- Eating out in most areas of Fairfax County will change into costlier in 2026
- The county is implementing a 4% tax surcharge on meals
- The county is against a on line casino to assist generate new tax income
Final week, Fairfax County in Northern Virginia formally opposed any effort on the state stage to designate the prosperous area for a on line casino. Some in Richmond, together with these representing Fairfax, consider one thing have to be accomplished to fund the county’s ever-growing finances hole.
An aerial {photograph} of the Interstate 495 exits for McLean and Tysons Nook. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, most meals at eating places inside Fairfax County shall be topic to a 4% tax surcharge. (Picture: Shutterstock)
Fairfax County is projecting a $131.5 million funding shortfall for the upcoming fiscal yr.
Regardless of being among the many wealthiest counties within the nation, President Donald Trump’s discount in federal authorities jobs has exacerbated the county’s fiscal issues. The county’s monetary standing worsened in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, as many workplace buildings contested their property tax assessments.
Job development has struggled within the county dwelling to Tysons and McLean, which many Fortune 500 companies name dwelling. To assist ease the native authorities’s fiscal woes, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is implementing a 4% surcharge on meals starting Jan. 1, 2026.
Fairfax County Meals Tax
The meals and beverage tax applies to most eating places and eateries in Fairfax County.
Efficient January 1, 2026, Fairfax County will start levying a tax on the acquisition of all ready meals and drinks bought as a meal. The Meals and Beverage Tax is 4% of the overall price of meals and drinks bought by eating places, caterers, or different designated institutions outlined as a restaurant within the Code of Virginia,” the county web site says.
A “meal” is outlined as all meals and drinks, together with alcohol, bought for the aim of consumption in or from a meals institution, whether or not ready or consumed within the meals institution or not. The tax applies to meals vehicles, farmers’ markets, and grocery shops the place ready meals are bought.
The county meals and beverage tax doesn’t apply within the cities of Clifton, Herndon, or Vienna, or the cities of Fairfax or Falls Church, as they have already got their very own separate meals tax.
For big employers like Capital One, headquartered in McLean, the banking big might want to pay a 4% surcharge on the numerous catering orders it receives every year. The monetary company’s workers pays 4% additional on their lunch, together with all the opposite staff within the nation’s companies.
Tax Hikes
The typical single-family dwelling worth in Fairfax County is about $1 million. Property taxes have risen 50% over the previous decade, making the county’s price of dwelling harder.
State Sens. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) and David Marsden (D-Fairfax) wish to give residents the choice of producing new tax income by means of gaming. They’re more likely to help laws subsequent yr to permit Fairfax County residents to vote on a on line casino venture.
I’ve requested actually near 100 to 150 folks, someplace in that vary, to inform me, give me one other thought, as a result of simply bringing in a nationwide headquarters doesn’t imply we get their taxes for his or her manufacturing someplace else. It simply doesn’t work that means,” Marsden mentioned on The Politics Hour in Could.
“Fairfax County has change into a spot the place it’s not significantly interesting to younger folks of their 20s, 30s. They’re very a lot behind the on line casino idea,” Marsden added.
Marsden mentioned placing the on line casino determination earlier than voters is “essentially the most democratic course of you’ll be able to think about.” He says he doesn’t essentially like casinos, however you “both compete otherwise you die on this surroundings.”
