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The Fairfax County School Board has unanimously asked the Board of Supervisors to evaluate the potential benefits of asking voters to approve a 1% sales-tax increase for school construction and renovation.
No referendum has been scheduled. A provision in Virginia’s recently adopted budget gives local jurisdictions authority to hold referendums on such an increase, with the resulting revenue dedicated to school construction and renovation projects.
The School Board’s request begins a potential review rather than placing the proposal directly before voters. It comes as Fairfax County Public Schools officials report a $400 million backlog in deferred maintenance and a widening gap between the division’s renovation goals and the pace of its current program.
County policy calls for renovating school campuses every 25 years, but the program has been operating on a cycle of approximately 42 years. School Board member Mateo Dunne said some building systems and outdoor facilities require attention even more frequently.
“Realistically, we need to update our electrical, our HVAC, our plumbing and other infrastructure far more frequently, including playgrounds and asphalt parking lots, because they don’t last as long as 25 years without updates,” Dunne said.
Karl Frisch described the funding challenge as a recurring problem for the board.
“Every year, this board confronts aging buildings, deferred maintenance, rising construction costs and the growing gap between what our students deserve and what our capital funding can support, while ensuring Fairfax County maintains its AAA bond rating,” Frisch said.
School Board member Melanie Meren presented the proposed funding mechanism as an alternative to repeatedly relying on taxes paid by homeowners to cover school facility needs.
“This is relief from the relentless use of homeowner tax to fill the gap from the state to fund our public school facilities that benefit all Fairfax residents, whether they have children in schools or not,” Meren said.
Any referendum would require action by the Board of Supervisors. Its chair, Jeff McKay, has already said he would not support putting the measure on the ballot in 2026, pointing to rising household costs and the absence of a full review by supervisors and the public.
“Now is not the right time,” McKay said.
“It has not yet been reviewed by our Board or vetted with the public,” he added. “That input is an important part of the process, and doing it right takes time. I do not support rushing that process this year.”
Other Northern Virginia jurisdictions have also confronted the question. Arlington County was considering a similar referendum, according to an ARLnow report cited by WTOP. Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair Deshundra Jefferson declined through a spokeswoman to comment on whether her county might pursue one.
In Loudoun County, Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall supported allowing voters to consider a referendum while making clear that she personally opposed raising the sales tax under current financial conditions.
“Personally, I don’t want to see a sales tax increase right now,” Randall said. “Financial times are very, very tough.”
Randall said the Loudoun board was not expected to discuss the proposal during its final meeting before the August break.
Similar taxes are already in effect elsewhere in Virginia. Nine jurisdictions whose voters previously approved them had collected approximately $119 million combined, according to a Virginia Mercury figure cited by WTOP. The supplied information does not include a projection of how much a Fairfax tax would generate, what purchases would be covered or exempt, or how much it would cost a typical household.
For now, the Fairfax proposal remains a request for evaluation. The School Board has endorsed exploring the option, but supervisors have not scheduled a public vote, and McKay has said he would not support placing the referendum on the ballot in 2026.