At the beginning of 2013 the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a recommendation from the Planning Commission for a service district tax to be formed around the Comprehensive Plan’s definition of Tysons Corner, in order to pay for transportation improvements necessary for the growing city. The anticipated 7 to 9 cent (per $100 assessed real estate) tax, which would raise $253 million dollars in revenue over the next 40 years, was controversial for many residents who believed that home owners should be exempt and a larger share should be paid by developers who would profit from rezonings tied to new construction.
At the time we argued that home owners would also see significant benefits from the proposed redevelopments including high paying jobs, new amenities, schools, parks, and urban transportation improvements. Ultimately we would be on the hook for only a few hundred dollars per year compared to tens of thousands in increased real estate value.
Part of the rationale behind support of the tax would be the idea that we as Tysons residents would finally have a say and vested argument towards where we believe funds should go, as far as first order of priorities, and be given a seat at the planning table that has not necessarily been afforded us. The changes happening around Tysons are largely being controlled by the far greater populations of residents who live outside of Tysons. Often times Tysons is left pinched between the larger organizations of the MCA (McLean Citizens Association) and RCA (Reston Citizens Association) without a voice to speak for itself.
That is why I was so pleased when I heard, as part of the service tax resolution, that a Tysons Advisory Panel would be created to judge which elements of the transportation plan were necessary first, and to act as a continued quality control of the process. We talked to Brian Worthy, Public Information Office for Fairfax County who told us more about the concept.
The panel will be composed as follows;
- The panel will include seventeen (17) appointed members.
- Areas around Tysons not within the tax district will have three (3) members to assure a voice for those who are affected by Tysons development but not within the district.
- Four (4) members will be selected by Providence (2) and Hunter Mill (2) districts and will consist of representatives who own, or represent owners, within Tysons Tax District and within their respective county district.
- Three (3) members will be directly representative of residential owners HOAs/civic associations within Tysons Tax District. Two (2) will be from Providence and one (1) from Hunter Mill.
- Three (3) members will be directly representative of commercial or retail ownership appointed at-large by the Chairman.
- Two (2) members will be selected by the Advisory Panel from the Tysons Partnership for land developers and confirmed by the Advisory Panel.
- One (1) member will represent Apartment or Rental Associations and confirmed by the Advisory Panel.
- One (1) member will represent the Tysons Chamber of Commerce lessees of Non-Residential space and confirmed by the Advisory Panel.
This arrangement has representation which closely follows the cost dispersion of infrastructure anticipated within Tysons and provides many backgrounds of members from retailers, small business owners, adjacent towns, developers, and Tysons residents. Currently the county will be nominating and appointing these positions based on the requirements laid out above. It is possible that in the future as Tysons becomes a more self-sustaining city it could incorporate an arrangement similar to DC’s ANC (Advisory Neighborhood Commissions) system, where each neighborhood elects their representative to the overall Advisory Panel.
Ultimately, this panel does not have a voting power when it comes to the final decisions on where funds will go, future tax rates, or future updates to the comprehensive plan. The purpose is to act as a capturing body for community concerns which can debate and discuss issues specific to Tysons in order to make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors as a democratic and coherent voice.
The importance of this panel is just that, to create a voice for Tysons. There are only 18,000 residents in Tysons, but over 1 million county wide. Discussing issues of Tysons at the county-wide level often becomes fruitless as issues often become diluted to how they impact district residents who live far away from Tysons. Clearly if the majority voice was the only one when it comes to Tysons the area would continue to remain a commodity, used for the benefit only of the County and population as a whole, and not as a congruent city that considers the life of residents within.
The panel doesn’t provide a vote, but it does control the narrative and radar of issues that come to decision at the Board of Supervisors and will help those who are vested in Tysons guide the cities future.