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Cook proposes county funding for transportation
Posted by: The Times ()
Date: March 21, 2012 03:09PM

Cook proposes county funding for transportation
Supervisor says multi-year plan would generate about $40 million
by Kali Schumitz, Staff Writer
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20120320/NEWS/703209953/cook-proposes-county-funding-for-transportation&template=fairfaxTimes

Although funding road construction and maintenance has traditionally been a state responsibility in Virginia, Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) thinks that Fairfax County should be investing more of its own dollars in transportation.

He outlined a multi-year plan Tuesday that he says would generate about $40 million for transportation needs over the next three fiscal years.

“This plan is not a panacea,” Cook said. “It is a measured first step.”

According to staff estimates, the county needs about $3 billion in additional transportation funding over the next decade to meet its transportation needs.

Cook proposes dedicating funding from the county’s vehicle license fee solely to transportation, separating the revenues from the county’s general fund. He proposes phasing in the change over three years.

In addition, he said the board should commit half of whatever funds it has left over at the end of the fiscal year to transportation.

The Board of Supervisors agreed to examine the plan in more detail, with input from county staff, at future work sessions on the fiscal 2013 budget or in the board’s Transportation Committee.

However, some supervisors indicated that they have reservations about pulling dollars away from the general fund, especially as the county continues to recover from the recession.

“Human services has seen the greatest cut over the last three years,” said Supervisor Catherine Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill). “And yet we are not at a point where we can restore those services.”

Supervisor Jeff McKay (D-Lee) also said he is hearing from his constituents that there are things that have been cut from the budget in recent years that they would like to see restored. Taking flexibility out of the budget by earmarking it for transportation could make that more challenging, he said.

“If we’re going to develop new money, we have to be bold about it,” McKay said, suggesting new taxes or fees would have a greater impact than Cook’s proposal.

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Re: Cook proposes county funding for transportation
Posted by: Tom_Mason ()
Date: March 24, 2012 10:42PM

By committing budget surplus to transporrtation and earmarking license fees for the same purpose, Cook is in effect creating his own transportation tax. Budget surpluses count toward the next year's budget. Without that surplus, new funds have to be raised - through taxation. So, if Cook is really serious about raising money for transportation, the first thing he should do is retroactively seek to rescind the County's takeover of the defunct Kings Park West Swim Club. Cook very cleverly got the County Board to purchase this property under the pretext that it would have environmental benefits. In fact, it was a ploy to use taxpayer funds to buy the votes of the largely Democratic voters in that neighborhood. And the ploy worked. The votes got from these citizens helped him get narrowly reelected. Currently, this project is budgeted at $150k - $250k or so they say. However, no come has been able to specify the real cost of this bail out and it seems likely that the project will cost considerably more than that. So, if Mr. Cook wants to set a good example, the first thing he should do is petition the Board to cancel this project and earmark the funding for transportation.

The problem here is that Mr. Cook is no Republican. He'll vote against annual budgets because he knows he'll be outvoted anyway. However, as his recent actions suggest, he's as much of a spendthrift as any Democrat on the County Board. It doesn't surprise me that Hudgens and McKay are on the spending bandwagon. Hudgins has been fighting for years to make the public pay for various social programs. As the article states, McKay is also in favor of the taking the "bold" step of raising taxes. What does surprise me, though, is that Mr. Cook has been able to play his charade of being a fiscal conservative. In light of Supervisor Hyland's recent support of a meals tax, it is becoming increasingly evident that the County Board is headed in the direction of proposing some major tax increases. So, unles you're particularly interested in seeing even more of your disposable income disappear, it seems advisable to consider letting your supervisors know that their continuing spending spree is unacceptable.

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Re: Cook proposes county funding for transportation
Posted by: ROCKO MEATS ()
Date: March 24, 2012 10:56PM

So know we are all helping to keep privately owned pools open?
Geez no wonder these IDIOTS aren't thinking right.

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Re: Cook proposes county funding for transportation
Posted by: Tom_Mason is WRONG ()
Date: March 25, 2012 12:56AM

How can you be so wrong?

Budget surpluses are reallocated (spent or saved). Next year's budget will be approved before this year's surpluses are known.

Calling the existing vehicle license fee a new tax is dumb. Just shows you have an agenda. Using vehicle fees for transportation projects... what's wrong with that. Would you rather they be used to purchase subsidized housing?

Where did you get a $150K cost estimate for KPW? That's more than what the neighboring HOA would have paid if they accepted the commercial bids to do the work. What is your solution to the KPW pool? It's been an abandoned eyesore for years and the organization is defunct. Adding it to the county park system, and using county workers and trucks to demolish it is a cost-effective solution.

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Re: Cook proposes county funding for transportation
Posted by: Tom_Mason ()
Date: March 25, 2012 07:13PM

Try once to understand what you're reading before commenting. Much as it kills me to say it, Supervisor McKay is absolutely right. Putting vehicle license revenue and budget surpluses in a lockbox deprives the spendthrifts on the County Board of the discretion to make some of that money available for other projects. Evidently, McKay's constituents want all kinds of wonderful things that they'd love the rest of us to pay for. Since Mr. Cook and the Democrats on the County Board just cannot bear to stop spending, that means a new funds must be raised for these worthy projects. Like the one you mentioned - subsidized housing. However, there are no gold fields or oil wells in our jurisdiction. Hence, since the Board can no longer tap license fee revenue, the next best way to raise the necessary funds is to gouge the taxpayer's some more. That's what I call the de facto "Cook Transportation Tax". Got that? Furthermore, since the $40 MM in the transportation lockbox will never come close to paying for the County's projected transportation needs, look for even more tax proposals for transportation - like Supervisor Hyland's meal tax. And, by the way, the County does an excellent job of forecasting budget surpluses, so the Supervisor's will know well ahead of time just how much to raise taxes. In short, Mr. Cook is quickly establishing that he a hypocrite who will espouse Republican principles to get elected and then pursue exactly the same tax and spend policies as his Democrat counterparts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2012 07:15PM by Tom_Mason.

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Re: Cook proposes county funding for transportation
Posted by: I Get It ()
Date: March 26, 2012 12:30AM

You don't like John Cook. Got it. He's not Republican enough for you, whatever that means. Got it. Might your hatred be from a previous encounter before Mr. Cook became a Supervisor? Maybe an association you wanted to lead? Your words remind me of someone.

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Re: Cook proposes county funding for transportation
Posted by: Tom_Mason ()
Date: March 27, 2012 07:41AM

Oh, I get it now too. No one can legitimately criticise Mr. Cook. They must have an ulterior motive. Stop being dismissive and use your head. One of the purported benefits of a two party system is to give voters a choice. During the last election campaign the choice was between a Democrat trainwreck and an allegedly fiscally responsible Republican. Except the latter turned out to be a corrupt political hack who used taxpayer funds to buy votes and is now proposing massive new spending for transportation that is guaranteed to end up raising property taxes. Some choice.

Mr. Cook was able to turn the swim club issue to his advantage because too few voters were focused on the details of the bailout. So, I've decided to keep an eye on how much this project will ultimately cost. Interestingly, Cook isn't the first Braddock supervisor who has bought out a swim club. That distinction goes to Sharon Bullova. It's nice to see that corruption doesn't respect party lines in Fairfax. In case you haven't noticed, outgoing County Executive Griffin has stated that there are a lot of community groups and other spendthrifts poised to demand the restoration of their favorite boutique programs once property values start to increase. Since the Democrats on the County Board lack the political will to spend responsibly, this will inevitably lead to higher taxes. What we don't need is a purported fiscally responsible Republican adding to that spending spree. So, I'm hoping that Mr. Cook gets what he deserves during the next election cycle - a true Republican primary challenger.

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