Anti-Casino Amendment Voted On By Fairfax Board Of Supervisors

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday morning to add language to its 2026 Legislative Program expressing opposition to potential legislation in the Virginia General Assembly that would pave the way for a casino to be built in Tysons.

During the regular board meeting, Supervisor Walter Alcorn (D-Hunter Mill) — who is one of the few supervisors to oppose casino legislation publicly — introduced the following amendment to the legislative program:

"Oppose legislation in the General Assembly that authorizes a casino in Fairfax County without any request for such legislation from the Board of Supervisors, without implementation of a statewide Gaming Commission, and without a tax revenue split that substantially benefits Fairfax County as opposed to the Commonwealth. The designation and location of a casino is inherently a major land use decision and General Assembly intervention in Fairfax County’s land use processes would undermine decades of community consensus and economic success."

The supervisors voted 5 to 4 to add Alcorn's amendment to its legislative program, with Supervisors Pat Herrity (R-Springfield), Andres Jimenez (D-Mason), Dan Storck (D-Mount Vernon), and Kathy Smith (D-Sully) voting in opposition. The overall legislative package was adopted on a 9-1 vote, with Herrity voting "No."

Prior to voting on Alcorn's amendment, the board unanimously voted to include an updated letter from Board Chair Jeff McKay (D-At-Large), outlining the board's position if casino legislation advances in the general assembly, which begins on Jan. 14.

Read Patch's reporting on the plan to build a casino on Metro's Silver Line in Fairfax County at our page dedicated to the Silver Line Casino proposal.

"As you are aware, the legislation cited set the parameters around the location of a potential
casino, which is inherently a major land use decision," the letter said. "GA intervention into our land use process would undermine a fundamental local government responsibility to work directly with the community to responsibly manage economic growth — something we do very well in Fairfax County.

"I want to be very clear that if any bill gains traction or is passed by the GA it is this Board’s
position that it be subject to a referendum voted on by Fairfax County residents. Equally
important is that the Board is afforded the authority to decide the timeline for when such a
referendum would take place. Furthermore, in response to overwhelming citizen testimony and keeping in line with responsible governance, the Board wholeheartedly supports the implementation of a statewide Gaming Commission before any casino proposal could move forward."

This was the strongest position county lawmakers have taken to date on this issue since the project was first proposed in January 2023. Scroll down to view the full text of McKay's letter.

During the 2025 legislative session, Chairman Jeff McKay wrote a letter to leaders in the Virginia General Assembly to focus on education funding rather than a casino in Tysons.

“Fairfax County has not historically opposed legislation that provides local governments with a new option or authority, even if we do not intend to exercise that new option or authority," the letter said. "Similarly, we do not seek or ask the General Assembly to provide a new authority unless we intend to seriously consider implementing such authority.

"Unlike other jurisdictions that received the authority to hold a referendum to host a casino, Fairfax County did not seek such authority and has not been substantively involved in the development of the casino concept envisioned by stakeholders and the patrons of SB 982.”

Also See ...

• Anti-Casino Stand To Be Considered By Fairfax Supervisors
• Tysons Casino Bill Killed For 2025 VA Legislative Session
• No Fairfax Casino Group Supports VA Gaming Commission
• $2.5M Spent By Tysons Casino Backer On Lobbyists, Donations

Last January, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon) introduced Senate Bill 982, shepherding it through the Gaming Subcommittee and the General Laws & Technology and Appropriations Committees. Sens. Lamont Bagby (D-Richmond), Stella Pekarsky (D-Centreville) and Todd Pillion (R-Abington) served as the bill sponsors.

“We need this kind of project in Fairfax County to bring tourists, come and spend their money in our state, to support our Metro and support our economy,” Surovell told the subcommittee. “For the state in authorizing this, there's $2.3 billion per decade of money for school construction, a lot more of that for the general fund."

SB 982 failed for the 2025 session after a House of Delegates subcommittee in February declined to consider the legislation.

So far, no state senator or delegate has pre-filed legislation for the 2026 session that would give the board of supervisors the ability to add a casino referendum to a future ballot.

In a recent email to constituents, State Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D) said it was her understanding that the casino referendum bill would be re-introduced, and she would again strongly oppose it.

"In poll after poll, as well as feedback I regularly receive in my community, there continues to be overwhelmingly strong opposition among voters, especially in Dranesville and Hunter Mill, communities I represent," she said. "Rarely has there been a more unifying issue bringing Democrats, Republicans and Independent voters together than in saying No to a Casino in Northern Fairfax County."

In February, Democrats voted unanimously to remove Boysko as chair of the Senate Rules Committee for testifying against the casino bill in the House of Delegates.

Comstock Holding Companies, a Reston-based developer, has spent more than $2.5 million since 2023 in a bid to pass legislation allowing a casino to be built on Metro's Silver Line outside the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County.

The project would include a 4 million-square-foot entertainment district in Tysons that would feature a high-end hotel with gaming floor, convention center, concert venue, restaurants, retail, and workforce housing. In addition, 200,000 square feet of the district would be dedicated to a casino.

During the 2023 legislative session, Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke) and Del. Wren Williams (R-Stuart) introduced nearly identical bills in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly seeking to give the board of supervisors the authority to put a casino referendum on a future ballot. The bills were quickly withdrawn following public backlash against the legislation.

Marsden reintroduced the referendum legislation as Senate Bill 675 in January 2024, but the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations voted to hold it over to the 2025 session. The final version of the bill included language which narrowed the location of the proposed casino to Tysons.

Here is the full text of the letter Chairman Jeff McKay (D-At-Large) submitted on behalf of the board at its regular meeting on Tuesday.

December 9, 2025

Speaker Don Scott, House of Delegates

Delegate Charniele Herring, House Majority Leader
Delegate Terry Kilgore, House Minority Leader
Senator Scott Surovell, Senate Majority Leader
Senator Ryan McDougle, Senate Minority Leader

Dear General Assembly Leaders,

Thank you for your service to our Commonwealth. I am writing again this year to reiterate the legislative principles of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ (Board) and the relationship of those principles to any potential legislation involving a casino in Fairfax County. Prior bills in General Assembly (GA) sessions and the possibility of future legislation have been discussed by our Board—most recently at our Legislative Committee and Board meetings on December 2nd and 9th, respectively. This letter is a summation of those discussions and a follow-up to the letter I sent in January of this year.

Some proponents of this legislation have sought to link the proceeds of a casino to a reduction in real estate taxes. We want to be very clear that the largest driver of increases in real estate taxes in the County is the shortfall in state funding for K-12 education, as identified in your Joint

Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study. Should the Commonwealth fully
fund its obligations to fund public education, the County would receive an additional $568.7
million annually, the equivalent of 17.5 cents on our real estate taxes. This is of course if Virginia decided to fund education to the national average. This could in turn save homeowners an average of $1,300 on their tax bills (these figures are based on the JLARC study at the time it was published).

Our Board also commissioned the Center for Economic and Policy Studies, Weldon Cooper
Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia to conduct a revenues and returns analysis for Fairfax County, which can be found here: Fairfax County - Revenues and Returns Analysis

The study examined direct and indirect funding to provide a contextual assessment regarding state funds that are generated in and those returned to Fairfax County. The findings concluded that Fairfax County sees a return of 22 cents directly, if you include all indirect benefits that increases to 50 cents, on every dollar that we generate for the state. While Fairfax County is proud to support our fellow Virginians, the study’s findings underscore the need for fundamental tax reform within the Commonwealth to ensure sustainable revenue streams and to provide localities with revenue diversification that reflects a 21st century economy.

Salient in this discussion is what has transpired over the last year with actions taken by the
federal government that directly attack Fairfax County’s economy. The chaos it has created for the federal workforce and federal contractors and well as many local businesses is now well documented. Despite this, Fairfax County is working day and night to create jobs and attract businesses locally. In fact, over the last several years Fairfax County has retained and created 28,000 jobs, 90% of which were led by efforts locally—and in some instances we have outpaced the Commonwealth as a whole.

This economic instability coupled with the aforementioned study undergird the reality we are experiencing, and permanent financial solutions are essential to Fairfax County.

Collaborating on systemic changes to modernize our tax system provides us a collective opportunity to remedy these issues at their core as opposed to one off and potentially temporary solutions. Any new authority the state is considering granting the County to generate revenue must be considered in this long-term context.

This year, the Board’s legislative program outlines our overall priorities/initiatives on the budget and position statements on key issues such as education, land use, health and wellness, and human services. Among these is our long-standing and fundamental priority and principle for Fairfax County to retain our local authority.

Previous legislation would have added Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible to host a
casino. That legislation provided that any proposed site for a casino gaming establishment
considered by Fairfax County shall be:

(i) located within one-quarter of a mile of an existing station on the Metro Silver Line, (ii) part of a coordinated mixed-use project development, (iii) within two miles of a regional enclosed mall containing not less than 1.5 million square feet of gross building area, and (iv) outside of the Interstate 495 Beltway.

As you are aware, the legislation cited set the parameters around the location of a potential
casino, which is inherently a major land use decision. GA intervention into our land use process would undermine a fundamental local government responsibility to work directly with the community to responsibly manage economic growth—something we do very well in Fairfax County.

I want to be very clear that if any bill gains traction or is passed by the GA it is this Board’s
position that it be subject to a referendum voted on by Fairfax County residents. Equally
important is that the Board is afforded the authority to decide the timeline for when such a
referendum would take place. Furthermore, in response to overwhelming citizen testimony and keeping in line with responsible governance, the Board wholeheartedly supports the implementation of a statewide Gaming Commission before any casino proposal could move forward.

It must also be noted that Fairfax County has not historically opposed legislation that provides local governments with any new local authority, even if we do not intend to utilize it. Similarly, we do not as a matter of principle seek or ask the GA to provide new authority unless we intend on applying it. To provide further clarification, Fairfax County has not been substantively involved in the development of the casino concept envisioned by patrons of previous legislation and prospective stakeholders, nor have we requested such authority.
We understand the Commonwealth’s desire to collect additional state tax revenue, but we know our residents would not accept the revenue share prescribed in the current statute or previously proposed legislation. This is especially relevant given that the proscribed locations where a casino could be built have the potential to generate significant local tax revenue without a casino.

Furthermore, because there has not been an independent analysis of revenue projections specific to this proposal, the County is unable to determine whether or not this proposal presents a good financial deal for Fairfax County residents.

Thank you again for your service to our Commonwealth and for the opportunity to share our perspective on this issue.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey C. McKay
Chairman