I am confident that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors can innovate and find new ways to hike taxes.

The have lots of experience in doing just that. I see no reason for it to stop now.

Jim, it'll run something like this: "After several years of record tax rate cuts, we've decided to increase the tax rate to pay for a reduction in the rate of increase in property assessments...."

To: Greg

Yep, you have it.

If anyone thinks that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is going to moderate their tax hikes, they need to think of history just a tad.

History has a habit of repeating itself.

I don't know about you, but my real estate taxes have doubled under the watchful eye of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Make no mistake - we taxpayers will hear loud and clear next year about how the Board feels our pain. Next year is an election year.

That's so we will vote them back into office. Then, once we do that, we taxpayers are fair game once again.

George Bernard Shaw said it best when he said that democracy "ensures that we shall be governed no better than we deserve."

Said another way, Fairfax voters put this crowd into office, and we deserve what we got.

The question is this: Will we vote them into office once again, in 2007?

That's the $64,000 question. If history is any guide, the answer is yes.

That is, history tells us that we don't pay attention when the Board tells us that they are giving us a tax cut, yet smack us with massive tax increases instead. Our memory is very, very short.

Mr. Connolly made the claim once again just last week. In the Post (you likely saw it) Mr. Connolly said that a tax rate increase for next year (2007) is "off the table". He went on to say that there is no way the Board is going to give up the "hard won tax cuts", he said, as I remember. His point was that the Board worked hard to get us tax cuts.

What tax cuts? My taxes went up. What about yours? My taxes have never gone down.

Here is my point. No one takes the Board to task for such claims. We simply ignore their claims and re-elect the same bunch, time after time.

Another example: History tells us that we don't pay attention when the Board, on one hand, tells us they are careful in new spending in this time of massive tax increases, yet, on the other hand, they add a $550,000 expenditure for the "arts" at the last minute, with little citizen input.

Did you know that the Board is spending $550,000 on the arts, this coming budget year? No doubt it will be more than that next year, and the year after that.

Said another way, in bad English, it "don't look good for taxpayers in Fairfax County."

Jim, you point is well-taken.

However, what will it take to get a bit of competition going for 2007?

Any ideas?

To: Over-extended taxpayer.

I wish I had a suggestion, but I don't. These days, not many qualified folk want to bother with politics. It's not worth the effort, I'd say is their feeling.

Let me give you just one example. With your thought, almost exactly, in mind I contacted the Fairfax County Republican Party. It took four emails to even get a resonse.

The response was, "We will get back to you." That's been over a month ago.

When you consider Connolly's style (attack, attack, attack), it's no wonder not many are interested.

There is only one thing that I can think of to get the Board to change their ways. And that is a general uprising of voters who express their concern. Votes are the only thing they really respect.

But, it's sad to say, their is not much chance of voters expressing their opinion, one way or the other. ASnd we can expect more of the same, for 4 more years.

The result? The entire Board will be re-elected I fear.

Ah, Jim, Fairfax County and the government "arts" racket....Penelope Gross wants to be a patron of the arts ala a Guggenheim or a Rockefeller, but unlike those folks, who used their own money, she uses ours.

At a public hearing earlier this year I called the Board to task for raising our taxes yet again for something so unnecessary as this, and I made reference to a quote from Gross in the yokel press that the arts situation in the county was a disgrace or shameful or something to that effect.

I pointed out that the county is within miles of a whole slew of art museums on the National Mall, and that within the county's borders is our country's only national park for the performing arts.

Her feeble response was that it would be a "shame" if county residents had to travel across the river to enjoy the arts!

Leaving aside that her response didn't address the Wolftrap point, it's worth noting that as concerned as she is about folks having to cross the river to enjoy the arts, she isn't similarly concerned that folks have to leave the county because they can't afford the Connolly gang's annual property tax hikes.

Next year, when they begin agitating to raise our taxes yet again, citing the leveling off in property assessments, they won't talk about cutting the "arts" frivolity or the Economic Development Authority boondoggles overseas.

Instead, they'll claim that without another tax hike, police service will be reduced to between 10AM and noon daily, roads will deteriorate into dirt tracks, firefighters will have to auction off their trucks, and the schools will have to give up teaching math and science and go to a 1 day per week schedule.

And rather than deflecting blame to rising property assessments for the tax hike, they'll do an Orwellian 180 and blame declining property assessments. And the local press--let alone the local voters--will let them get away with it.

And speaking of letting them get away with it: in regards to the county's Republican Party, several months ago during the tax hike season I checked out their web site to see what they might be doing on the property tax issue. The site had nothing on it--all I could find were photos of local functionaries meeting with the President's daughter.

To: Greg

I agree with you, 100%. You nailed it down.

In my judgement, there is one reason that the Board of Supervisors are taxing us out of our homes.

It's because they know they can get away with it. I believe it is as simple as that.

Let me illustrate. I have two friends living, in their homes, near me. One does not want to talk about taxes. The subject is taboo.

The other is looking for a place to move outside of Fairfax County because of the taxes.

Think about that! Here is a voter who refrains from expressing a postion on Connolly & Co's taxing and another who will not fight to keep his home.

With voters like that, folk like you and me don't have a chance.

The public school system is the largest recipient of our taxes. Mr. Connelly was loudly complaining about the votes on funding cut for pre'K by NOVA state elected officials as part of a package deal. Yet I don't see Mr. Connelly complaining when FX has "bulk" bond referendums for our schools that have unnecessary projects that have debt service which more than equals the cost of the pre-k for the children who would qualiy for this program. Don't ever complain about state or federal funding or dare to build or renovate until your own house is clean.

I believe that Connolly was playing politics on the pre-school money. Pure and simple.

To: Resource allocation

I forgot to mention this is my last post.

You are correct about the school system.

One simple statistic: If history is any guide, we will be paying over $21,000 per year per student in a few short years.

I don't know about you, but I can't afford that.

That $21,000 is a straight extrapolation of past rising taxes and spending.

To: Resource allocation

This computer does not know how to spell. It does this to me all the time, stupid computer. If it does not stop this messing around, I'm going to tamper with its hexidecimal and clog up its CPU.

In my last post my computer said that "... this is my last post".

The computer knew what I meant and said it wrong anyway.

It should have said that "... this in my last post."

Stupid computer!

While we are on the subject of assessments, let me give you my take on what Connolly & the Board of Supervisors did this year, and last year, and the year before that.

They all told us that they we cutting our taxes. Yet, our taxes increased. At least, my taxes increased. How about yours?

Here is why. I will use 2006 as the latest example.

First, Viginia Code Section 58.1-3321 reduced the $1 tax rate of 2005 to $0.835.

This $0.835 is the tax rate that would raise the same amount of taxes as did 2005, assuming no tax increase for this year.

Any tax rate above $0.835 is a tax increase. The tax rate went down because assessments went up.

Second, the County Executive came out with his budget. In his budget, the Executive recommended a tax rate of $0.93. This represents a tax increase of 11.4% ($0.93 divided by $0.835, less 1).

But the County Executive's budget called for a 6.1% spending increase.

BIG question. Why a 11.4% tax increase to cover a 6.1% spending incease?

Read on.

Answer: It gives the Board of Supervisors room to say that they "cut" taxes.

The final tax rate was $0.89. Connolly says that is a tax cut. But, my taxes went up. Maybe my tax cut is in the mail.

Seems to me that we got a tax increase, from $0.835 to $89, a 6.6% tax increase.

Did you notice one thing in all this process? It's that no one, not a single person, seriously asked about spending.

So, we concentrated on getting a "tax cut". Little if any attention was given to spending.

So little, that, in fact, as a last minute item, the Board of Supervisors decided to spend $550,000 on the "arts", with very little attention or fanfare.

I wonder what that %550,000 will grow to next year, the year after that.

It's amazing what smart polititicans can do.

Question: How much longer will this sort of thing go on?

Answer: For a long as voters permit it.

To: Taxfighter

The fact that home prices are moderating, or going down, means nothing EXCEPT that Gerry must call a tax increase a tax increase. That's all it means. Period.

He can hide behind rising prices of homes.

Do you think Gerry & the rest of the Board will stop their wild spending habits, now that home prices are not rising so fast?

Not likely. AS tiger does not change his stripes. My guess is that he will come up with some other angle. Always has.

In my judgement, there is one way and one way only to deal with this Board. And that is to vote the entire bunch out of office.