Several members of The Arc of Northern Virginia testified during public budget hearings Wednesday before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
Eileen Williams, Board President Christine Plummer, and board member Rachna Sizemore Heizer each took the podium for their allotted three minutes to address the supervisors. All three women have children with some form of developmental disability, and are directly impacted by budget decisions made by the county supervisors.
“I was a bit nervous going up to speak,” said Eileen Williams. “I wasn’t sure I could get all I wanted to say spoken in 3 minutes. But I hope participating & speaking up for the The ARC, the CSB, the WIN group, and other county-supported programs was helpful in getting visibility & perhaps additional funding for all.”
Fairfax County has released a draft budget, which includes a real estate tax increase of two and a half cents. This budget allows for funding needs in education and other top priorities to be met. Services for the 2018 Fairfax County Public Schools graduates with developmental disabilities are funded this year through an existing pot of money.
The Arc of Northern Virginia attended the budget hearing to speak in favor of the tax increase and ask the Board of Supervisors to ensure the DD grads are funded for the future.
For more information about the county budget, see the Budget Process Timeline page on the Fairfax County website.
# # #
