Build Your Own Fairfax County FY2014 Budget

Residents who think they can balance a budget better than their elected officials will get the chance to prove it with a new tool introduced earlier this week by a Fairfax County supervisor.

Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) is launching a program over the next two weeks that allows residents to build their own Fiscal Year 2014 budget plan based on the current package proposed by County Executive Ed Long.

Long has proposed a $7 billion budget that raises the real estate tax rate and eliminates about 90 county jobs. Long has also released a list of reductions to agencies, as well as a list of reductions considered but not taken.  

Using those lists, the tool asks residents to identify spending increases or reductions they would make in nine different areas, including schools, public safety, employee compensation and more. Residents then choose a tax rate based on their changes.

And if they don’t like the tax amount that comes out to, they’re encouraged to try the exercise again.

• Click here to find the budget tool. 

“I’m always looking for ways to get community involvement in what we do,” Cook said. “It allows people to sit in their homes and develop their budget in a little more detail than just sending an email saying, ‘I don’t like this,’ or ‘I do like that.’”

A New Way to Gather Feedback

Cook hoped that it would help the county gather feedback from residents and also educate them on the mechanics and difficulty of putting together the budget every year.

Although supervisors hold town halls to gather constituents’ input on the budget, not everyone can make it to the meetings.

“This is our attempt to reach out to them and let them try something without necessarily having to come out to a meeting,” said Charlie Szold, Cook’s communications director.

Cook also wanted the exercise to give constituents an accurate budget experience and help them realize that developing one is never simple.

“It’s not as easy as people may think,” Cook said.

Board Chairman Sharon Bulova thought the project was an exciting method to gather input from the community.

“I think this looks really creative and is a good way of engaging people in a really meaningful way,” she said.

The deadline for the exercise is Monday, April 8, before the first budget public hearing on Tuesday, April 9. 

After completing the “Design Your Own Budget” exercise, residents can hand-deliver it to the Braddock District Office at 9002 Burke Lake Road, Burke, VA or email the results to braddock@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Cook’s office is also on Facebook and Twitter. Users can Tweet their budget using the #myffxbudget hashtag.