MCA's Budget and Taxation (B&T) Committee recently invited Jim Shelton, Auditor of the Board, and Matt Geiser from the Fairfax County Office of Financial and Performance Audit (OFPA) to discuss the role of their office and their near-term work program. OFPA reports solely to the Board of Supervisors; it is distinct from the internal audit function that reports to the County Executive.
The OFPA officials told us that their February 2019 report would include analyses of two topics: the County's garbage collection service (part of the Solid Waste Management program); and the Fairfax Connector bus service. Their new report is here, along with other recent reports from OFPA. (MCA Members-only access.)
Our MCA Resolution on cost allocation from last year appears to have had an impact. OFPA analyzed the costs of garbage collection, and concluded that the County was charging less than cost. The FY 2020 Adopted Budget, in turn, raises the per-household charge.
The report also analyzes the Fairfax Connector bus service, which apparently has unusually high costs per passenger due in part to low usage. Subsidies for this service are part of the County's budget.
MCA's B&T Committee will hold a public-invited meeting on next year's County budget on Thursday, February 28. This and other input will be used to develop the annual MCA Resolution with recommendations for the final County Budget for the upcoming fiscal year.