I’m a life-long Virginian who moved to Prince William County in 2007, when Corey Stewart became chairman of our board of supervisors. As a political independent, I’m fed-up with the misleading campaign rhetoric, empty promises and divisive scare tactics that Corey Stewart – and some other candidates from both major parties – use to try […]
Proposed new residential developments in Prince William County — developments that need approval by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors — have become one of the most contentious issues of our time.
Why? Because most new homes (if not senior living) could eventually house children who will use public education in our county, a county that currently has overcrowded classrooms and depends on trailers while new schools and additions are being built.
Supervisor Candland: On 19 September the Prince William (PW) County Planning Commission voted on a measure to allow 551 residential houses to be built along the west side of Devlin Rd (i.e., Stone Haven II). The proposal will soon come before the PW Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) for a final vote. As […]
Recently, I read that our defense budget was signed into law on time for the first time in 10 years and want to thank Congressman Wittman for his part in making that happen.
I’ve known Rob Wittman over six years since meeting him at a veteran’s roundtable in Woodbridge. He discussed how continuing resolutions kick the can down the road. The result: passing budgets that hurt the ability of our military to plan how to combat current and future threats.
There has been a lot of discussion through the years about extending Metrorail from Springfield through Woodbridge to Dale City/Potomac Mills area. Three main reasons why this is a bad idea for the residents of Prince William County include:
If you examine most end of the line Metro stations, most include similar land use configurations already existing in Eastern Prince William County. Limited non-residential development would occur in Prince William County due to Metrorail.
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday spent a lot of time discussing whether or not Washington D.C.’s Metro subway will ever be extended to Woodbridge.
Apparently, Prince William residents have trouble mastering some of the concepts of riding something as simple as a local bus.
Virginia’s Medicaid Expansion Keeps The Momentum Going
Millions of Virginians celebrated earlier this year when the state decided to expand Medicaid to provide healthcare to some 400,000 low-income residents who desperately need it. This was an amazing achievement, bringing to fruition the promise of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but our success doesn’t mean the health care fight is over. We need to preserve what we’ve attained and move forward.
On September 12th the Prince William Chamber of Commerce hosted its Policy Committee Meeting where we heard and engaged in a conversation with senior Prince William County Staff on the topic of the County’s Strategic Plan and more importantly, discussed the County’s “Moonshot Goal”.
The “Moonshot Goal” is to increase the percentage of commercial tax revenues to 35% of the County’s existing tax receipts. It is the only quantifiable goal in the approved plan, and it is ambiguous. The approved plan did not specify whether the goal was limited to real property taxes or to all taxes paid by businesses. The business community’s share of taxes is currently about 16% of all county real estate taxes, and roughly 24% of all general fund taxes collected.
The “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” signed into law last December brought tax relief to middle-class Americans across the country. However, it will have the unintended consequence of causing tax bills to rise for over middle-class taxpayers and will hit Stafford County residents especially hard given Stafford’s high rate of homeownership and burgeoning middle-class.
In a recent video posted on Facebook, Stafford County Commissioner of the Revenue Scott Mayausky explains the incompatibility issue that exists between the federal and state returns and how it will impact Virginia’s middle-class. The video has connected with taxpayers as it was shared more than 275 times and watched 10,000 times within a 4-day period.
My name is Parth Patel, a resident of Dumfries, Virginia. I am a rising senior at Forest Park High School and a Boy Scout of America, Troop 501, Woodbridge, Virginia.
Goal:
