Fairfax County Supervisor Walter Alcorn voted against the FY’27 budget markup today, calling out its effects on the community’s most vulnerable residents.

He explained his opposition during the Board of Supervisors meeting to mark up the budget. His vote marks the first time he has voted against a county budget markup motion during his seven years in office.

“At the beginning of this budget process I stated that I would be listening carefully for impacts on our most vulnerable, and I have listened and have concluded that I cannot support a reduction of the real estate tax rate — even only a small amount — while also cutting services across several programs to some of our most vulnerable residents," Alcorn said. "So I voted no on this markup motion."

Budget markup is the process when the Board officially makes its changes to the advertised budget, and the Board will formally adopt the FY’27 budget on May 5.

The marked-up budget cuts the real estate tax rate by a quarter cent from $1.1225 to $1.12 per $100 of assessed value. However, the board’s approved budget today also cuts $32 million in services and programs, as well as provides $40 million less than the Fairfax County Public Schools requested in their budget.   

Alcorn cited the cumulative impacts from this year’s cuts, following significant budget reductions during the past four years totaling approximately $124 million, as well as enacted a meals tax last year to fund critical county services and as much of the schools’ budget request as possible. 

“This year, the cuts go too far, and they do not justify any reduction in the real estate tax, even a mostly symbolic reduction of about $9 million that could have been used to help fulfill promises I have made to Hunter Mill residents,” Alcorn said.

Alcorn said that he heard residents raising concerns about the cuts during the Board’s budget public hearings and his own two town hall meetings with Hunter Mill constituents.  

“I mostly heard residents voicing concerns associated with these cuts — and about the lack of funding not included in the budget like the full two cents on the real estate tax rate for affordable housing and the chronic underfunding of our library system,” he said.

He said he recognized that real estate taxes are too high, and tax reform is needed to reduce the burden on homeowners since residential real estate taxes make up more than half of the county’s tax revenues.

While he heard calls from residents to cut taxes, particularly the real estate tax, Alcorn said he heard many more Hunter Mill residents call for more spending instead of tax cuts.

“When I first ran for office in 2019 and for reelection in 2023, I ran on a platform to fund critical county services, including fully funding Fairfax County Public Schools and allocating two cents of the real estate tax rate for affordable housing,” Alcorn said. “The dip in non-residential real estate revenues accelerated by the pandemic — although this year those revenues have again turned positive — and structural problems with funding and within the schools have made that campaign promise challenging to say the least.”