Fairfax City seeks Nov. 3 vote on up to 1% sales tax for schools

The Fairfax City Council voted July 14, 2026, to request a Nov. 3 special election on a sales tax of up to 1%, projected to raise about $13.5 million a year.

Fairfax City · July 20, 2026

The Fairfax City Council voted unanimously on July 14, 2026, to ask the Fairfax Circuit Court to order a Nov. 3, 2026, special election on a general retail sales tax of up to 1% for school construction and public transportation, Patch reported. City staff estimate the tax would generate about $13.5 million a year, an amount that would depend on economic activity and on whether the council ultimately enacts it.

The resolution does not impose the tax. Two steps remain: the circuit court must order the election, and even if voters approve the referendum, the council would have to act again before any tax takes effect.

The referendum rests on new state authority. The Virginia General Assembly amended state law, effective July 1, 2026, to let localities in Northern Virginia's Planning District 8, Fairfax City among them, ask voters for permission to levy the additional tax.

What the ballot question would cover

Voters would decide whether the city may levy a general retail sales tax of no more than 1%. Revenue could fund only capital projects for new school construction or renovations, public transportation purposes, or both, including bond and loan financing costs. Mayor Catherine Read said officials have consistently presented the tax as a way to pay for school renovations. "We have been very clear about what our intention was for this," Read said.

City Attorney Brian Lubkeman recommended ballot language that tracks the state statute. He told the council the law does not require spending the money on Metro, but a Planning District 8 locality that enacts the tax and later fails to meet its Metro funding obligations could lose the authority to use the revenue.

A $220 million school bond behind the push

The city has weighed an additional sales tax since early 2024 as a way to finance school capital projects. In November 2024, nearly 70% of city voters approved a $220 million school bond referendum, and the council has since funded elementary school renovations and a Fairfax High School roof replacement, including a $22 million appropriation in the fiscal 2027 budget.

Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer J.C. Martinez said projected sales tax revenue would nearly cover the annual debt payments on that bond. Without the new tax, the city previously estimated it could need the equivalent of a 20- to 21-cent increase in its real estate tax rate to finance the projects. Martinez noted the sales tax, unlike the real estate tax, is paid by residents and by people visiting or working in the city when they make taxable purchases.

The Fairfax Circuit Court must order the special election before the question can appear on the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot.