While the Fairfax City Council avoided raising the real estate tax rate, and actually lowered the rate, it also managed to parcel out three cents of the rate for open space acquisition.
The recommended tax rate of $1.01 per $100 per assessed value was bypassed as was the current rate of $.98 and dropped down to $.96. The reduction came as a result of a reduction in the capital budget request of the School Board as well as a rebidding for health insurance for city employees, said the city’s finance director Laura Sitrin.
Of the $96 million city budget for FY-03, $31 million is the School Board budget in a system where the city owns the buildings and Fairfax County runs the schools, explained School Board chairman Allen Griffith, a six-year board member.
Griffith said the School Board reduced its capital budget request from $1.4 million down to $750,000, representing just over two cents of the overall real estate tax rate reduction. "Part of the capital program is to keep up with repairs. Lanier [Middle School] is about 40 and Fairfax High School is about 30 and in need of renovations. The mayor and the council recognize the need for repairs and architects have been hired to start that process. Any problems with the two new elementary schools should still be under warranty," said Griffith.
"FAIRFAX HIGH School needs more and bigger science classrooms because of the way science is being taught. More square footage is needed — many more kids are taking science classes than 30 years ago — and that’s a good thing," said Griffith, citing one of the needs of the school system.
Pending for this fall two trailers will be added as the old health classrooms will be used for science teaching and the current science classrooms will be dedicated for laboratory space. "This is not a long-term solution, but it buys us more time to get the design of the new and improved school planned properly. We saved them $650,000 this year. Essentially, they are deferred expenses. The next major objective is to move forward on planning the renovations of Lanier and Fairfax. It’s a huge challenge so we don’t have to unmercifully raise taxes," said Griffith.
"We did the same last year for the same reasons — patching up a roof. What will it be next year? The two elementary schools give us credibility — that’s our track record. Both schools were over 40-years-old. Now, they look wonderful — absolutely state of the art. It’s an investment — not an expense. These kids will be paying our social security," said Griffith.
BECAUSE OF THE CUTS in School Board requests and the increase in assessments, the open space fund was able to grow by $900,000 in the second year of three-cent contributions. The open space fund came into existence due to a referendum in 2000 that passed by a two-thirds to one-third margin, said Sitrin.
"The referendum indicated that people were willing to spend money on open space," said 30-year City of Fairfax resident Ellen Brouwer, chairman of the former open space committee. The 10-member committee labored from January until March of 2001 to establish criteria for acquisition, identify specific parcels to acquire and to determine what funding could be used in addition to tax funds, she said. The committee presented a report to the City Council in March of that year that listed 35 properties deemed appropriate for the city to purchase.
The open space fund, in its second year of existence contains roughly $1.65 million, according to City Councilman Scott Silverthorne. "In 2000 we proposed the creation of a dedicated fund to purchase what little open space there is remaining in the city." The three-cent recommendation yielded about $750,000 last year, and the three-cent recommendation yielded an additional $900,000 based upon this year’s assessment.
"What we realized is that this city is not built out. I am an advocate for the purchase of some of this land. One method is to borrow the money up front, pay for the land and repay it with the three-cent [tax rate contribution]. The key — we don’t have five years. The train has already left the station. The committee provided a list of over 30 parcels they ranked as critical to save. Most are still available. We need to look at the top five and just do it. If we learned one thing from this election, the voters are willing to preserve the land and buy it. The clock is ticking and we need to move now," said Silverthorne, citing a three-acre plot adjacent to Providence Park that the city is moving to purchase.
The council voted approval of the purchase at the last council session, said Sitrin.
"We need to act aggressively now," said Silverthorne.