Supervisor Clark asks a simple question, "How much is this going to cost the Loudoun Tax payer?" Chairman York fails to make the distinction between cost and reasonable cost. It seems that Chairman York does not care. This is outrageous, it is the Loudoun taxpayer's money, Mr York.

Chairman York then tries to demean Supervisor Clark by trying to compare building a school with paying WMATA and its Union forever. Mr. York not only failed, but he made a fool of himself to boot. This is classic York. He is utterly ruthless and has no regard for the facts. Then, York acts surprised when called to task for his bad behavior. Mr York's retirement from public office is long overdue Loudoun. When are we going to learn? Loudoun County has been duped once again by this charlatan.

Mr. York, the studies show that ridership on metro will not lessen traffic in Loudoun. During the meeting, Supervisor Reid was quoting pages from these studies earlier that very same evening York went ape on Supervisor Clark. Here again, Mr. York ignores any and all data that does not support his stated goal of bringing rail to Loudoun.

Rail supporters and even WMATA all agree rail will still come to Dulles Airport, even if Loudoun Co. does opt-out of this incredibly costly deal. A deal that appears to cost more and more every time it is revisited or discussed. Loudoun's share of the Capital Improvement Costs that run currently 13 Billion Dollars, is an unknown that would give pause to any reasonable executive who has the public trust. Yet, York refuses to take this under consideration. Why? This only makes people wonder all the more, "What is the really driving Mr. York here?"

Town Hall Meetings:

What Metro Means to Loudoun

The Board of Supervisors will decide soon on whether or not to make an open-ended financial commitment to Metro and if they decide to go ahead, it is final!

The purpose of these meetings will be to encourage the public to get informed and learn how to let their voice be heard before the votes are cast at the beginning of July 2012.

The presentation and discussion will focus on these questions:

1. How would Metro to Loudoun affect our communities?

2. What are the costs and benefits of bringing Metro to Loudoun and where will the money come from to pay for it?

The meeting will be sponsored by Loudoun Taxpayers for Accountable Government.

The meeting will include a panel consisting of people from the local community who will share what they have learned about the proposed project.

Please call 703-297-7444 if you can help coordinate a meeting in your community or if you have any questions.

Meeting details:

Lovettsville Fire Hall
12837 Berlin Turnpike, Lovettsville, VA 20180

7:00 - 9:00pm Wednesday April 11th

Located on the left side of Route 287 as you approach Lovettsville from the south. 

Why is Loudoun County considering spending a fortune on rail? Proponents claim it will bring business to our county. But at what cost? What will happen to property taxes? How much debt will Loudoun incur? What is Loudoun's part in subsidizing WMATA? These questions cannot be answered yet as the needed information, for an informed decision, does not yet exist. The eye-popping figure of $2.5B to $3.5B is the price for a commuter line to Loudoun with stations at Dulles Airport, Old Ox Rd. and Ryan Rd which is only Part II of the program. York even seeks to get Loudoun involved in Part I, which carries a $6B+ price tag but no capital improvements for Loudoun?

Who currently owns properties that will benefit most from these public infrastructure upgrades? Moorefield Station will be zoned for 1500 units without rail. With rail, it will be zoned for 6000 units. The people of Loudoun are being used to finance these capital improvements. Normally a tax district for such public works is established so that those who benefit the most will bear some of the burden directly. York and some on the BOS prefer instead to cut from one program so that he can the throw this venture's costs onto the back of the Loudoun taxpayer. The figure may grow if union set asides are not rejected. Yet, with all these unanswered questions and no tax district, Chairman York claims this is good for Loudoun?

The debt service for WMATA is currently unknown. Wolf has called for an audit of WMA, a report is due May. York is resolved to give WMATA Loudoun's buy-in by July despite not knowing what will be our share of this debt burden or its size? The MD-DC-VA Metro system is 35 years old, it is falling apart, the reports of escalators failing and trains breaking down are but the tip of the iceberg. The BOS does not know the overhaul cost of the system. The BOS should not sign on until after the price tag has been explained and the public been given time to determine if the service is worth the price. On April 17th WMATA makes presentation at 7PM to address some but not all of the issues. Public input follows in May and a vote is scheduled for July? The rush is reminiscent of the CBPO Boondoggle, where York jumped ship.

If Loudoun has to raise $300M in bonds to pay for its share of the Silver Line costs, it will cost $17M per year to service the bond, assuming a 30-year bond at 5%. If this bond is paid for by the commuters, it will require 6,800 commuters per workday, paying $10 apiece. If rail does not pay for itself, Loudoun property taxes will go up one penny for each $8.4M of shortfall. The total price tag could be far higher. Even with this sort of explosive financial burden, York persists in calling this a good idea.

With a population of 310,000, Loudoun does not have enough potential rail commuter demand to justify all these potential expenses. Currently, Fairfax subsidizes the cost of the rail lines to the tune of $0.58 for every dollar spent. Given Fairfax has 1.1M people, it is likely the Loudoun subsidy will need to be far higher. York, who claims this is a good idea, has not yet exercised proper due diligence in this matter. MD-DC-VA-Metro rail has been a money pit since its inception. How is Loudoun's joining that failed venture a good idea? How is an increased tax burden going to bring business to Loudoun?

Driving the Dulles Toll road, you can see office buildings on both sides of the road from Tysons to Reston to Herndon. Loudoun has become the bedroom community for Fairfax. The Dulles corridor was built up without the help of a rail line. In Reston town center you will find bus stops, but no train station. Rail is coming to Reston and Herndon. First came the roads, then the office buildings, the town center business parks and the restaurants and shops to service these enterprises. Then comes the rail. This robust development is the result of professional community planning that is logical, has vision, and adds the most expensive elements once there is a business base in place to shoulder the cost.

We are 20 years behind Fairfax because, under Chairman York, the BOS's engaged in unprofessional and unpredictable community planning. First came the homes without roads. Then came the Democrat-dominated board in 2007, that was actively hostile to business. These Democrats were publicly endorsed by Chairman York. This last board raised business taxes, resulting in a loss of businesses in Loudoun. With the business community collapsing, the York protegees decided that the most pressing business was to enact the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance? Today you can see where the Fairfax County border is on VA28 and US50 very clearly. It is where the office buildings and business parks suddenly end. Such is the legacy of York's leadership the past 12+ years as Chairman of the BOS.

Will York stop the current rush to Rail? First Loudoun needs some solid community planning, a business friendly climate, and a professional, predictable process for business development. When the Greenway from Dulles to Leesburg begins to resemble the Toll Road corridor between Reston and Herndon, and when VA28 north of Dulles has the office density that one sees in Chantilly, then it will be time to consider Metro rail. Right now, Mr. York, that consideration is still years away. Add a comment

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has adopted the fiscal year 2013 budget and has lowered the real property tax rate for 2012 to $1.235 -- a decrease of 5 cents from the 2011 rate.  The average homeowner tax bill will also drop by $154 to $4,961.

This is quite a contrast from the previous Democrat-majority Board.  In their first year in office, they raised the tax rate an unprecedented 18 cents, which resulted in increase of $457 in the average homeowner tax bill -- the 3rd largest tax increase ever.  They raised taxes at a time when the economy was in a recession, housing values were plummeting and foreclosure rates were on the rise to historic highs.

The economy and housing market have since stabilized, but the new Board had to deal with an increase in VRS contributions of about $36 million, due largely to deferments over the past 2 years.  With property values on the rise, the Board could have left the tax rate at $1.285, which would have resulted in a backdoor tax increase.  Leaving the tax rate relatively unchanged when assessments were on the rise was the strategy employed by previous Boards during the housing bubble, which led to a more than doubling of homeowner tax bills in just 8 years.

This Board deserves a lot of credit for sticking to their campaign platform of fiscal responsibility.  With the highest tax rate and average homeowner tax bills out of all of Virginia's 95 counties in 2011, Loudouners need tax relief.  This is the first step in easing that tax burden for Loudoun taxpayers.