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As we’ve previously spoken about, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is considering implementing a meals tax of up to 4% on all restaurant meals and prepared foods, in addition to the existing 6% Virginia sales tax. This tax could go into effect as early as January 2026, and your voice as a business owner or resident is important in shaping the outcome.

Key Details About the Proposed Meals Tax:

What It Is: A new meals tax of up to 4%, on top of the current 6% state sales tax, for a total of 10% on restaurant meals and prepared foods.

Revenue Impact: Estimated to generate $65.1 million in the first six months, with revenue going directly to Fairfax County.

Timeline:

Public Hearings: Scheduled for April 22–23, 2025

Budget & Tax Decision: Expected by May 13, 2025

Who It Affects: All restaurants and food service businesses in Fairfax County (except those in Herndon, Vienna, and Clifton, which already have their own meals taxes)

Stated Purpose: To reduce or avoid property tax increases or soften budget cuts.

Additional Consideration: The county is weighing a dealer discount, which would initially allow restaurants to retain a small percentage of the tax collected to offset administrative and implementation costs as well as to encourage timely payment of the tax.

Other Tax Increases: A Meals Tax isn’t the only proposed tax increase – the County has also proposed a 1.5-cent real estate tax increase and a 2 percent transient occupancy tax (Also known as a Hotel Occupancy Tax) increase.

Why It Matters to You: This issue may affect many of our chamber members, particularly those in the food service industry. We encourage you to review the full details and consider how this might impact your business or your neighboring restaurant.

Take Action: Let the Board of Supervisors know how this proposed tax would impact your business and customers.

To voice your opinion, you may contact your Supervisor using the emails below, on www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/, or by using the link on www.stopthefoodtax.com.

• Chairman, At-Large – Jeffrey C. McKay: [email protected]
• Braddock – James R. Walkinshaw: [email protected]
• Franconia – Rodney L. Lusk: [email protected]
• Mason – Andres F. Jimenez: [email protected]
• Mount Vernon – Daniel G. Storck: [email protected]
• Springfield – Pat Herrity: [email protected]

WTOP News

By Scott Gelman

As cuts are made at federal agencies, it’s essential that Northern Virginia considers alternative ways to draw business outside the scope of the federal government, Fairfax County leaders said during an Economic Initiatives Committee meeting this week.

Some of the changes are having hyperlocal impacts, as thousands of square feet of office space have been cut in Lorton and Herndon.

Restaurants and other businesses may soon feel the impact of the federal government changes, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said, because fewer residents will have extra money to spend.

In the D.C. region, the federal government has “been customer number one” for a long time, but it may be advantageous to consider ways to change that dependence, according to Julie Coons, president and CEO of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

“This is, I believe, the first time we are faced with this level of impact, and I think it’s really our clarion call to change and respond,” Coons told WTOP. “In many ways, this is an existential moment for us, and we have to step forward, respond.”

Changes trickle down, Coons said, because fewer people need to visit the D.C. region to hold meetings, train staff or entertain.

Some federal employees who have lost their jobs have already left the region, or are planning to do so when the school year ends. Government contractors across Northern Virginia are losing contracts, employees are being laid off and the number of open positions from employers has “significantly reduced about half.”

In one case, Coons said, there’s “a cul-de-sac in Arlington where someone lives, and every household has a laid-off federal worker in it.”

To start a change in approach, Coons said it’s helpful to consider industries that have a stronghold in the D.C. region, and then work with elected leaders to figure out potential barriers to their growth. It’s an adjustment that will take time, she said, but it includes partnerships with economic developers, businesses that want to grow and colleges and universities that offer education to the next generation of workers.

Space commercialization could present an opportunity, as could AI, “where we can then take a big leap forward and create a significant number of additional jobs to compensate for this space that the government occupy.”

Biopharma is one area, Coons said, that has a big footprint in Maryland and a smaller one in Virginia.

“Is there something more that Virginia can do to grow it in Northern Virginia?” Coons said.

Many leaders have known that it would be helpful to diversify the local economy further, Coons said, “but when that federal government has been a good customer, and it has been good for our region, helped us when the rest of the country was in recession, kept us from going further — we’ve always weathered through it with growth.”

Even if the region changes its approach, Coons said the federal government would still be a customer, but “it won’t occupy the same portion of our economy.”

WTOP News

By Scott Gelman

Facing a nearly $300 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year, Fairfax County leaders are mulling over the decision to move forward with plans to adopt a meals tax.

They’re still working on the details, but Virginia law allows jurisdictions to adopt a meals tax of up to 6%. The meals tax would apply to every meal sold from the county’s restaurants.

During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors Budget Committee meeting, representatives from several county agencies pointed to surrounding Northern Virginia neighborhoods that use a meals tax to describe how the concept could work.

Supervisors are expected to vote on whether to advertise plans for the meals tax at next week’s full board meeting.

The proposed fiscal 2026 budget features almost $60 million in cuts to county agencies and proposes a 1.5-cent increase in the real estate tax. A possible food and beverage tax could “offset those proposed reductions or tax increases or fund other priorities,” said Phil Hagen, director of Fairfax County’s Department of Management and Budget.

The food and beverage tax would equal about 3.6% of fiscal 2026 revenue, Hagen said. The earliest it would go into effect is Jan. 1, 2026.

Prince William County, Arlington and the City of Alexandria all have meals taxes, and Loudoun County is one of the few others that doesn’t, according to county documents. But Fairfax County voters have rejected the idea twice.

The tax covers ready-to-eat meals and food sold at restaurants, in addition to drinks that might be served with that food. Restaurant meals and food from deli counters would be taxed, too.

Drinks sold alone would not be taxed, and items from vending machines are exempt by state law. Fountain drinks and coffee sold alone wouldn’t be taxed, but coffee purchased with a bakery item would be.

Food and drinks that churches, nursing homes or day care centers, among other places, sell wouldn’t be taxed because they’re exempt.

Each percent up to the amount allowed by state law generates about $35 million in gross revenue annually, Hagen said.

A household with an income between $100,000 to $150,000 would be taxed about $49, according to county projections.

Similarly, the county has to decide whether it wants to include a dealer discount with the tax.

“The dealer discount would allow restaurants to retain a small fraction of the tax collected in order to offset their administration expenses,” Hagen said.

Offering a dealer discount also incentivizes restaurants to remit the tax to the county on time, he said.

About one-third of the tax would be paid by nonresidents, Hagen said, “so a food and beverage tax would shift some of the overall tax burden from the county off of our residents and on to nonresidents.”

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said his priority is “ensuring that it’s fair and equitable and that businesses are competing on a level playing field.”

Chairman Jeff McKay, meanwhile, said the tax wouldn’t solve what he described as its annual problem — determining how much money is necessary to fund Fairfax County schools.

“This is far from solving that,” McKay said. “The solution lies in the implementation of the recommendations of the (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission) study.”

McKay said that study finds the school system is underfunded by the state by over $580 million.

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

WJLA

By Nick Minock

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — Your breakfast, lunch, and dinner bill may go up in Fairfax County if the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors moves forward with implementing a food tax which many people in the restaurant industry oppose.

“This would be a permanent tax on food which I think is the last thing you want to tax,” Gary Cohen, with Glory Days Grill, told 7News.

This would apply to all sit-down restaurants and fast-food restaurants, but also supermarket buffets, gas station hot dogs, and even sushi made at the grocery store.

“I think it’s just crazy,” Waria Salhi, co-owner of Mezeh Mediterranean Grill said about the food tax proposal. “It’s not a very reasonable idea at this time especially when every cost went up. We are paying high rent, utilities is up, food cost up, labor is up, credit card processing is up, banking is up, [and] finances is up. And now we are going to get hit with this up to 6% additional? We are already paying 6%. When customers walk into the store, they’re already paying a 6% tax to the state. Now, Fairfax is thinking of adding 6%; that will make it 12% on the bill and that will make it very unaffordable for our residents.”

On Tuesday morning, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors again discussed implementing a food and beverage tax.

“I know that those meals taxes are all over the Commonwealth of Virginia, in very, very different places from Arlington County on down,” said Supervisor James Bierman.

Fairfax County voters rejected a food a beverage tax twice at the ballot box.

“Voters rejected this twice, so why are you open to this food tax?” 7News Reporter Nick Minock asked Supervisor Kathy Smith.

“Because we need to diversify revenue, and I tend to have when I’m through these processes, I keep an open mind,” answered Smith.

Fairfax County Chair Jeff McKay and the board started talking about implementing a food tax when Fairfax County had a $240 million surplus in 2024. Right now, Fairfax County is facing a nearly $300 million budget shortfall.

Cohen said if the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors passes a food tax, restaurants will have to raise their prices which will impact servers, bartenders, cooks, and customers.

“People have already started eating less, it shows in our numbers,” said Cohen. “I understand the government has a budget problem. I also think they have a spending problem.”

Tim Norton, with Great American Restaurants, said a food tax will hurt senior citizens and single parents living on fixed incomes.

“I was in Arlington County when they did implement the meals tax, and I had to explain to senior citizens that lived on fixed incomes, how am I supposed to afford to go out eat? The answer is, you can’t,” added Norton. “The single parents that are picking up roast chickens from the grocery store to feed their kids, or, you know, when parents work day versus night, their two shifts cross at night, they’re picking up meals and trying to get fast food for their family. It’s not fair to do that to people, and it’s just, as Gary said, they have a spending problem. They need to learn to balance the budget and stop taxing people. We don’t want it. We’ve said we don’t want it. They just don’t listen.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Fairfax County set up several new signs in an attempt to prevent the public from going near Fairfax County Chair Jeff McKay and county supervisors.

The signs say, “no unauthorized public access beyond this point.”

The signs were put up after 7News Reporter Nick Minock went up to McKay at a recent meeting and asked McKay questions about what is the county going to do to protect women and children who say they saw a male sex offender expose himself in female locker rooms at county rec centers. McKay didn’t answer Nick’s questions and walked away to avoid the questions.

On Tuesday, 7News asked the county about the new signs. A county spokesperson said Fairfax County continually reviews facility access and building security plans to ensure the safety of the public and staff. The county spokesperson told 7News that this is the first time they have used the signs and the county will be using the signs at meetings going forward.

Fairfax County Times

By Jared Wenzelburger

On Sept. 17, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors met with County Executive Bryan Hill and the Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget to discuss revenue diversification for the county.

Despite voters rejecting the idea in 1992 and 2016, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ most notable consideration is a countywide meals tax — but now, the new tax wouldn’t need to appear on a ballot. A Virginia state law passed in 2020 allowed jurisdictions to impose meal taxes without voter approval.

On May 21, the board of supervisors voted 9-1 to consider a meals tax between 1% and 6%, with Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity the only member to vote in opposition.

This proposal came weeks after the Board of Supervisors approved a nearly 6% increase in average homeowners’ taxes. According to a May 21 media release from Herrity’s office, the board denied Herrity’s suggestion for a “deep dive into the entire county budget.”

“Our residents have soundly rejected the meals tax in prior referendums,” Herrity said. “The board should be listening to its residents.”

If implemented, the meals tax would be a tax on food and beverages sold in restaurants in addition to current sales taxes. This includes cafes, cafeterias, taverns, delis, and anywhere ready-to-eat meals are sold. However, the tax would not affect grocery and vending machine prices.

According to a May 21 news release from the Board of Supervisors, the board aims to review “strategies to diversify (its) revenue base and reduce the over-reliance on the real estate tax.” According to the county taxing authority, real estate taxes currently make up nearly 66% of all general fund revenue for Fairfax County. 

“We are likely facing another challenging budget year,” Phil Hagen, director of the Department of Management and Budget, said during the September meeting. “The trend in recent years has been that employee compensation adjustments as well as school funding increases have left little flexibility for other priorities.”

County officials at the September meeting said they believe the county will continue to experience budget constraints in the next few years. In 2020, legislation was passed that allowed for expanded taxing authority and revenue diversification options for counties in Virginia. This includes the possibility of imposing additional taxes on transient occupancy, admissions, probate, and meals.

It is estimated that if these taxes are implemented at or near the maximum percentage, the county would generate nearly $226 million, representing 4% of general fund revenues.

Businesses and community members in the county continue to oppose the proposed meals tax. However, this time, the decision will likely rest with the board alone.

Waria Salhi, a partner with the Mezeh Mediterranean Grill, thinks new taxes are unnecessary and will hurt the pockets of Fairfax County residents.

“With a $261 million budget surplus, it is truly alarming that the Fairfax County Supervisors are considering imposing an additional food tax,” Salhi said. “Our community is already grappling with the heavy weight of high inflation and skyrocketing prices for groceries and daily necessities. Yet, Chairman Jeff McKay seems intent on squeezing more revenue from those who are already struggling to make ends meet.”

Salhi believes this represents “just how out of touch our county supervisors are with the very real challenges that families and small businesses face everyday.”

According to a paper published by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, a meal tax would most affect low to middle-income families, senior citizens, and restaurant workers. The paper said that when such taxes are imposed, employees’ wages often suffer.

Resident Chuck McAndrew addressed the carryover budget at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Sept. 24. He said the $260 million county carryover budget combined with the $142 million Fairfax County Public Schools carryover totaled $402 million.

“Some of this surplus should be returned to the overburdened taxpayer that pays real estate taxes,” he said, adding that he is adamantly opposed to a meals tax.

Of course, not everyone in Fairfax County opposes a meal tax. In May, multiple members of the Fairfax County Public Schools Board spoke out in support of the meal tax. One school board member expressed hope that funds raised with a meal tax would go directly into increasing salaries for faculty at public schools in the county.

“I’m generally supportive (of the meals tax), but I would want to see how it is designed and implemented,” said school board member Mateo Dunne, the Mount Vernon District representative. “If we’re going to impose a new tax we need to be thoughtful and make sure we’re focusing the tax on solving real problems. Otherwise (Fairfax County) shouldn’t impose a tax at all.”

Dunne said a good chunk of the meal tax revenue would come from tourists and commuters outside Fairfax County.

“That would represent free money for Fairfax County,” Dunne said. “Ideally, what I would like to see is 100% of that money … used for teacher and support staff salaries.”

Some jurisdictions in and around Fairfax County, including the City of Fairfax and the Town of Vienna, already have a meal tax. This tax can fund various things, such as parks, libraries, and education. However, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has yet to detail what exactly the money would be used for.

The next budget committee meeting, a joint meeting with the Fairfax County Public Schools, is scheduled for Nov. 26, at 3 p.m. in Conference Room 11 in the Government Center to discuss the joint Fiscal Year 2026 budget forecast.

WJLA

By Nick Minock

FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — If Fairfax County has a $240 million surplus, why is Fairfax County Board Chair Jeff McKay and the board of supervisors considering implementing a food tax in the county?

It’s a question several people asked this week as McKay and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors decided to spend the county’s multi-million surplus on projects instead of giving tax relief to families.

This year, Fairfax County’s surplus is so large that if the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors wanted to, they could send a $200 check to every man, woman and child in the county.

McKay and county supervisors, who appear to be interested in implementing a food tax, said they want to diversify the county’s revenue and give more money to schools.

“To try to provide adequate funding for FCPS which is the driver of our economy,” McKay said last week. “That $586.7 million hole that the state has created that is money we should be getting based on their own analysis has to be filled by something if we want to have the school system we want to have.”

“Sixty-six percent of our revenues is from the real estate tax. That’s too high,” Fairfax County Supervisor Walter Alcorn said last week. “It is just too high. And as hard as it is we have to find ways to diversify our tax structure locally.”

Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity is the only supervisor on the board who has publicly said he will not support passing a food tax.

Right now, McKay and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are considering implementing an up to 6% food tax on all prepared meals. This would be included on your bill if you dine out in Fairfax County. If you buy fast food, you’d pay the tax. And if you buy a hot dog at a gas station or hit a grocery store buffet, you’d pay the tax.

The Commonwealth of Virginia already has a sales tax.

On Tuesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors heard from residents who asked them to reconsider implementing a food tax, especially when the county has a $240 million surplus.

“Dining out is already more expensive than it has ever been. Running a restaurant is more expensive, right, than it’s ever been,” said Che Ruddell-Tabisola with the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. “Now, is not the time to further drive up those prices with a meal tax.”

One restaurant owner who was born and raised in Fairfax County and employs more than 1,000 employees asked the board not to pass a food tax.

“It affects my employees,” said Fouad Qreitem, the owner of Paisanos. “It affects my team members who live a lot of times paycheck to paycheck. I would ask you to just mindfully reconsider and try to find the money elsewhere.”

One Fairfax County resident told the board a food tax would lead to more food insecurity in the county and impact low-income residents the most.

“I help contribute to the distribution of 2,500 free meals a day, six days a week,” said Timmy Norton with Great American Restaurants. “I can tell you, from the bottom of my heart, that the need for these meals are great, and a meal tax will increase the food insecurity in Fairfax County. Also, restaurant employees will be dramatically affected negatively by a meals tax.”

“And guys, we’re supposed to be a team here, where it’s not you versus us,” Norton told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. “We’re supposed to work together. And honestly, I don’t think you guys are representing us at all. You don’t hear constituents talking to you.”

The county is spending some of its surplus on public school construction, parks and recreation, bicycle and pedestrian transportation improvements, IT project support, and a fire and rescue department pharmacy. You can see the full list of projects here.

“Every turn that we have, taxes seem to go up, and it seems to be less affordable for me to live in this county,” Bredan Rife, a Reston resident and restaurant manager told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. “As it pertains to the meals tax that the board is looking to implement in the Fiscal Year 2025 or further in the future, it’s just going to make it more and more unaffordable for all of our residents to live in this. The people of Fairfax have voted, and they’ve adamantly shot down this meals tax.”

Fairfax County residents have rejected food tax proposals twice at the ballot box, but McKay and Fairfax County Supervisors appear to want to move forward with a food tax despite what voters think.

Several jurisdictions in Virginia have food taxes, also known as a “meal tax.”

In Alexandria, the food tax generated $31.6 million for the city in fiscal year 2024, and in Falls Church, their food tax generated $5.6 million for the city.

The food tax in Prince William County generated $44.9 million in fiscal year 2024.

And in 2023, the Washington, D.C. Meals Tax generated $553.6 million for the city.

WJLA

By Nick Minock

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — Your breakfast, lunch, and dinner bill may go up in Fairfax County if the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors moves forward with implementing a food tax which many people in the restaurant industry oppose.

“This would be a permanent tax on food which I think is the last thing you want to tax,” Gary Cohen, with Glory Days Grill, told 7News.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Chair Jeff McKay are considering a food tax on all prepared foods despite Fairfax County voters rejecting the tax at the ballot box twice.

This would apply to all sit-down restaurants and fast-food restaurants, but also supermarket buffets, gas station hot dogs, and even sushi made at the grocery store.

“I think it’s just crazy,” Waria Salhi, Co-Owner of Mezeh Mediterranean Grill said about the food tax proposal. “It’s not a very reasonable idea at this time especially when every cost went up. We are paying high rent, utilities is up, food cost up, labor is up, credit card processing is up, banking is up, [and] finances is up. And now we are going to get hit with this up to 6% additional? We are already paying 6%. When customers walk into the store, they’re already paying a 6% tax to the state. Now, Fairfax is thinking of adding 6%; that will make it 12% on the bill and that will make it very unaffordable for our residents.”

On Tuesday, restaurant owners, chefs, and servers protested outside the Fairfax County Government Center where the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors discussed implementing a food tax in the county.

“Sixty-six percent of our revenues is from the real estate tax,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Walter Alcorn. “That’s too high. It is just too high. And as hard as it is we have to find ways to diversify our tax structure locally.”

This week, county staff informed the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors that a 6% food tax would generate close to $200 million.

“It’s responsible for us to look at options to consider,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Rodney Lusk. “The opportunity here is to identify what options we might have other than the residential tax rate as a way to provide the critical services.”

“I appreciate the point that new revenue sources could reduce the reliance on real estate taxes that people pay here in Fairfax County,” added Lusk.

“If this board directs me and or staff to move forward, we will do a marketing outreach plan as well,” said Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill.

Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity raised concerns about the county’s marketing plan for the food tax.

“It’s all about how we are going to sell these taxes to our residents,” said Herrity. “It’s not about getting the impact from our residents and our businesses. I don’t see anything in these two slides that talks about us being in receive mode. We’ve already been in receive mode with the meals tax because our residents told us twice we don’t want it. Overwhelmingly twice.”

Fairfax County voters rejected a food tax twice and now Fairfax County Board Chair McKay and supervisors are looking at implementing a food tax despite what voters think.

McKay said he wants to diversify county revenue and give more tax money to schools.

“ to try to provide adequate funding for FCPS which is the driver of our economy,” said McKay. “That $586.7 million hole that the state has created that is money we should be getting based on their own analysis has to be filled by something if we want to have the school system we want to have.”

“At the end of the day, we get dealt a hand of cards,” added McKay. “How we play that hand of cards is really important. And looking for ways to make sure we are maximizing opportunities to bring revenue in from non-Fairfax county residents is an important part of that.”

NBC Washington

By Julie Carey

Restaurant workers demonstrated outside the Fairfax County, Virginia, government center Tuesday in opposition to a meals tax being considered by the Board of Supervisors to increase county revenue.

A meals tax would be assessed on all prepared foods – including drinks sold along with them – from restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, food carts and ready-to-eat grocery items.

At 1%, a meals tax would generate $33 million. The top rate allowed – 6% – would mean $198 million.

Kyle Schoenberger said he opposes any sort of meals tax because he believes it could hurt the restaurant he works for and, in turn, his livelihood.

“We’ve also heard feedback from people in terms of how much they’d still go out if the tax is raised, and that would affect our income as well,” he said.

Timmy Norton of the restaurant group Great American Restaurants said he’s concerned about the impact on lower income residents who spend a bigger percentage of their budget on prepared foods.

“I don’t think this is a necessary tax, because, again, it’s a single-industry tax that is solely going to impact lower-middle class folks and working class folks the most,” he said.

In a budget committee session Tuesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors wanted to get a fuller picture of how adding several other types of taxes might work to slightly shift the heavy reliance on property taxes.

“All we signaled was to get the information today,” Chairman Jeff McKay said.

Supervisors say a meals tax could ease the burden on property owners.

“The opportunity here is to identify what options we might have other than the residential tax rate as a way to provide for some of the critical services,” Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said.

Many Northern Virginia jurisdictions – including Arlington, Alexandria and Prince William County – already have food taxes, ranging from 3% to 5%.

If the Board does decide to move ahead with the tax, the staff recommends doing it as part of next year’s budget process, meaning a possible vote in spring 2025. If it wins approval, the earliest it could be collected would be January 2026.

Washington Examiner

By Stephanie Lundquist-Arora

Fairfax County, Virginia’s Democrats and Republicans do not agree on much, but they are joining hands across the political chasm to oppose the meals tax.

Fairfax County’s referenda to implement a meals tax, a fee imposed on the purchase of all prepared, ready-to-eat food and beverages, have failed on the ballots in 1992 (58% opposing) and 2016 (56% opposing). Beginning in 2020, the Virginia General Assembly, in all of its wisdom, allowed localities to pass such a tax without putting a referendum on the ballot directly to the voters.

So, in May 2024, the Fairfax Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 to circumvent the public and vote on a meals tax between 1% and 6%. Residents expect the plan to be presented at the Budget Committee meeting on Sept. 17 and voted on at a subsequent board meeting this year.

Not only is this initiative anti-democratic, given voters’ previous rejection of it, but the meals tax is also regressive. For a group of politicians that speak incessantly about equity, they do not seem to care that this would create a substantial burden for all residents and particularly for lower-income households.

Additionally, the meals tax will likely put many restaurants out of business. In case the draconian pandemic policies were not enough to end Fairfax families’ dreams of running their own businesses, the local government will continue the mission of forcing permanent closures with the burden of the meals tax.

Waria Salhi, a partner with Mezeh Mediterranean Grill, said, “I think it’s crazy at this time when inflation is already high, and people are barely making ends meet, and now you hit them with this tax?”

About 100 local restaurant owners join Salhi in his view and have created a group called Stop the Food Tax. 

This burdensome tax is in addition to the Board of Supervisors’s decision to increase the average homeowner’s taxes this year by 6%. According to a press release from Supervisor Pat Herrity, who is the only board member to vote against considering the meals tax, these recent burdens fall on top of a 56% homeowner’s tax increase over the last 10 years.

And can we honestly say that our local government services have improved with the skyrocketing tax burden? Absolutely not.

Fairfax County’s public schools, which account for more than half of the tax burden, have declined significantly. Test scores have plummeted, chronic absenteeism and dropout rates are astronomically high, and six high schools are on the verge of losing accreditation.

Meanwhile, violent crime in Fairfax County increased 8.7% in 2023, the seventh most significant increase in the country.

Both the decline in school performance and the increase in violent crime coincide with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’s “Trust Policy,” passed in January 2021, to make Fairfax County a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.

While our property taxes are covering the costs of the county’s sanctuary policy and Fairfax families are struggling with inflation, Jeff McKay, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, has voted to increase the salaries for himself and his other part-time elected colleagues substantially. In 2024, McKay’s salary increased by 45%, to $145,000. At the same time, the other members of the board voted to increase their part-time annual salaries from $95,000 to $130,000. Fairfax County’s taxpayers are also paying for McKay’s car, gas, tolls, and oil changes.

If it seems like children have taken over the local budget, that’s because they have. Who else but a child would think it’s OK to drown residents in tax burdens and give yourself a 45% raise and a free car? 

Many Fairfax voters are rightfully shocked about the county’s proposed meals tax, but we should have been appalled a long time ago.

Stephanie Lundquist-Arora is a contributor for the Washington Examiner, a mother in Fairfax County, Virginia, an author, and the Fairfax chapter leader of the Independent Women’s Network.