Message from Supervisor McKay

As the Board of Supervisors worked to balance its budget for the coming fiscal year that begins on July 1, I was very concerned about losing our Strike Team momentum. Protecting our communities from illegal boarding houses and zoning violations is one of my highest priorities. I am pleased that my colleagues recognized the work that our Strike Teams are doing to protect our neighborhoods and agreed to my request o increase funding by $1.25 million for a third Strike Team.

I would also like to share my budget press release with you.

Objects in the Mirror May be Closer Than They Appear

The object fast moving up on us is a projected $350 million dollar deficit in fiscal year 2010. This morning, the Board of Supervisors approved a $3.35 billion budget with a three-cent increase in the residential and an 11 cent increase in the commercial property tax rates.

The budget constraints that we face this year pale in comparison with the projections for next year. And that $350 million deficit could go considerably higher if property values continue to decline and food, fuel, and raw materials increase. We dodged a bullet this year. The steep drop in property values allowed us to increase the tax rate by a modest 3 cents without unduly harming homeowners who over the past five years have seen their property tax bills skyrocket.

Our County taxpayers are being hit with high fuel costs, food costs, record home foreclosures, and are tightening their household belts. They cannot afford a huge tax increase next year to overcome a County budget shortfall of this magnitude.

It would be foolish to think that we can replay that financial maneuver again next year. This year, we nibbled around the edges without curtailing needed services and still managed to overcome a $175 million budget deficit. Next year, we will be looking at cuts in services that will affect every Fairfax County resident—from the youngest schoolchild to the oldest senior.

While the County Board has committed to a serious line of business review, I am concerned because I have not heard a similar firm commitment from our colleagues on the School Board. Education is the Board’s highest priority and this year 53.13 percent of our general fund has been allocated to the schools—up from 52.3 percent last year.

I ask my School Board colleagues to engage in a rigorous line of business review that looks at every component of the school budget. Since the school’s budget is the lion’s share of our County budget, it’s obvious that changes are mandatory on the school side. This year, many core County services took cuts while the school system got a $40 million increase above County budget guidelines. There’s no way around it—we must educate our children without severe damage to other core County services that we provide—from police and fire, to human services, code enforcement, public works, environmental improvements, libraries, parks, and so many others.

The County board cannot do this alone—Schools and County are in this together and need to work as a team if we are to ride out this coming storm. I look forward to a rigorous review with the Schools so that together we can weather the coming financial storm.

Summary of April 14 Lee District
Land Use Advisory Committee

New Parking Restrictions for Mount Vernon District

Beginning May 1, police will ticket vehicles parked in violated of the new "Community Parking District" (CPD) regulations recently established in the Mount Vernon Magisterial District. (Note that Stoneybrooke is in Lee District, so this is an FYI.)

According to the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs, a "tow tag," a warning ticket, and an informational flier will be attached to the vehicle in violation of the new regulations. The owner will have 48 hours to move the vehicle, after which it will be towed.

Vehicles that are not allowed to park on public streets in the Mount Vernon District now are:

• Boat trailers
• Watercraft
• Motor homes
• Camping trailers
• Trailer or semi-trailer, even if attached to a vehicle
• Vehicle with three or more axles
• Vehicle with a gross weight (GVWR) or 12,000 pounds or more

Vehicle transporting 16 or more passengers (except school buses)

There is an exemption for vehicles temporarily parked (for up to 48 hours) for the purpose of loading, unloading or preparing for a trip.

Neighborhood Watch News

First, be aware that the warm-weather car break-ins are on the rise again and working their way to our neck of the woods. This time the apparent “prize of choice” is GPS units and iPods and the like. So if it’s movable, be sure to cover these items from view and keep your car doors locked, especially at night. Items such as radios and CD players are not as desirable judging from the crime statistics, but if they’re visible and readily assessable, they’ll most likely be targeted as well. The usual mode of operation for these thieves is to have one driver park the car without lights on a street where they can easily get away if alerted, and the others go down the neighboring streets checking for unlocked cars. They get what they can get in a hurry, and flee the scene once they’ve returned to their waiting driver. The whole operation can take just minutes.

Of course, there is always the dedicated thief who takes his time, and may be well-equipped to break-in even the most secure of cars/trucks. For this particular threat, it would be prudent to ensure you don’t leave any high-priced items in your vehicle, such as laptops, etc., especially in full view from the outside. This kind of thief doesn’t like to work in the lights, so it’s good to leave your porch lights burning at night – front and back if you have them. What’s the price of replacing your outdoor lights from time to time compared to the cost of your laptop or your car window for that matter?

If some of you are wondering why I’m going around (marked with my FCPD hat and NW Shirt) introducing myself to all the dogs walking their owners, it’s in preparation for our celebration of “National Night Out”, the nation-wide effort to take back our streets, this year to take place on August 5th. That’s a Tuesday. Each participating neighborhood – especially those with a Watch Program of sorts – celebrates in one of many ways. For our neighborhood, we’re planning on holding a “Dog-Walk”. So on August 5th, expect to see a lot of dogs out walking at about the same time, maybe twice during the event. Hopefully, you’ll take this opportunity to go outside and greet some of your neighboring dogs with their owners, and thank them for providing some degree of “presence” (in addition to lights, thieves don’t like dogs around when they do their thing, either!). MORE TO COME!

On the bright side, we have a pretty quiet neighborhood, at least once all the contractors leave for the night. Let’s try and keep our neighborhood a “tough target” by locking our car doors and leaving on our porch lights. AND, I can always use some help with our Neighborhood Watch Committee. Please consider giving me a call and we can talk it over. But there will be some training involved, as there is some expectation that we know what we are doing.

Don Faxon
Neighborhood Watch Coordinator
571-481-4989