Fairfax County’s budget hearings start on April 23, 2024.
NOW is the time to ask your supervisor to retain critical funding for parks in FY26!
This year is the toughest budget year since 2018.
The County has a challenging budget season and is proposing cutting park funding to a greater proportion than to other agencies. While the rest of them are being cut on average 3%, FCPA is being cut 4%. This includes valuable maintenance funding for invasive management (IMA), forestry, and trails.
Maintaining basic access to parks is the minimum that the county should provide for residents. Equally important is maintaining the health of our remaining natural spaces so that they can provide the essential ecological services we all depend on, including clean air and water, shade, temperature regulation, flood control, and carbon sequestration.
Help us advocate for preserving critical funding!
Send a short email!
Ask you Supervisor and the Board of Supervisors to preserve critical funding. Clearly state your support for sustained investments in our parks and the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) going forward. Tell your personal story about why funding our parks is important to you.
Want more details?
Refer to our Fairfax Parks Coalition’s in depth FY26 FCPA budget talking points!
For this FY26 budget
Our Fairfax Parks Coalition will be advocating for restoring funding for two primary areas that are proposed to be cut:
(1) Reject proposed $200,000 cut from Forestry Contracts.
For years, FCPA’s natural resources team have only had the resources to manage trees that are considered the highest risk for damage to property or injury to park users. Each year, the forestry team along with help from its contractors, can remediate as many as 1,900 trees.
In FY25, the Board of Supervisors recognized the importance of adequately funding the stewardship of trees and natural resources by adding $890,000 for the Forestry Department in FY25. This funding would contribute to addressing the increasing needs of high-risk trees while attempting to create a more proactive approach in managing low and medium risk trees.
However, cutting $200,000 from the Forestry Department’s contracts, would cripple the- FCPA capacity to mind almost 2,000 trees per year as they greatly rely on the additional support from contractors to keep Fairfax County residents safe from high-risk trees.
(2) Reject proposed $250,000 cut to FCPA Trail Maintenance
With over 334 miles of trails, FCPA is a critical part of Fairfax County’s trail infrastructure and the Countywide Trail Plan. FCPA trails are not only used for recreation, but also for transportation, offering an alternative modality that county residents depend on for pathways to school, work and home. Finally, investment in FCPA trail infrastructure maintenance is imperative if Fairfax County is to meet its climate goals.
Increased financial support for FCPA’s trails will enable and encourage residents to walk or bike to desired destinations instead of depending on cars, thereby decreasing overall vehicle emissions. Cutting $250,000 from trail maintenance costs would, not only undo the funds added to trail maintenance by the BOS last year, it would also cut the entire trail maintenance funding by 50%.
This cut would devastate FCPA’s Trails Department’s ability to maintain safe and usable trails, and, more importantly, it would inhibit County Residents from accessing the trails that they rely on for daily use, transit and park access.
Other proposed funding cuts to FCPA include:
- -$136,000: Summer concerts
- -$129,258: Reduced mowing of open grassy areas
- -$250,000: Reduced maintenance of athletic courts
- -$48,960: Fewer cleanings of Port-A-Johns
- -$181,620: Eliminating ecologist, historian, and photographer
Writing your email is as easy as 1-2-3!
- Introduce yourself: (a) Mention your district (find it if you don’t know) and (b) Share your park / rec center connection
- Express support for restoring the cuts most important to you.
- Say why it matters to you and your community.