Report Details Virginia's High Taxes

The Tax Foundation recently released a report on the tax burdens of citizens in each state. Apparently, Virginia residents pay the 18th largest tax burden in the country. In terms of taxes collected from just the state of Virginia we rank in the top ten. Virginians give up nearly 10% of their income in state and local taxes alone. The study just emphasizes what Republicans already know: taxes are too high in Virginia. It's unfair to expect the taxpayers of Virginia to shell out even more money to pay for the Democrats' transportation plan. We have to be looking for solutions more creative than just raising taxes, especially in this economy.

Connolly Costs Fairfax County Schools $150 Million/Year

I recently came across a Reston Connection article titled "2,500 More Students" that I found to be quite alarming! The article outlined how there has been a mass exodus of students from Prince William County (PWC) Schools with direct correlation to the increase in Fairfax County Public Schools. Much of the shift was attributed to the crackdown by the PWC Board of Supervisors on the illegal immigrant population and Fairfax County's own Chairman Gerry Connolly who has successfully made Fairfax County a "safe haven" for illegal immigrants.

I decided to delve a little deeper into this article to find out exactly what ILLEGAL alien population is costing the LEGAL taxpayers of Fairfax County....

Lets start with the total number of illegal immigrants in the Commonwealth of Virginia. According to the Pew Hispanic Center in March 2005 study, there are approximately 300,000 currently residing in Virginia (10th Highest in the Nation). This number, when divided by the approximate 13% of the states population that lives in Fairfax County is 39K people .... but we all know that a larger portion of immigrants reside in Fairfax County so we will go with an even 15% for the sake of a nice even number... 45K.

Continuing with our theme of Conservative :) estimates ... we will assume that 25% of the illegal alien population are school aged children that leaves us with 11,250 kids. When multiplied by the average cost of educating a child in the Fairfax County School System of $13,340, basic arithmetic gives us a grand total of $150 MILLION!!!!

Basic arithmetic also tells us that the recent influx of 2,500 students to Fairfax County Public Schools has added an additional $33 Million to that already OUTRAGEOUS total.


A few points to leave you with....

1. Fairfax County ... even though a safe haven for illegal immigrants (thanks to Chairman and Congressional candidate Gerry Connolly) ... simply cannot afford the illegal immigrant population!

2. Compared to the first quarter of last year, crime in Fairfax County is up nearly 22%. Property crimes, which include theft and larceny increased by 24%. Surely this couldn't have anything to do with "Safe Haven" Connolly's flawed immigration policies?

3. With estimates that hover around $40 Million for a new elementary school, its interesting to note that we could have almost four new schools each year for $150 Million!!!! I find this to be even more troubling when parents from West Springfield High School have been complaining that the County has overlooked their school for renovations .... and the County's response??? WE HAVE NO MONEY!!!

Seems to me that $150 Million/Year could do some serious renovations to West Springfield, as well as numerous others!