Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Business Meeting – January 6, 2026
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Business Meeting – January 6, 2026
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors held its January 6, 2026, business meeting, primarily focused on organizational matters for the new year, adoption of the consent agenda, and key financial guidance for FY2027. The board adopted the consent agenda, elected Vice Chair, made standing committee and regional appointments, and approved the meeting schedule for 2026. Significant discussion centered on the FY2027 budget guidance, including tax rates and revenue allocation, a motion to fund the design of the historic Goose Creek Bridge, and a position on Dominion Energy’s net metering proposal.
Consent Calendar
- Approved items included: Loudoun County Board of Equalization 2025 Annual Report; Disability Services Board Bylaws Amendment; Fiscal Impact Committee 2025 Annual Report and Bylaws Amendment; Utilization of Federal and State Asset Forfeiture Funds by the Sheriff’s Office; Shellhorn Road (formerly Sterling Boulevard) Extension Additional Funding Request; Appointments and Confirmations (Item 2a); Administrative Items Report of January 6, 2026; and a Board Member Initiative to create a Data Center Informational Fact Sheet (Item 5). All consent items passed unanimously (8-0-1 with Supervisor Saines absent).
Discussion Items
Organizational Matters
- Rules of Order: The board adopted the 2026 Rules of Order with two adjustments: public commenters will be called for agenda-related items first, and comment time reduced from 2.5 to 2 minutes. A proposed amendment by Supervisor Crony to transfer jurisdiction over project scope, strategy, design endorsement, and work plans for multimodal transportation projects from the Finance/Government Operations/Economic Development Committee (FGOEDC) to the Transportation/Land Use Committee (TLUC) was discussed at length. After concerns about splitting jurisdiction and implementation issues raised by County Administrator Hemstreet and others, Supervisor Crony withdrew the motion. The Rules of Order were then adopted (8-0-1).
- Election of Vice Chair: Chair Randall nominated Supervisor Mike Turner for a second term as Vice Chair. He was elected 7-1-1 (Turner abstained, Saines absent).
- Standing Committee Assignments: Approved as presented; no changes from 2025. Supervisor Briskman remains Finance Chair; Supervisor Crony remains TLUC Chair. (8-0-1)
- Regional and County Committee Assignments: Approved as presented, with two corrections: Dulles Town Center Authority disbanded (no appointment needed); BEP/LOSAP assignment corrected from former board member to Supervisor Briskman. (8-0-1)
- Schedule Adjustments for 2026 and January 2027: Approved with adjustments for holidays; second meetings in November and December only if necessary. (8-0-1)
Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Guidance
- Supervisor Briskman, as Finance Chair, moved the FY2027 budget guidance: remove cigarette tax from general revenue and dedicate to housing fund for down payment/closing cost assistance; real property tax rate of $0.805 per $100 assessed value; general personal property tax rate of $4.15; vehicle personal property tax rate of $3.09; a 9% growth rate for the county operating budget and 8% for Loudoun County Public Schools; with additional local tax funding (excess over growth rate) allocated 80% to capital improvement program (CIP) and 20% to housing fund.
- Supervisor Crony offered a friendly amendment to add “with options to decrease the rate to $3.00 for tax year 2027” to the vehicle tax rate language. The amendment was accepted by the motion maker and seconder, becoming part of the base motion.
- Debate included Supervisor Kirshner stating that average homeowner real property taxes have increased by $1,080 annually over the past five years, arguing for lower rates. Supervisor Briskman countered that Loudoun has lowered real property tax rates by 24 cents since she took office, and excess data center revenue is being used effectively for CIP and housing.
- The motion as amended passed 6-1 (Chair Randall off dais; one opposed, likely Supervisor Laterno who expressed preference for starting at a lower real property tax rate).
Future Years’ Excess Revenue Allocation
- Supervisor Briskman moved to direct the county administrator to prepare the next three proposed budgets with the same 80/20 split (80% to CIP, 20% to housing) for any excess local tax funding over the growth rate. After debate about committing to multi-year guidance and the desire to possibly use excess for tax relief, the motion failed 4-4.
Goose Creek Bridge Design Funding
- Supervisor Crony moved to reduce the federal impacts contingency line item by $750,000 and create a new line item for Goose Creek Bridge Design. The bridge is a historic stone arch bridge (built c. 1800) on NOVA Parks property. The $750,000 would cover design for a stabilization/restoration estimated at $4.5–$6.5 million; construction would be considered in a future CIP. Supervisor Laterno and Supervisor Umstead opposed, citing uncertainty about federal contingency needs and lack of vetting. The motion passed 7-2 (Laterno and Umstead opposed).
Net Metering Position Statement
- Supervisor Briskman moved to endorse the Environmental Commission’s recommendation as the county’s position statement for the Dominion Energy SCC hearing on January 20, 2026, regarding its net metering program revisions. The motion also authorized the county administrator to appoint a staff witness. After debate, the motion passed 7-1-1 (one opposed, one abstention).
Appointments (Nominations)
- Numerous appointments were made: Michael Huber (at-large, Route 28 landowners advisory board), Eileen Shaffer (at-large, Disability Services Board), James Bonfield (at-large, Loudoun Water Board), and others. Approved.
Board Comments & Regional Updates
- Supervisor Briskman noted her chief of staff’s departure to George Mason University and shared gun violence statistics: 38,745 total gun deaths in 2025 (down from 41,000 in 2024), 408 mass shootings in 2025 (down from 504), and already 166 gun deaths and 7 mass shootings in January 2026.
- Supervisor Glass reported strong community opposition to disc golf at West Park Golf Course during a meeting with Leesburg residents.
- Supervisor Kirshner attended the funeral of Donald E. Walker Sr., a longtime community figure.
- County Administrator Hemstreet summarized attainable housing accomplishments: $27.5 million local funding for housing in FY2026, $3 million proposed for down payment assistance, over 1,100 units in development, tripled number of partners since 2022, and 560 units delivered since 2022.
- Vice Chair Turner warned about potential threats to democracy in 2026 and emphasized the importance of local government as the front line of American democracy.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously (8-0-1).
- Organizational Matters: Vice Chair, committee assignments, regional appointments, schedule, and Rules of Order all approved with varying votes.
- FY2027 Budget Guidance: Approved 6-1; includes vehicle tax rate option down to $3.00.
- Goose Creek Bridge Design: Approved 7-2.
- Net Metering Position: Approved 7-1-1.
- Multi-Year 80/20 Allocation: Failed 4-4.
- Staff directed to prepare FY2027 budget based on adopted guidance.
The meeting adjourned after board comments.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, supervisors. Good evening, staff, good evening, Loudon, and happy new year to everybody. Um, I'd like to call to order the January sixth, two thousand twenty-six Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Business Meeting. This room has a hearing loop. If you need hearing assistance, please sit switch your hearing aid to the telecom coil mode. If you need a headset, we have those available as well. Um, I tonight get to do words of inspiration and leaders in the Pledge of Allegiance. And so let me start off by saying today is the fifth anniversary of January sixth. And just as we remember other important dates in our shared American history, it's important for us to remember for good or for ill, um, January sixth. Any attempt, any attempt to rewrite history or sugarcoat the insurrection should not be allowed, should not be accepted, should not be believed. The harm done to our nation as a whole on January sixth, and individual families in particular should not be glossed over. As we enter this new year, I am acutely aware that the tone of the nation is very coarse, and at times it can be very demeaning. So we will strive at all times to treat one another with respect and dignity. Because we are human beings, we are not perfect, and we will mess up. In that vein, I want to read a poem, and I'm not really a poem person, but I do like this poem. I want to read a poem by Maya Angelou called The Human Family. Some of us are serious, some thrive on comedy. Some declare their lives are lived as true profundity, and others claim they really live the real reality. The variety of our skin tones can confuse, bemuse, delight, brown and pink and beige and purple, tan and blue and white. I sailed up on the seven seas and stopped in every land. I've seen the wonders of the world, yet not one common man. I know 10,000 women called Jane and Mary Jane, but I've not seen any two who really were the same. Minor twins are different through their features, though their features jibe. And lovers think quite differently, though though lying side by side. We love and lose in China. We weep on England's moors and laugh and moan moan in Ghana and thrive on Spanish shores. We seek success in Finland and bore and are born and dying die in Maine. In minor ways, we are different. In major ways, we're the same. I note the obvious differences between each sort and type, but we are more alike my friends than we are unalike. We are more alike, my friends, then we are on alike. Would everyone please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all supervisors. If you're looking for your supplemental package, let me help you out here because it was a little it's a little hard to find. Go into your board meeting regular package and then go under organizational matters, and under that you'll see a tab that says supplemental, and that's where you will find the supplemental package. It's a little, if you see the little paper clip. And so tonight, as we're going through the agenda, we're mostly working out of supplemental packages. Many of them we saw just 45 minutes ago. And so I'm gonna figure out how to handle those as well. Um, but let's do the consent agenda first. The consent agenda is as follows. Um Loudoun County Board of Equalization 2025 annual report. Item one B, bylaws and amendments for the Disability Services Board. Item 1C, Fiscal Impact Committee 2025 annual report. Item one D, Fiscal Impact Committee by Laws and Amendments for 2025. Item 1E, utilization of federal and state asset forfeiture funds, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. Item 1 F, Shell Horn Room Road, formerly known as Sterling Boulevard Extension, additional funding request. Item 2A, appointments and confirmations. Item three, the administrative items report of January 6, 2026.
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