Friday, March 8, 2013
United Methodist Family Services says it is desperately in need of foster parents in Northern Virginia.
In Virginia, at any given time, there are more than 5,000 children in the foster care system, waiting to be adopted. Of that number, more than 1,000 are in the Northern Virginia area, according to United Methodist Family Services. There is a need for foster homes in Herndon and other areas in Northern Virginia. "The office focuses on finding foster homes for teenagers, sibling groups and other harder to place kids," said Jeannette Toscano, communications and public relations manager for United Methodist Family Services. "We are desperately in need of foster parents in Northern Virginia." When they can, Social Services typically prefers to place children in the home of the same ethnicity whenever possible. There is a great need right now …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Congressman Gerry Connolly will participate at this weekend's free tax assistance service in Herndon.
Congressman Gerry Connolly will be speaking during a free tax assistance service to be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center. The event, held at 1086 Elden St., will provide free tax preparation and filing assistance for low and moderate income taxpayers. The HNRC is an IRS-certified Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site. There are more than 6,000 similar sites across the nation that are assisting taxpayers this year. Last year volunteers helped prepare more than 1.6 million returns. In Fairfax County, 2012 volunteers helped file about 4,800 tax returns, helping provide about $8.5 million in refunds to local taxpayers. The Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center is operated by Fairfax County and managed by …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Supervisors directed staff Tuesday to examine costs and benefits of a launching another red light camera program, which reduced violations by 45 percent during its first run a decade ago.
Though they've been gone for more than half a decade, red light cameras could return to Fairfax County. The county's board of supervisors asked staff Tuesday to study how much it would cost to bring back camera enforcement for select red lights in the county, and where cameras could be effective. The former red light camera program, implemented at 10 intersections from 2002 to June 2005, was successful, but costly: During the program’s run, the county lost more than $1.3 million. That figure, Supervisor Michael Frey (R-Sully), should indicate this isn't a move to generate more revenue, but instead, make roads safer. “That’s the point,” he said. “Raising revenue isn’t.” Frey’s renewed interest in the program was sparked following the …
Friday, March 1, 2013
Tighter budgets, diminished real estate values and more...
Sequestration threatens to destabilize the Northern Virginia economy, and some say the effects of the across-the-board cuts to federal programs and contracts will be felt across Fairfax County. "Businesses are in business because they know how to plan for problems and deal with them. But not knowing what to plan for is devastating to them," said Dr. Gerald Gordon, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority to Patch. Localities across the Commonwealth are bracing themselves against the uncertainty of sequestration. It seems unlikely that Congress will reach an agreement on $1.2 trillion in debt reduction by March 1, and the U.S. military will be forced to cut $46 billion and domestic defense spending will be …
Prison inmates will remove signs Tuesday through Friday beginning later this year.
Fairfax County now has the authority to clean up illegal signs placed on roadway medians thanks to an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation. This week, the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement that has been in the works for months allowing the county to clear signs from public rights-of-way and issue fines to residents who post them. The program, which supervisors signed off on in an 8-2 vote, will cost the county $150,000. Non-violent prisoners on the Sheriff’s Office Community Labor Force will perform cleanup duties four days a week, Tuesday through Friday, starting later this year. Putting up signs on any state road is illegal, including advertisements and – especially – political signs, which all but took over …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
County Executive Ed Long will chat with residents on proposed $7 billion Fiscal Year 2014 county budget.
Do you have questions about Fairfax County’s FY2014 proposed budget? Your chance to get answers from County Executive Ed Long is coming Thursday morning. Long will host an hour-long chat starting at 9:30 a.m. today to discuss his proposed $7 billion budget, which he unveiled for officials and the public Tuesday. The advertised package includes a 2-cent increase in the real estate tax rate from $1.075 per $100 of assessed value to $1.095. The increase is projected to raise nearly $42 million in count revenue. But when coupled with increases in real estate assessments, the proposed rate would cost the average county household about $262 more in real estate taxes. The budget also reduces funding for parks and libraries, and allots the school …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
No employee pay increases in Fiscal Year 2014 spending plan, which would increase average household taxes by $262 and give Fairfax County Public Schools $62 million less than officials asked for.
Fairfax County Executive Ed Long unveiled Tuesday his $7 billion FY2014 budget proposal, a plan that raises real estate taxes and cuts funds to parks and libraries, among other services. Long’s advertised budget includes a 2-cent increase in the real estate tax rate from $1.075 per $100 of assessed value to $1.095. The increase is projected to raise nearly $42 million in count revenue. But when coupled with increases in real estate assessments, the proposed rate would cost the average county household about $262 more in real estate taxes. Revenue projections are generally flat for the coming year, showing a slight decrease in growth from 2.79 percent in FY2013 to 2.77 percent in FY2014. With sequestration around the corner, Long said the …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The county faces a $169 million shortfall.
Fairfax County Executive Ed Long will unveil the county’s proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget today. The county faces budget shortfalls of $169 million and $274 million in fiscal years 2014 and 2015, respectively. In order to better prepare for the future, he says, Long will present a multi-year budget plan for FY2014-2015 during the Board of Supervisors regularly scheduled Feb. 26 meeting. Those shortfalls are based on keeping the tax rate unchanged while also increasing the transfer to Fairfax County Public Schools. Fairfax County School Board officials intend to ask for an increase of 5.5 percent – or $92.4 million – for a total transfer of $1.77 billion. During a joint meeting of the two boards in November 2012, Long included an increase …
Monday, February 25, 2013
Local nonprofit will take part in 100,000 Homes Registry Week, a national project to help find permanent places for 100,000 homeless people by 2014.
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
- Karen Goff
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Monday, February 25
Volunteers and staff from Reston Interfaith began taking part in the area's 100,000 Homes Registry Week on Sunday. The project, a joint effort in the area by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Partnership to Prevent and End Homelessness, FACETS, New Hope Housing, Pathway Homes and Volunteers of America Chesapeake, will create a registry that will give advocates a better look at who are the chronically homeless in the area. Reston Interfaith volunteers will gather names, photographs and qualitative information of the most vulnerable and chronically homeless people. In Reston, they will survey the Hypothermia Site at Camron Glen, the Embry Rucker Community Shelter, and local "hot spots" — areas where homeless are known to live outdoors. "…
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority said 186 companies committed business to Fairfax County last year; more than 700 of the jobs were pledged to Tysons.
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority brought more than 8,400 jobs to the county in 2012, it announced this week — the majority of them in the professional services and information technology sectors and many in the Tysons area. According to the FCEDA, Tysons will welcome almost 730 of the 8,400 jobs. In Herndon, Micronic Technologies, Questa Source, LLC, TATA Communications Ltd., and URS Corporation all added jobs to the local economy. IntelSat, leading provider in satellite services, was the year’s biggest announcement, moving almost 430 employees to its new headquarters in Tysons’ new Tysons Tower. The company is set to relocate in 2014. The announcement about these 8,400 jobs came on the same day as County Board of …
James
2:53 pm on Friday, March 8, 2013
Don't go ANYWHERE near a Democratic Congressman when it comes to doing your taxes. You may find yourself owing the Federal Govt. 100% of your income. Please hide from Gerry Connolly, or you will lose everything! more ›