<b>Board to Set
Tax Rate Hearings</b>
<bt>County Board members should vote this Saturday to set hearings on county tax rates for March 21.
The board vote scheduled for the March 9 meeting would confirm a previously scheduled tax rate hearing, covering county tax rates for real estate and personal property.
The hearing would be held at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 21, in the Board Room on the third floor of the County Government Center, 2200 Clarendon Blvd.
At the same hearing, board members will listen to opinions on a special tax district for Chain Bridge Road. If the district is approved, the county would levy an additional real estate tax on some 25 homes within the district, adding $.126 per $100 of assessed value to their tax bills.
County staff estimate that the district would raise $71,429 next year, the first installment of $500,000 over seven years to pay for extending a sewer line to homes on the street.
An initial public hearing on the budget, covering county spending plans for the next year, will come on the same day as the board’s March 9 vote. That hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 9, in the Thomas Jefferson Community Theater, 125 S. Old Glebe Road.
<b>County Boards Meet On Budget</b>
<bt>On March 14, School Board members will present their budget for the 2002-03 school year to the County Board, in a special meeting.
Because the two Boards already have a revenue-sharing agreement in place, the meeting will largely focus on highlights of next year’s budget, and student achievement goals, School Board president Mary Hynes said.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 14, in the Board Room at the Education Center, 1426 N. Quincy St.
<b>School Board Adds
Possible CIP Contenders</b>
<bt>Last night, School Board members approved design plans for two more county schools, Williamsburg and Langston middle schools, as well as a final design for Swanson Middle School, given tentative approval last week.
Williamsburg and Langston join five other schools as possible projects for next year’s capital improvement projects. School board president Mary Hynes has said that the board faces tough decisions on CIP plans.
In the past, the board has been able to fund all necessary projects. But funding shortfalls locally and statewide mean that this year, the board will likely be unable to fund all of the projects proposed for the CIP.
The School Board will also consider another CIP candidate at the end of the month, a design for Kenmore Middle School, before beginning work on the CIP itself next month.