When Fairfax County Board Chair Jeff McKay and the Fairfax Democrats say they want to give homeowners a break, don’t believe them. 

Talk of the McKay Meals Tax is heating up, and McKay and his loyal band of Democrats on the County Board are trying to spin it as nothing more than a shift away from the county’s reliance on property tax revenues. 

HOGWASH, I say!

If McKay and the Fairfax Dems were serious about giving residents a break, then reductions to either property tax assessments or tax rates would be part of the discussion. 

But McKay isn’t talking about cutting taxes. He’s talking about raising them. 

With the cost of living in Fairfax County higher than ever, you might expect talk of a tax cut. 

When you consider that Fairfax County has a budget surplus, even a modest tax cut is sure to be discussed.

Nope. Here’s what’s actually happening. 

Since Fairfax County always takes advantage of every opportunity to increase property and real estate assessments, Fairfax residents are paying more taxes than ever before. 

For example, in 2023, the average residential property assessment increased by about 6.97%. (Yes, you read that right.)

This means home and property owners pay more in taxes even though the tax rates remain unchanged. The technical term is unrealized gains, and Fairfax County uses rising assessments to drive higher tax revenues. This is how the Democrats on the Board of Supervisors can spend more on things they want. 

Here’s an example. 

As Bidenflation made gas and groceries more expensive, Fairfax Democrats proposed a fix. 

First, they proposed giving the people who actually do local government work – cops, firefighters, administrative staff, sanitation workers, etc. – a 2-3% increase in pay.

But, instead of standing in solidarity, the Democrat members of the Board of Supervisors had the stones to give themselves an incredible 30% increase in pay. 

Only two of the nine board members, including Republican Pat Herrity, voted no. 

And our Chairman? Well, he actually tried to net himself a 45% pay hike until the public heard about it. In the end, he had to settle for 38%. Hey, a chairman has to eat, right?

It gets better.

Democrats have controlled Fairfax County Government for more than a generation, and as you might expect, its overall government spending has skyrocketed.

From 2014 to 2024, the county’s budget grew by approximately $1.52 billion, reflecting a 42% increase in government spending. Strangely, the U.S. Census reports only a modest increase in population since 2012. Maybe they’re intent on underreporting a specific demographic, but let’s not fixate on important details affecting millions. 

Now, Chairman Jeff will tell you this dramatic rise is driven by increasing costs in public safety, health and human services, infrastructure, and other community needs. 

But the folks that pay attention will tell you much of this spending goes to fixing problems at the School System that, you guessed it, never seem to get fixed. 

Never mind that student test scores are falling, and the school superintendent says school facilities are falling apart.

Never mind the Police Department is in the midst of an all out staffing emergency. Never mind our prosecutor declines to detain people who commit murder in Fairfax County.

After all, Jeff McKay is a man of his word, and things in Fairfax are going great!

That’s probably why he’s pushing a series of super-regressive tax hikes that disproportionally affect low-income residents and small business owners. 

But wait, didn’t the Meals Tax get voted down by referendum in 1992 and 2016? 

That’s correct. But Democrat Governor Ralph Northam didn’t care and signed a law in 2020 that allowed County Boards to initiate new meals tax on their own. 

So here we are. 

Under the Jeff McKay Meals Tax, Fairfax County will pay a new 6% tax on food sold at restaurants and prepared foods sold at grocery stores. 

Remember when Democrats were for the little guy?

Opponents of the McKay Meals Tax say his tax plan is overly regressive and disproportionally hurts people who don’t make Jeff McKay money.  

Maybe Jeff can teach those pesky poor people how to increase their salaries 38% overnight like he did. 

But that’s not all the damage the McKay Meals Tax will do. 

What about the courageous people who own and work at restaurants and food stores?

In case you didn’t know, restaurant work is really, really hard. 

To work in a restaurant is to work on your feet for untold hours every day. It’s backbreaking, and unless you work for a big national chain backed by an investment group, restaurant work is usually not particularly lucrative. 

And that’s not to mention dealing with unruly customers, suppliers, inspectors, and libelous Yelp reviews. 

Unlike the elected members of the Board of Supervisors, restaurant workers actually create value in our community. 

And you know what else?

Restaurants enrich our community by celebrating ethnicity and culture through food and tradition. This should be defended, not taxed. 

When the Democrats get their way and push the McKay Meals Tax into law, these businesses will be more costly to run. Some, perhaps several, of your favorites will close forever.

In this world, there will always be winners and losers. Fairfax is no exception. 

Chairman Jeff McKay is an elected official with the power to increase his income. He is clearly winning.

The rest of us…I’m not so sure. 

Sean Murphy is a member of the Fairfax County GOP and lives with his family in Burke.