- Fairfax County’s Balance of Payments with Richmond: A Policy Perspective
Each year, Fairfax County residents contribute substantially to the Commonwealth of Virginia through state taxes. These contributions fund a wide array of services, from education and health to transportation and public safety, spread across the state. Yet when we examine the flow of resources more closely—specifically, how much Fairfax taxpayers send to Richmond compared to… Read more: Fairfax County’s Balance of Payments with Richmond: A Policy Perspective - The State of Fairfax: Insights from a Candidate’s Forum for the Virginia House of Delegates
On September 24, 2025, the Sully District Council of Citizens Associations hosted the Sully District Council’s Eleventh Biennial State Legislative Candidates Night. The in-person participants in the candidate forum included the Republican Candidate for Virginia’s 7th Delegate District, Cassandra Aucoin; the candidates for the 9th Delegate District, incumbent Delegate Karrie Delaney (Democrat) and Republican Candidate… Read more: The State of Fairfax: Insights from a Candidate’s Forum for the Virginia House of Delegates - Exploring Virginia Through An Economic Lens
We are used to looking at the world through a geographic lens. For instance, we use maps to show the land area of each locality in Virginia, its geographic features, and distances between different locations. While maps showing the geography of the commonwealth certainly have their benefits, when better trying to understand the state’s economic… Read more: Exploring Virginia Through An Economic Lens - Why real teacher salaries matter more than nominal ones: a closer look at teacher salaries in Virginia
When it comes to evaluating teacher compensation, numbers can be deceiving. A salary of $70,000 in one Virginia school division might seem generous—until you realize that in another locality, the same amount barely covers rent. That’s the difference between nominal and real salary, and it’s a distinction that matters deeply for educators, policymakers, and communities… Read more: Why real teacher salaries matter more than nominal ones: a closer look at teacher salaries in Virginia - Local revenue autonomy as an enabler of economic development in Virginia
Why do cities and local governments in the United States proactively promote local economic development? It is tempting to answer this question simply with “because this is their job”. But reality is more complex. Cities and local governments in the United States proactively promote local economic development because they have political and fiscal incentives to… Read more: Local revenue autonomy as an enabler of economic development in Virginia - Funding public roads in Virginia: how a greater local role could unlock land-value financing
“Location, location, location.” As any good real estate agent will tell you, a property’s location significantly impacts its value and desirability, sometimes even more than its physical characteristics. For example, two identical properties, one with good road access, and another without, will be valued very differently. The direct relationship between local road access and property… Read more: Funding public roads in Virginia: how a greater local role could unlock land-value financing - The economic health of the commonwealth: what does the data say?
According to a recent Virginia Public Media report, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and General Assembly Democrats painted divergent pictures of the future health of Virginia’s economy and finances at dueling presentations last month. While the VPM report presented two opposing political perspectives, and made some references to a state-level economic forecast prepared by the University… Read more: The economic health of the commonwealth: what does the data say? - Fiscal redistribution and electoral preferences in Virginia
The aim of the State of Fairfax is to apply evidence-based analyses to explore important issues related to the governance, administration, public finances, public services, and economy of Fairfax County, the Northern Virginia region, and the rest of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The current post analyzes how fiscal redistribution (how public funds are distributed) and… Read more: Fiscal redistribution and electoral preferences in Virginia - The State of Local Government Expenditures in Virginia: An overview
According to the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts, local governments (counties and cities) in Virginia spent a total of 39,829,847,190 dollars in FY 2024. This excludes spending in the 23 jurisdictions (out of 95 counties and 38 independent cities) that did not report their audited accounts to the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts. The level… Read more: The State of Local Government Expenditures in Virginia: An overview - How effective are local school divisions in Virginia?
Exploring the relationship between public education spending and Standards of Learning (SOL) outcomes When a local school division claims to be ‘one of the best’ (or ‘the best’) school divisions in the commonwealth, how should that claim be assessed? Alternatively, when claims are made that public schools are inefficient and mismanaged, what real evidence can… Read more: How effective are local school divisions in Virginia? - Fairfax County and Northern Virginia: High-income, but also high-cost
It is fairly common knowledge that some of the wealthiest counties in the United States, ranked by median household income, are located in Virginia. Although Virginia as a whole is ranked as the eighth-wealthiest state in the Union, Loudoun County consistently ranks at the top of the list of wealthiest counties in the U.S., with… Read more: Fairfax County and Northern Virginia: High-income, but also high-cost - How will the reduction in SNAP benefits impact Fairfax County?
On July 3, 2025, Congress passed Public Law 119-21, commonly referred to (by its supporters) as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Among others, Public Law 119-21 will reduce federal SNAP payments to states and localities in several ways. The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their… Read more: How will the reduction in SNAP benefits impact Fairfax County? - Fairfax Taxpayers’ Day 2025: July 10
The date July 10 holds a special place for Fairfax County taxpayers. Until this date, all the individual income taxes paid by Fairfax County taxpayers to the Commonwealth of Virginia are actually used to provide services for people outside of Fairfax County. Only after July 10–the 191st day of the year–will the state income tax… Read more: Fairfax Taxpayers’ Day 2025: July 10 - Are higher education standards good for Fairfax County families?
As a Fairfax resident and taxpayer, it is alarming when elected county and public school leaders state that Virginia public school funding has been failing students and that for decades, the Commonwealth has underfunded public schools. Based on an analysis of state education funding done in 2023 by the Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission… Read more: Are higher education standards good for Fairfax County families? - The state of local political representation in Virginia
Equal representation and equal justice under the law are important principles of American democracy. These principles include the notion that citizens should have more or less the same level of voice and political representation at different levels of government in our federal system. For instance, the Fourteenth Amendment states that “Representatives shall be apportioned among… Read more: The state of local political representation in Virginia - The state of public education spending in Fairfax: Is excellence truly at a crossroads?
The Fairfax County Public School system is lobbying for greater funding for the school system, claiming that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors advertised budget underfunds FCPS by $150 million. Its brochure claims that “[f]or decades, the Commonwealth has underfunded public schools — for FCPS alone this underfunding amounts to $568.7 million each year or… Read more: The state of public education spending in Fairfax: Is excellence truly at a crossroads? - The fiscal state of Fairfax County
Last month, as a dutiful citizen, I attended the Sully District budget hearing in Fairfax County for the first time ever. Although most of us go through life without ever attending a local government budget hearing, joining a budget hearing in my own community was a bit of a personal milestone for me, since I… Read more: The fiscal state of Fairfax County - Welcome to the State of Fairfax
The Commonwealth of Virginia has 95 counties and 38 independent cities. Yet, Fairfax County is unique within the commonwealth. With a population of over 1.1 million residents, it is by far the most populous county in Virginia. Fairfax is more like a state than a local government In order to understand how much of an… Read more: Welcome to the State of Fairfax