Fairfax County Budget Analysis: Budget Difficulties Could Have Been Avoided

Commentary By

Derrick A. Max

Derrick Max is Vice President of Policy at the Jefferson Forum and may be reached at dmax@jeffersonforum.org

Derrick A. Max

Derrick Max is Vice President of Policy at the Jefferson Forum and may be reached at dmax@jeffersonforum.org

Todd Hester

An ordained Presbyterian minister with over twenty years of service to the church. Originally from Travelers Rest, South Carolina, he received a BA in English from Furman University and an MDiv from Beeson Divinity School. He is formerly President and Founder of the Yorktown Foundation.

Commentary By

Mike Thompson

The Thomas Jefferson Institute issued its tenth annual “Fairfax County Budget Analysis” and it once again shows that using the county’s own numbers that the budget difficulties faced today could have been avoided had the budget merely increased by the rate of inflation and population growth since FY 2000. This formula for county budgeting was suggested in 1993 by the much acclaimed “Cole Commission” which analyzed county spending during the time when Tom Davis for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. This year’s budget review also outlines twenty recommendations for making Fairfax County’s government and school system more accountable to the voters and a series of better business practices that would help keep the county’s budget moving forward in a more business-like manner.

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