Chairman Stewart & Supervisor Candland Emerge as Taxpayer Champions

Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, and Gainesville District Supervisor Pete Candland, are leading the charge to reduce the published real estate assessment rate that was passed by the Board of Supervisors on February 21, 2012.

In an email to PWC Stop the Tax Chairman Mac Haddow, Stewart made his views very clear:

Mac,

Thank you for your e-mail. ​I agree with you and wanted to give you an update. The proposed Tax Rate Advertisement presentation was presented to the Board of County Supervisors (BOCS) on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. The BOCS voted for a tax rate of $1.215, which cannot increase at the time of adoption, but can decrease. Although I was disappointed the proposed rate was passed by the Board in a 6-2 vote, I did want you to know that Supervisor Candland and I did not support the proposed rate, voting against it. I am hopeful I can work with the BOCS in adopting a decreased rate on April 24, 2012.

--Corey

Corey A. Stewart

Chairman

Prince William Board of County Supervisors

 Gainesville District Supervisor Pete Candland made his views about protecting homeowners who have been disadvantaged by the recession very clear, and he intends to fight to stop any tax increase for FY 2013:

"My wife and I have sat at our kitchen table on many long nights and made the tough decisions on spending cuts in our family budget that had to be made during this steep economic downturn.

I could not go to my employer and tell them I simply needed more revenue to match our spending plans – my wife and I had to live within our means.

Nearly every Prince William County family has been forced to slash personal spending, and husbands and wives have had to make the tough decisions to maintain their economic security.

That experience was duplicated time after time at family kitchen tables across the County, and however painful the decisions, families had the courage to make those spending cuts.

We have an affirmative duty to match that courage here today.

I know there are some who would choose the easy path to fund government spending by raising taxes on families despite the fact those families are just beginning to dig their way out of a crushing economic recession. 

If we do not set priorities in what the essential core government services should be when revenues are limited, then we have failed in our duty to be good stewards of the County.

If we refuse to honestly tell the citizens what we can and cannot afford, then we have lost their trust.

Higher taxes takes hard-earned money from the pockets of our citizens, stifles the economic vitality of our businesses forcing them to flee the County or go out of business, and ends up reducing tax revenues to the County.

Higher taxes become a significant deterrent to families seeking to live in Prince William County; will drive businesses away from locating here; and will rob us of jobs, economic development, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The problem is not that we do not have enough revenue, but rather the biggest problem we face today is that Prince William County is spending too much money."