‘I Don’t Like This Budget’ Palchik Tells Town Hall Attendees

Patch

By Michael O’Connell

FAIRFAX, VA — Supervisor Dalia Palchik didn’t mince words when asked about the Fairfax County Fiscal Year 2026 Budget proposal during Monday night’s Providence District Budget Town Hall meeting.

“I don’t like this budget,” she told the 90 or so people in attendance at the Jim Scott Community Center in Fairfax. “I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m not sure anyone in this room likes this budget. It’s not a great budget. It’s not what we hoped for.”

Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill presented his FY 2026 advertised budget plan at the Feb. 18 board of supervisors meeting. The budget proposal includes nearly $60 million in spending cuts and the elimination of 208 staff positions.

Hill’s budget also calls for a 1.5-cent increase per $100 of assessed value to the real estate tax rate, which means the average household tax bill would increase by $638 next year. The higher rate for residential property was proposed to offset a decline in revenue from the floundering commercial real estate market.

“We already knew we were having issues with our commercial real estate, which is where we diversified our economy over the past decade,” Palchik said. “We don’t have another Capital One knocking on our door to build here. We have some really awful decisions to make.”

Fairfax County Public Schools accounted for about half of the county’s budget. Although Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid’s advertised budget request was $268.26 million, Hill’s budget proposal allocated only $118.64 million for school funding.

In order to fully fund Reid’s budget request, which was the largest increase ever requested in FCPS history, the county would’ve needed to raise the residential property tax rate an additional 4.5 cents beyond the 1.5-cent increase included in Hill’s budget.

“The advertised budget includes no new funding for new programs or initiatives,” said School Board Chair Karl Frisch. “That reflects tens of millions of dollars in cost savings this year alone. In fact, over the last 10 years, FCPS has implemented reductions, cost avoidances and enhancements to cover over $800 million.”

Both Frisch and Palchik blamed the state of Virginia failing to fully fund public education as one of the root causes of the program cuts and the real estate rate increase included in the current budget proposal.

“For decades Virginia has underfunded our public schools in Fairfax County, a minimum of $568.7 million every single year,” Frisch said. “And remember, public schools in Virginia are below the national average. Even Kentucky and West Virginia spend more on the state level on their schools than Virginia.”

A Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission report recommended that Virginia replace the cost of competing adjustment used for allocating funding to a newer and more accurate method, such as the Labor Market Cost Index. JLARC estimated that this change would mean an additional $187.4 million for FCPS.

“Virginia school divisions receive less K-12 funding per student than the 50-state average, the regional average and three of Virginia’s five bordering states,” according to FCPS.

To offset the real estate tax rate increase, Hill also suggested that the county adopt a prepared food and beverage tax similar to those adopted by Arlington County, Alexandria, and Falls Church, Fairfax City, as well as the towns of Vienna and Herndon.

Although the tax is not included in the budget proposal, Hill offered it as something the supervisors could consider as an additional revenue stream, according to Katie Horstman, the deputy director of the county’s department of management and budget. If the supervisors did adopt a meals tax, it would not go into effect until next year.

There are several opportunities for residents to provide feedback on the budget proposal before the supervisors and school board members vote to adopt the final version in May.

In addition, each of the supervisors will host town hall meetings in their districts to answer constituent questions and gather feedback.

Providence District Budget Town Hall Meeting

• Monday, March 24 at 6 p.m.: A Spanish Budget Roundtable will be streamed live on Channel 16 and Facebook.

The board of supervisors is scheduled to authorize the FY 2026 advertised tax rate and budget on March 18. That means the supervisors won’t be able to increase the tax rate above the advertised tax rate when they vote to adopt the final FY 2026 budget in May.

FY 2026 Advertised Budget Schedule

• March 18: Board of Supervisors authorizes advertisement of FY 2026 tax rates.
• April 22-24: Third Quarter Review Board of Supervisors holds Public Hearings on FY 2026 Budget, FY 2026-FY 2030 Capital Improvement Program, and FY 2025 Third Quarter Review
• May 6: Board of Supervisors marks-up FY 2026 Budget, adopts FY 2026-FY 2030 Capital Improvement Program and FY 2025 Third Quarter Review
• May 13, 2025: Board of Supervisors adopts FY 2026 Adopted Budget
• May 13: School Board holds public hearings on FY 2026 budget
• May 22: School Board adopts FY 2026 Approved Budget
• July 1: FY 2026 Budget Year Begins