“Difficult News” For Fairfax County From Their County Exec.
This makes you wonder not only how much Fairfax has been overspending over lo these many years (a Gerry Connolly legacy?), but also how the consequences of Obamacare are affecting them. This could be Obama’s WAR on Fairfax County, Virginia, and other locales…
From: County Executive Ed Long
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2012 10:43 AM
To: All Fairfax County
Subject: Difficult NewsAs we continue to hear every day, our nation’s economy is recovering slowly, and this national situation impacts Fairfax County as well. So far this year, our local economic indicators point to much slower growth than we hoped. In addition, it is far from clear how the federal budget deficit will be addressed in the coming months.
As a result, we are projecting budget shortfalls for the next two fiscal years, FY 2014 and FY 2015, and I have asked every agency director to work with employees to find new and creative ways to cut their budget by 5 percent during each of the next two budgets. As they look for ways to trim programs and services, this could mean that positions will be cut.
I am also evaluating for FY 2014 and FY 2015 the county’s options to fund employee compensation and rising benefit costs, particularly for health insurance. Our latest experience indicates that health claims expenditures are increasing at a higher rate than previously projected, and the cost of insurance for both employees and the county will rise. We are going to need to critically evaluate the balance between service delivery, compensation and benefits, and the tax burden on our residents.
I know that many of the reductions will significantly impact the ability of county agencies to provide services. The impact of these reductions on service delivery will be clearly defined and agencies will also need to identify efficiencies through continued process improvement and collaboration that can offset reductions.
To help us deal with the difficult times ahead, I am implementing a multi-year budget process to provide more insight into how decisions in the budget year will impact the following year. This multi-year budget will serve as a planning tool to provide county decision-makers with a broader perspective of issues and array of options for balancing the FY 2014 budget while being aware of the FY 2015 budget impact.
It would be much easier to be a high performance organization in an environment of ample resources. We’ve all been asked to do more with less before, and since the economy is cyclical, we can expect a few more years before revenues improve. Team Fairfax has demonstrated time and time again that we can adjust to changing conditions and continue to manage well in lean times.
I appreciate the diligent efforts you have made to find ways to streamline operations as well as offer thoughtful suggestions for budget reductions. These past few years have demonstrated more clearly than ever that we cannot sustain all of the services we would like to provide with unreliable revenue growth. Nevertheless, we are strongly committed to doing our best to keep Fairfax County a desirable place in which to live, work and play. I truly appreciate all your efforts in addressing ongoing budget challenges; our success in responding to the uneven economic recovery has brought credit to all who serve the public.
We will continue to evolve as an excellent organization despite fiscal, service and personnel challenges. Thank you for your fine work and dedication.
Ed Long
County Executive
3 Responses to ““Difficult News” For Fairfax County From Their County Exec.”
I moved from Fairfax due to Connolly-spending to what I thought was a fiscally sound Loudoun (stupid me). But I have to hand it to Fairfax, Mr. Long, and any government official who sounds the warning in advance instead of after the fact. And a gold star for using the phrase “the tax burden on our residents” as opposed to Tim Kaine’s preferred term: “investments”. 5% isn’t much, but at least they are cutting first instead of raising taxes. NoVa has had a free ride for quite a while since Virginia is the #2 (actually this year I think we’re #1) recipient of federal procurement dollars. However, the Obama Administration and 90% of Congress have tried to create a painless correction by using stimulus and cheap money. One has to wonder how bad it will get nationally. But from this memo, unfortunately it looks like the downturn is coming to NoVa. And to pick at the Silver Line scab again, this is why so many of us were all over the Loudoun BOS to rein in spending before we were forced to do so.
Fairfax County’s general obligation (GO) bonds are rated AAA, just as are Prince William County’s, as Corey so often reminds us. Keep in mind that local GO bonds are not rated the same way corporate bonds are rated. Fairfax and Prince William are both AAA on their GO bonds because of the large number middle- and upper-income people living in those counties. GO bonds put the full taxing power of the local government behind the bonds. Businesses can’t just raise taxes to get more revenue.
Next time you hear Corey, Peacor, or any them crowing about AAA bonds, remember that they have that rating only because the rating agencies are convinced that our community has enough people with pockets deep enough to pay more taxes, and the Board and Peacor are willing to take it from us.
Prince William County’s economy is a disaster when you look in detail at the numbers. We’re doing as well as we are because so many County residents have good jobs in DC, Fairfax, and elsewhere. If the Federal government does start cutting defense and other areas, employment of both Federal and contract workers will plummet. The Board and Peacor are setting us up for a diaster because lacking those jobs, and high-income earners losing their jobs, the taxes on people who still are working will sky-rocket.
Meantime, the Board and Peacor are saddling us up with huge amounts of additional debt, mostly to build “infrastructure” (roads and such) that their supporters in the residential development industry want.
Excellent points!! Also, hasnt PWC had a AAA rating for several years? Not in every year, but going back, we have had this in many years – and for the reason that Howard mentions – many high-salaried citizens. And yes, we may be in for a reduction depending on how the federal budget workds out…..
Comments are closed.