<bt>It all came down to taxes at the Greenspring Village Candidates Forum between incumbent Sen. Jay O'Brien (R-39th) and challenger Greg Galligan (D). O'Brien took an anti-tax stance, while Galligan wasn't afraid to push for increased funding.
"It's clearly a time for change in Richmond. Creating opportunity for our children is not a luxury for better economic times," Galligan said, repeating through the afternoon his intention to side with Gov. Mark Warner (D) with reform.
O'Brien threw out some figures from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). While the population has grown in Fairfax County from 5.3 million to 7.1 million in the last 20 years, "the budget in Virginia has grown 274 percent," he said.
When it came time for the candidates to address questions from the audience, the Greenspring residents focused on taxes as well. Many live on fixed incomes, and they asked about preferential tax breaks for seniors, the county's flexibility to tax, a tobacco tax, addressing the needs of the mentally ill, an apartment tax at Greenspring, and baseball in Northern Virginia.
One woman, whose son was in a state mental hospital for 17 years, tried to hold back the tears while she asked how the state would address that. Galligan reiterated the need for taxes.
"There are incredible needs in our society," Galligan said. "Where is the money going to come from to get these programs?"
O'Brien said that state spending has increased in this area.
Don Needham suggested the introduction of slot machines, which has been a concern in Maryland as well.
O'Brien started with a flat out "no" and backed it with his own experience with a riverboat gambling proposal in earlier years.
"I'm opposed to it in Virginia," he said. "I've been to Atlantic City, but Virginia is a different state."
Galligan was open to any funding possibility, with education, transportation and prescription drugs as areas of need.
"We've got to be serious," he said. "As long as that's a reality, we have to find funding. Gambling is an option."
Greenspring resident Ruth Scott brought up the possibility of restructuring the tax code in Richmond. In several races throughout the area, the claim that Northern Virginia gets 19 cents back from every dollar has been the rallying cry for tax reform. Galligan said O'Brien had an opportunity to change that in the years he's been in office.
"It hasn't happened in 12 years with my opponent," said Galligan.
O'Brien was open to a restructuring of the code with limits.
"I would not want to use this as a ruse to raise taxes on seniors," he said.
One Greenspring resident went through years of tax increases and state budgets but wondered where the money went.
"Where's the bang for our buck?" she asked.
Galligan looked at the schools in California and Maryland, where decreased state budgets had a direct effect on funding.
"We have been on a path that's created a nice place to live," he said.
O'Brien noted a 28-percent increase in education funding and a 31-percent increase in family services. He also remembered lowering the personal property tax in the 1990s.
"That's principally the only tax cut we've seen," he said, and then used the analogy of Jonestown, Pa., which imposed a flood tax that residents are still paying decades later, even with no floods.
"Have you ever seen a tax go down?" O'Brien asked.
In closing remarks, Galligan pointed out that it's the local governments that have to face the reality of the tax cuts.
"Local government is where the rubber meets the road," he said. "Richmond isn't doing its job."
The candidate forum was put on by the Democratic Club in Greenspring Village. Resident George Bush, who called himself "George Bush the Democrat," wasn't happy with anything he'd heard.
"I thought it was lousy," he said. "I was disappointed in the young Democrat."
Larry Allen is a Republican at Greenspring. He thought they should have kicked off the event with the Pledge of Allegiance. His interest was in the issue of taxing seniors.
"That wasn't even addressed up there," he said.
The forum was one of Greenspring's series of political forums before the Nov. 4 election. The senior living center has already hosted two sheriff candidates and plans to wrap it up with chairman candidates Mychele Brickner (R) and Gerry Connolly (D) on Oct. 21.