Vega: Reduce residential tax bills; Axe Meals Tax on consumers

By Yesli Vega
Coles District Supervisor
Prince William County

In March of 2020 the stock market plummeted nearly 8,000 points and by April unemployment hit 15%. That same month, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors responded by increasing the average residential tax bill by almost $200 per family.

In April of 2021, with the economy still on its back and inflation creeping in, Prince William County residents got socked by their elected body with another hit to their wallet of over $300 on average.

Now, in the midst of a full-blown inflation crisis not seen in over 40 years, the Board has left on the table another average residential tax increase of nearly $200, which save for an act of God or major citizen uprising, they seem poised to pass.

But that’s not all. A brand new 4% Meals Tax on county residents will also be voted on at the county’s budget adoption meeting this coming Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. That means every time you dine in at one of Prince William County’s sit down establishments, county government won’t just be taking a little off the top. They’re adding to the top – and then taking it. In the midst of record inflation and rising food costs.

Back to the residential tax increase. If adopted, the average cumulative impact of the residential tax increases alone since COVID reared its ugly head will be over $1,400 per family.

We don’t have to do this. We don’t have to do either.

This past Tuesday night, I proposed a tax rate of 96 cents that would save the average homeowner $328 from what is currently being proposed. Lowering the year to year tax bill on residents for the first time in nearly a decade and a half. I’ve also proposed that we axe this ridiculous meals tax proposal which will hurt already struggling Prince William County families and restaurant owners.

For those who pretend this would cause the sky to fall, Prince William County Government would still receive $45 million more in additional revenue over last year.

This extra $45 million would enable us to put a down payment on the severe officer shortage the county faces today. Despite $124 million in new spending in the current budget, remarkably, not one extra police officer is slated to be hired despite the fact that we’re 342 officers shy of our own level-of-service-standards and saw crime increase by double digits in virtually every area last year.

This Board, specifically the Board majority, has already socked it to our taxpayers the last two years in some of the most difficult economic times imaginable. Our residents are exhausted, and their dollar is already buying them much less.

We don’t have to do this to them again.

To share your thoughts on the FY2023 Budget, you may email the entire Board directly at [email protected]; call the county’s main line at 703-792-6000 and ask to be transferred to your Supervisor; and attend and speak out at the Budget Adoption meeting this Tuesday at 7:30pm, 1 County Complex Court, Woodbridge, VA 22192.