Higher Advertised Real Estate Tax Rate Adopted By Fairfax City Council

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Fairfax City property owners have a better idea of how much they will spend on real estate taxes next year.

On Tuesday night, the Fairfax City Council voted 4-2 to approve an advertised real estate tax rate of $1.150 per $100 of assessed value. This will be the highest rate the council will be able to vote for when they vote on the final budget on May 6.

Council members Anthony Amos, Billy Bates, Stacey Hardy-Hardy Chandler and Rachel McQuillen voted in favor of the $1.150 advertised tax rate, with Stacy Hall and Tom Peterson voting against it.

The advertised rate the council adopted was $0.025 higher than the $1.125 rate acting City Manager Bryan Foster recommended in his proposed fiscal year 2026 plan, which he submitted to the council on Feb. 27.

Foster’s suggested rate was already a $0.095 increase to the current real estate tax rate of $1.030. The advertised rate of $1.150 adopted by the council was a $0.120 increase from the current tax rate.

The idea of raising the advertised real estate rate beyond the rate recommended by Foster came up during a work session discussion that took place right before council members voted on the advertised budget.

Foster suggested the council consider adopting a higher rate than he originally recommended in order to give the council flexibility in case the current economic uncertainty leads to a recession or some other unforeseen event before the final vote in May.

“Ultimately, the end point that we need tonight is for council to make a motion and pass the resolution that will state what the advertised rate’s going to be, because you can always adopt less, you cannot adopt higher,” he said.

FY2026 Advertised Budget Proposal (Adopted: 3/11/2025)

• Real Estate Tax rate = $1.150 ($0.120 increase).
• Meals tax rate = 6 percent (increase from 4 percent; first increase in 21 years).
• $71,427,547 for the City School Board’s tuition contract with Fairfax County Public Schools.
• $3 million allocation to schools to begin school bond program.
• 6 percent rate increase for both the Wastewater and Stormwater Utilities.
• Fully fund 130 Capital Improvement Program projects = $105.1 million for FY2026 and forecasting $618.3 million for FY2026-30. Project categories include:
• Recreation $10.3 million
• Transportation $30.6 million
• Wastewater $11.8 million
• General Government Projects $24.5 million
• 3.5 percent merit increase for eligible general pay scale employees
• Annual step increase for public safety personnel (police and fire).

Several Fairfax City property owners spoke during Tuesday night’s meeting to let the council know how much they opposed the $1.125 real estate tax rate originally proposed by the city manager in February.

“Over the past two years, my property tax has increased by 32 percent,” said Don Pitchford. “Many of my neighbors are over 40 percent. These are significant increases that place immense financial pressure on families, seniors, retirees, the very people who built this city and invested our lives here.”

City residents have several opportunities to provide feedback on the FY2026 budget over the next month, including a budget town hall meeting on April 2.

FY26 Budget Review Schedule

• March 25: Public hearing
• April 1: Work session
• April 2: Budget Town Hall meeting, 4-7 p.m., Sherwood Center
• April 8: Public hearing, work session, introduction of proposed C&I, wastewater, stormwater utility, and Old Town Service District rates
• April 22: Public hearing for proposed real estate tax rate, C&I, wastewater, stormwater utility, and Old Town Service District rates; introduction of the FY 2026 proposed budget appropriations; FY 2025 quarterly financial review; work session
• May 6: Public hearing on proposed FY 2026 budget appropriations; budget adoption