

Alexandria City Police are trying to keep up with the thefts.

“We are making arrests,” said Bassett. “I think we can do better with it having full cooperation from all parties involved. So, we can get through prosecutions. That’s one of the biggest things – a deterrent would actually be convictions.”

Herrity adds Tysons has been a target for shoplifters in Fairfax County.

“The metro has brought a lot of crime with it,” said Herrity. “I know Loudoun County is expecting the same thing.”

Herrity says thieves need to be held accountable to reverse this shoplifting trend.

“It used to be we had a reputation here you didn’t want to commit crime in Fairfax County,” said Herrity. “Because you got caught and you got punished. And I think being 200 officers down and having a Commonwealth’s Attorney who doesn’t want to prosecute theft up to $1,500 as a felony is having an impact. This is all the whole criminal justice reform without limit.”

On Wednesday morning, 7News asked Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s spokesperson what is Descano doing to hold shoplifters accountable for stealing merchandise and what is he doing to address this crime trend. Descano has not responded.

This year, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill to toughen penalties for organized retail theft. In Virginia, a person found guilty of stealing more than $5,000 with the intent to sell the retail property for profit faces a Class 3 Felony, which carries a term of imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than 20 years, and a fine of up to $100,000.

The Arlington Catholic Herald

By Kevin Schweers

Nativity Catholic Church in Burke celebrated its 50th anniversary on the feast of Corpus Christi June 11 with a standing-room-only Mass and luncheon.

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge was the principal celebrant and homilist for the Mass. He commended Father Bob Cilinski’s leadership as pastor, lauded the parish’s “vibrant and varied” 60-plus ministries dedicated to causes such as the poor in Haiti, building homes in Appalachia and  advocating for life, and reflected on the day’s solemnity. 

“We are called to go forth from this altar to be those instruments of unity in a world in such desperate need of it. Thank you for the countless ways you do that through your faithful witness and example and generous service,” Bishop Burbidge said. “We rejoice in the countless blessings the Lord has and continues to shower upon this parish and today we renew our promise that in our lives and here at Nativity the Eucharist will always be firmly believed, devoutly received and intensely lived so that one day we will be joined together as God’s heavenly family and dwell with him forever and ever. Congratulations Nativity parish and God bless you always.”

During Mass, Father Cilinski recalled the parish’s founding in 1973, one year before the Arlington diocese was established.

“We’ve sort of grown up together,” he said. “We’ve always been able to bring forth the old and the new, the best of the church’s tradition and of its renewal.”

Italian Sister Donatella Merulla of the Handmaids of Reparation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has taught religious education at the parish for 33 years. She praised the parish’s welcoming nature and considers herself a spiritual grandmother of sorts, having educated the children of those she taught decades earlier. “Today is a beautiful celebration because God is so good that for 50 years people have been worshipping at Nativity,” she said.

Jim McDaniel, a founding parishioner, recalls attending Mass at Hunt Valley Elementary School before the church was built. He traveled on a parish mission to Haiti years ago, which changed his life. He retired early from his career in the federal government and helped establish Operation Starfish, a parish ministry dedicated to supporting and encountering the poor in the island nation. 

“We have been blessed with strong and loving leaders as pastors. Every one of the pastors that I have had the opportunity to meet has really had a heart of compassion for the poor, for those right around us and those far away,” he said. “I think (of the) love and compassion they have carried to the people in the parish, and you can see it in a number of ministries, and every one is an outreach ministry.” 

“The message of today as we celebrate 50 years on this feast of Corpus Christi is a message of God’s love for us,” Father Cilinski said. “God can’t love you any more than he does. He became one of us and one with us in the incarnation.

“The Lord ‘s particular love for you is unbelievable. You need to know this,” he said. “Often times, we have trouble believing that God loves us. Jesus counters that in the Eucharist.”

“To be together for 50 years, it’s a long time,” he said. “But for people in love, time flies.”

Schweers can be reached at [email protected].

Fairfax County Times

By Richard H. Hronik III

Potential impacts of the Fairfax County Police Department reforms proposed by the Police Reform Matrix Working Group are still unknown more than two weeks after they were brought to the Board of Supervisors.

Matrix Working Group members Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner and Vernon Walton brought the proposal to the Board at the Safety and Security Committee meeting last month.

“We should always be looking to improve our police department,” said Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity. “That should be an ongoing process. But it needs to be done in a balanced way.”

At the committee meeting, Herrity voiced a need for a more balanced approach to the proposal process. Specifically, he called for additional community feedback on the proposals. Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw echoed this sentiment.

“I represent almost 130,000 people,” said Walkinshaw. “They haven’t had the opportunity to weigh in on the Matrix recommendations yet. And for me, at some point, that’s a very necessary step in the process.”

Herrity also highlighted the need for feedback from FCPD on the proposals and called into question the composition of the Matrix working group.

“To take a group of people who have been long-standing critics of the police department, except for one gentleman, and have them decide what’s going to happen with our police department is not the right approach in my book,” said Herrity. “My issue was the lack of balance in this process that we did to determine what the Chief needs to respond to. That panel was not reflective of our community in terms of balance. There was no one that could really explain the impact of the police reform on the department and the officers. That’s really what was missing.”

The working group’s proposed reforms, as brought to the Board, are categorized into eight areas for reform. These are rethinking policing, use of force and accountability, independent oversight, community engagement, and participation, transparency, data reporting and analysis, police officer excellence, specialized police units, and monitoring and evaluating program progress.

FCPD Chief Kevin Davis was unable to provide insight into the potential impacts of the proposals but provided a statement on the issue.

“The FCPD remains proud of our progress and many improvements over the last several years,” said Davis. “The list is a long one. Our county government structure includes an Independent Police Auditor, an Executive Director of the Police Civilian Review Panel, and a Police Civilian Review Panel (PCRP). Since the inception of the PRCP six years ago, the panel has disagreed with the FCPD on one singular occasion. The decision to alter or expand the powers of the PCRP is under the purview of the Board of Supervisors. In the meantime, we remain committed to creating and adopting proven industry practices that make Fairfax County safer and maintain our exceptional relationship with our community.”

Davis will review the proposed reforms before they are enacted or denied.

Fairfax County Times

By Taneika Duhaney

Last month, Fairfax County leaders unveiled Patriot Park North in Springfield District. 

Patriot Park North, the county’s first foray into sports tourism, is the result of years of collaboration between the Southwestern Youth Association, the Sports Tourism Task Force, Fairfax County Park Authority, Visit Fairfax, the Athletic Council, the NOVA Travel Baseball League and other organizations. 

Sports tourism, one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry, happens on large and small scales. The Olympics, World Cup, NBA and the NFL all host events that allow people to travel across town or across the country to see their favorite teams or players compete in real time. On a smaller scale, Patriot Park North allows families to travel and watch their children or colleagues participate in baseball or other sporting tournaments. 

Championed by the Chairman of the Sports Tourism Task Force and Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, Patriot Park North features six turf fields with covered dugouts and bleachers, three warm up areas, scoreboards with wireless controllers, eight batting cages, press boxes, concession stands and MUSCO Vision streaming service.

“The opening of this facility is a milestone not just for the Springfield District, but for the county,” said Herrity in a recent press release. 

With additional park amenities like onsite maintenance crews during tournaments, electricity at all fields, emergency first aid kits, food truck areas, and the ability to sell merchandise onsite, Patriot Park North is anticipated to be a lucrative investment for the county.

The Park has 26 events, including tournaments hosting 20 to 70 teams, booked between now and November. Each event is expected to net between $162,000 to more than $1 million. Based on the county’s sports tourism calculator, each team has on average 15 athletes, three coaches, two family members per athlete, one umpire and a staff member on the field. 

Revenue generated from these events during this period are projected to surpass $11 million-relatively small numbers considering the impact of sports tourism. 

The sport tourism market is expected to grow by 14.5% between now and 2032 according to Future Market Insights. In 2021, sports travelers, event organizers, and venues spent $39.7 billion across a wide range of sectors according to Sports Travel Magazine. And though Fairfax County is new to the sports tourism party, the impact of sports tourism is evident down I-95. Across the Richmond region, sports tourism had an estimated $76.7 million and $89 million economic impact in 2021 and 2022 according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

For residents concerned about traffic in and around Patriot Park North, Herrity’s office shared that the community should not be affected by parking or traffic. With 477 parking spaces, tournaments scheduled on nights and weekends during off-peak hours, and events having multiple starting times, residents should not be adversely affected by the influx of tourists visiting the region.  

Leaders are however expecting a positive impact in retail patronage. 

“The area should see an uptick with more visitors, generating more retail spending because tournaments bring people to the area,” said Patriot Park North Manager Timothy Lander. Revenue generated from Patriot Park North “goes into the FCPA revenue fund to help offset operating expenses.”

With the success of Patriot Park North, future sports tourism sites should not be a surprise. 

Herrity shared that Patriot Park North “is one example of the many ways we can partner with great community organizations like SYA, in order to provide top-of-the-line sports facilities for residents and at the same time diversify our revenue and reduce the burden on taxpayers with sports tourism revenues. This is the first of what I hope will be many state-of-the-art athletic facilities we will be opening for our residents.” 

Though a new sports tourism site isn’t in the works, the Sports Tourism Task Force is keeping a close eye on developments. 

“The [Sports Tourism] task force is constantly evaluating potential opportunities for sports tourism development in the County. There are several potential partners interested in developing sports tourism facilities in Fairfax County. The task force is not actively weighing in at this point in the process, but if the projects move forward, then it will,” said Herrity’s Deputy Chief of Staff Meredith Martinez Corwin.

FFXnow

By Fatimah Waseem

Frequenters of Reston Town Center can expect more sip-and-stroll-style events this year.

At a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday (May 9), the board approved Reston Town Center Association‘s request to increase the number of licenses it has per year for designated outdoor refreshment areas. 

RTCA can now host up to 50 events — up from 16 — this year through additional Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) licenses.

The organization’s president, Robert Goudie, told the board that the request came after an overwhelmingly positive response to sip-and-stroll events at the town center last year. 

RTCA patrons can expect at least 12 Darden and Friends jazz events in the spring and fall, sip-and-stroll events on the first Saturday of the month, and the return of Reston Concerts on the Town.

Goudie said RTCA pilot-tested the sip-and-stroll concept last year. Physical barricades will also be added to designate the area — a move that Goudie says goes above and beyond what is required by law. 

“We don’t want to turn Reston Town Center into a constant pub for all,” Goudie said.

The board voted unanimously in favor of the proposal.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity lauded the effort as a major placemaking initiative. 

“That’s all I could think when you were talking,” Herrity told Goudie. 

Patch

By Mark Hand

WEST SPRINGFIELD, VA — Three wrestlers from the West Springfield High School girls wrestling team made it to the first-ever Girls’ State Wresting Meet in Manassas in February, with one of the girls winning the state title in her weight class.

With West Springfield High School leading the movement in girls wrestling in Fairfax County, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday honoring the school’s “trailblazing” girls wrestling team.

Elaina Primozic, a freshman at West Springfield High School, became the first-ever Virginia High School League girls state wrestling champion in the 156-pound class.

Along with winning the first state championship, Primozic is a starting goalkeeper on West Springfield’s field hockey team and is a starting pitcher on its softball team.

“It’s a shame it took this long for Virginia to get to the point of having a girls state wrestling championship,” Supervisor Pat Herrity, who represents the Springfield District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said Tuesday at the board’s meeting.

Herrity congratulated Primozic for being the first-ever state champion in her weight class and the other wrestlers from West Springfield High School who made it to the state wrestling meet.

“This is something you can all look back on fondly over the years as being part of this first state girls state wrestling championship, and congratulations on your victory,” Herrity said.

Supervisor James Walkinshaw, who represents the Braddock District, said the three wrestlers “helped pave a path that I know a lot of girls are going to are going to follow.”

Walkinshaw highlighted the years-long effort to establish girls wrestling as a sport in Virginia. The supervisor also noted how a coach from Culpeper said wrestling has been on the decline in the state and nationally.

“We know that it’s the girls that are going to save wrestling as a sport,” he said. “It’s a lesson that you’re not going to succeed moving forward and 2023 If you’re not fully including 51 percent of the population, and thank you all for being part of making that happen.”

In 2022, the executive committee of the Virginia High School League voted to designate girls wrestling as an “emerging sport” at the urging of schools across the state.

At the time, nearly half of the 271 high schools in Virginia had at least one female wrestler on what was considered a boy’s wrestling team, and the numbers were growing.

Within three years, there will have to be at least 136 schools in Virginia with females on their rosters for the VHSL to move forward with the sanctioning of girls wrestling. If those requirements are not met, the three-year process will start over.

After the VHSL decision to designate girls wrestling as an emerging sport, Virginia held its first official Girls’ State Wrestling Meet in February, where 284 athletes, including the West Springfield Spartans wrestlers, competed.

Supervisor Penny Gross, who represents the Mason District, congratulated the team’s girls for being the first to compete at the state finals. In the years to come, the girls who follow the leadership of the West Springfield wrestlers will demonstrate “your real stamp on the sport,” she told the wrestlers, who appeared at the board meeting to be honored.

In response to Primozic winning the state title in her weight class, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay said that “the thing that should scare all the competition is that she’s a freshman, so she’s got a ways to go in terms of success.”

“Standing up and defending the rights of all kids to play in sports is an important thing to do to build self-confidence, to build mental wellness among our students and to recognize these remarkable achievements because if boys can do it, girls can do it, and vice versa,” McKay said. “And this is certainly evidence of that.”

Pat Smith, wrestling coach at West Springfield High School, said it is remarkable what Primozic and her freshman teammate Avana Harford, who made it to the state semifinals this year, have accomplished in a short period of time.

“We just look forward to seeing where they’re going to be in four years … and how they’re going to help increase the participation in the sport,” Smith said.

WJLA

By John Gonzalez

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — It is a critical day in Fairfax County, Virginia as the FY2024 budget will be voted on. And with that budget, county supervisors are expected to boost millions of dollars of funding for affordable housing, libraries and parks.

One of the biggest adjustments, the board increased funding for affordable housing by $8 million. All indications are that $5 million will be set aside for park maintenance — with the combined $7 million coming out of the affordable housing funds and $1.7 million to improve six fields at Wakefield Park and $300,000 to upgrade Lake Accotink Park’s playground, which has been closed due to safety issues.

Perhaps the biggest headline coming out of Tuesday’s vote will be a hefty pay increase for county employees. After outrage from residents that Fairfax County supervisors gave themselves a 30-40% raise, supervisors decided to give county workers a bigger raise than what was originally proposed.

County workers are now set to get a 5.4% cost of living raise, which is an increase from the county executive’s proposed 2% raise.

Fairfax County Public Schools is set to get $3.5 billion from the board, which is a 7.6% increase from the previous year. The board of supervisors is also set to approve assessing vehicles at 90% of their market value for the tax year 2023.

“Taxes are still going up 5.7%,” said Herrity. “That’s for your average homeowner, but remember, renters pay that because if the cost goes up to the person you’re renting from, they’re going to pass that cost on through rent,” said Supervisor Pat Herrity.

Local Economy:

• The local economic recovery continued in 2022
• In Northern Virginia, the number of jobs as of December 2022 increased by 30,700 or 2.0% compared to last December and now exceeds its pre-pandemic level of 2019
• Some sectors have still not fully recovered from the effects of the pandemic:
• Number of Leisure and Hospitality jobs is still down by 6.5% compared to 2019
• Number of Professional and Business Services jobs is up by 3.3% compared to 2019
• In Fairfax County, the December 2022 unemployment rate was 2.2%, compared to last December’s unemployment rate of 2.3%
• Office vacancy rates in the County increased
• The amount of empty office space increased to 21.3 million sq. ft.
• Growth in the County’s FY 2024 real estate tax base of 6.59% was somewhat slower than last year
• Residential real estate strongly increased in value due to low interest rates coupled with low inventory
• In the second half of the year, the residential real estate market decelerated due to rising mortgage rates that now exceed 6% for the first time in many years
• Nonresidential real estate increased as well, but more modestly the number of Leisure and Hospitality jobs is still down by 6.5% compared to 2019

And no, it’s not all good news — county taxes are expected to jump 5.7% for your average homeowner.

Officers will also make more as they are set to get a 10% to 15% raise. The department is still short about 200 police officers.

“There’s obviously some good news in the budget. We took care of our employees giving them the full 5.44% cost of living increase,” said Herrity. “But the people who got left out of this were our taxpayers,” said Herrity.

FY 2024 Advertised Budget Highlights:

• Revenue projections based on existing Real Estate Tax rate of $1.11 per $100 of assessed value Based on equalization, results in an increase in the average tax bill of just over $520
• Provides funding to support recurring requests in the Superintendent’s Proposed Budget. Recommendation does not account for $12.7 million funding error by State
• Includes funding for the County’s compensation program. 2.00% Market Rate Adjustment
• Performance, Merit and Longevity Increases
• Adjustments associated with Market Studies
• Supports inflationary and contract rate adjustments and provides for limited, targeted investments for new facilities and other priorities
• Includes no net new positions
• Includes balance of $90 million for the Board’s consideration

WTOP

By Dick Uliano

Teachers, police officers and other Fairfax County, Virginia, government employees will be getting significant pay raises this summer after the Board of Supervisors approved on Tuesday the county budget for fiscal year 2024, which begins July 1.

The vote was 9-1 in favor of the $5.1 billion budget.

“We’re facing the same challenge every employer is facing really, which is the fight for workforce,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said.

McKay, who is also the chairman of the budget committee, added that the pay increases were needed for retention and future recruitment.

“We have vacancies across the county, not dissimilar from any other jurisdiction, but we want to aggressively go after people to fill those positions and most importantly, keep the talented staff that we have,” McKay said.

The pay raises will average nearly 8% for county workers but are higher for Fairfax County police officers, averaging nearly 13% and even a few getting more than 20%.

McKay said the pay increases are the largest the board has made in decades. Raises for nonuniformed county employees range from 5.4% to 9.4%.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity was the lone vote against the budget. Herrity said he was dissatisfied that the budget did not offer more tax cutting, but he supports the pay raises.

“Certainly, we took care of our employees. We took another step toward compensating our police officers, but we left taxpayers out of the equation … I really like the fact that we took care of our employees because workforce is the issue of the decade,” Herrity said.

The 2024 budget cuts the real estate tax rate by 1.5 cents per $100 of assessed value.

“Yes, we dropped the rate 1.5 cents, but the average assessments went up 7% … so taxes are up 5.5% … we need to be doing better for our homeowners. We’re literally taxing our residents out of the county and the demographics show it,” Herrity said.

The budget also adjusted the formula used for the car tax, which is expected to result in most car tax bills remaining the same or being slightly lower.

McKay said the board would have liked to further reduce the tax rate but faced the reality of employee compensation in a budget of 80% comprising personnel in an era of a worker shortage.

“I frankly would have liked to have gone further because I know that assessments, which the county does not control, really have gone through the roof,” McKay said. “But it’s very difficult to do that in a year where you have to also fully fund your school system, and you have to fully fund employee compensation … Given all the competing issues this year and all the challenges we face to achieve a 9 to 1 board vote on this budget, I think should send very strong confidence to the community that we have our priorities straight.”

FFXnow

By Angela Woolsey

Thanks to higher-than-anticipated revenue, Fairfax County gave a financial boost last week to its affordable housing goals, public library collections and park facilities, among other initiatives.

Before taking a preliminary vote on the next budget, which will be adopted tomorrow (Tuesday), the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved nearly $10.7 million in changes to the current fiscal year 2023 budget — known as the third-quarter review — when it met on May 2.

For the biggest adjustment, the board increased funding for affordable housing by $8 million on top of $10 million already recommended by County Executive Bryan Hill.

The county has now committed over $118 million to affordable housing over the past two years, including $45 million in federal Covid relief funds, as it aims to produce 10,000 new units by 2034, per county documents.

“I think most people in our county, including very profoundly, the business community, understand that affordable housing is an essential ingredient for economic success,” Board Chairman Jeff McKay said. “It’s not just a nice thing to do. It’s a requirement.”

Also included in the package was $300,000 for Fairfax County Public Library materials. FCPL Deputy Director Kevin Osborne says the library was “so pleased” that the board approved the funding, which will go toward research database subscriptions and ebooks.

“Due to the nature of eBook licensing to libraries, adding to the digital collection is more costly than adding to the physical collection so we are also hoping to purchase additional eBook licenses for some titles that have some excessively long hold queues,” he said in an emailed statement.

During a budget policy committee meeting on April 26, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity put forward an “alternative” third-quarter proposal that gave $2 million to FCPL to expand its collection and hours, which were reduced last summer due to staffing challenges.

At the time, a library spokesperson said the vacancy rate was about 18 to 20%. While current numbers weren’t available by press time, filling the system’s 390 positions evidently remains an obstacle.

“Like many other employers, public libraries continue to face recruitment challenges,” Osborne said. “We have no update as to when normal hours will resume.”

Herrity’s proposal also suggested allocating $5 million to county park maintenance — with the combined $7 million coming out of the affordable housing funds. A version of the proposal without the library money died at last week’s meeting after no one else on the board “seconded” the motion for a discussion.

The approved third-quarter review did include $2.1 million for Fairfax County Park Authority projects:

• $1.7 million to improve six fields at Wakefield Park so they can accommodate softball
• $300,000 to replace and upgrade Lake Accotink Park’s playground, which has been closed since an inspector determined the equipment was unsafe in November
• $100,000 for a safety assessment of other playgrounds with equipment from the now-defunct vendor used at Accotink

The playground at Lake Accotink was removed the morning of May 2, according to the office of Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw, whose district includes the park.

“FCPA is currently in the design process and expects to have information on the concept in the next few weeks,” a spokesperson for his office told FFXnow.

With its adjustments to the third-quarter review, the board also approved $217,308 to hire a contractor to remove signs illegally located in the public right-of-way and a $60,000 contribution to the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, an Annandale-based nonprofit that preserves land and water from development.

WJLA

By Nick Minock

FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — On Tuesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors made some big changes to the proposed county budget for Fiscal Year 2024.

After outrage from residents that Fairfax County supervisors gave themselves a 30-40% raise, supervisors decided to give county workers a bigger raise than what was originally proposed.

County workers are now set to get a 5.4% cost of living raise, which is an increase from the county executive’s proposed 2% raise. Fairfax County Public Schools is set to get $3.5 billion from the board, which is a 7.6% increase from the previous year.

Eight million dollars is set aside for affordable housing initiatives. The board of supervisors is set to approve assessing vehicles at 90% of their market value for the tax year 2023.

“There’s obviously some good news in the budget. We took care of our employees giving them the full 5.44% cost of living increase,” said Supervisor Pat Herrity. “But the people who got left out of this were our taxpayers.”

Supervisor Pat Herrity said taxes are going to go up because other supervisors weren’t interested in finding budget efficiencies to provide tax relief.

“Taxes are still going up 5.7%,” said Herrity. “That’s for your average homeowner, but remember, renters pay that because if the cost goes up to the person you’re renting from, they’re going to pass that cost on through rent.”

For more than a year, 7News on Your Side has been reporting on the officer shortage in Fairfax County.

Fairfax County Police Department is down around 200 officers as several categories of violent crime have been increasing in the county.

At the beginning of the 2024 budget process, officers were going to get a 2% raise in the next fiscal year, but now they’re set to get a 10% to 15% raise.

”It’s entirely because our citizens understand crime is going up,” said Herrity, who added several community groups and residents have spoken out about the need for improved public safety and officer pay. “They understand the importance of having police officers, there is certainly your coverage of the situation, and I think that all made a big difference.”

“Over the last several months, we have been meeting with the Chairman and members of the Board of Supervisors,” said Steve Monahan, the President of the Fairfax Chapter of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association. “Our intention was to advocate for better pay for our officers and to show our need for starting pay for police officers that is competitive in the region. We feel that we were able to demonstrate to the Board that our officers are being tasked with more responsibilities while working through a staffing crisis. When the County Executive presented his proposed budget, we were disappointed to hear that he proposed a Cost-of-Living increase of only 2%. We continued to advocate for higher pay and yesterday we were pleased to learn that our conversations paid off. During the Budget Mark-Up, the Board proposed a 5% raise for all officers, they brought the cost-of-living adjustment to 5.44%, and they fully funded our merit and longevity steps. Once the budget is finalized, our officers will now see a 10.44% to 15.44% increase in pay during the 2024 Fiscal Year. There is still work to do, but we are grateful to see that the Board of Supervisors values the officers within the Fairfax County Police Department.”

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is expected to finalize the budget next week and the school board will decide on teacher pay.