Time for New Leadership: Loudoun’s Bloated FY 2027 Budget

Loudoun County has released its proposed FY 2027 budget, and it sends a clear message: business as usual continues.

The County Administrator is proposing a 5% increase in operating expenditures and a 7% increase in local taxation compared to FY 2026. For schools, the proposal is even more aggressive — an 8% increase in operational spending, paired with that same 7% local tax hike.

These increases come despite very modest underlying drivers of spending growth. Loudoun’s population is growing at roughly 1.4% annually, and inflation sits at about 2.4%. Combined, that’s under 4% — yet the County wants residents to pay 7% more in local taxes while overall operations grow 5%. The schools’ 8% spending increase is particularly difficult to justify: Loudoun County Public Schools enrollment declined 1.4% between 2024 and 2025.

Rather than pushing back on the School Board’s request, the County Administrator proudly announces he has fully funded it.

A Pattern of Excessive Growth

This isn’t a one-year problem. From FY 2024 to FY 2026, Loudoun’s operating budget grew 22% and local taxation surged 26%. That is real, structural growth well beyond population and inflation.

Last year, we recommended the Board of Supervisors give the County Administrator clear guidance: hold the line at zero real growth in both operating spending and local taxes. The Board did provide guidance — but it was far too weak.

Here is the actual direction the Board gave the Administrator, as quoted in the budget document:

“The guidance directed me to prepare the budget based on a real property tax rate of $0.805… Further, the Board directed that I prepare a budget that constrains the growth of the County’s operating budget to 9 percent and the School Division’s operating budget to 8 percent…”

Think about that. With population growth plus inflation totaling under 4%, the Board’s idea of “restraint” was to allow spending to grow more than double that rate. The County Administrator himself notes in the budget introduction that data center revenue growth will plateau in the early 2030s and that the County should begin preparing for it. Yet the Board’s guidance shows they continue to spend every new dollar rather than using the current revenue surge to lower the tax burden on residents.

Time for New Leadership

Loudoun residents deserve better than this. We are being asked to accept permanently higher taxes and spending growth that far outpaces both population and inflation — all while school enrollment is shrinking. The Board has shown it is either unwilling or unable to impose real fiscal discipline, even when given advance warning about future revenue slowdowns.

It is time to elect a new Board of Supervisors that will actually prioritize taxpayers over unchecked government expansion.