2026 Virginia Budget Advocacy Primer

We are deep into budget season in Northern Virginia. Each jurisdiction has a slightly different process but all follow a similar framework: release a draft, take public comments (virtually and/or at public hearings), revise, then vote to adopt. Below is a roundup of key budget resources and important dates/deadlines for each jurisdiction in Northern Virginia:

Fairfax County: 

• Key resources:
  • Budget website, including budget at a glance
  • Options to provide feedback 
• Key dates:
  • Public hearings on April 14th, April 15th, and April 16th
  • County Board of Supervisors votes to adopt on May 5th

Arlington County Budget

• Key resources:
  • Budget website, including budget overview
• Key dates:
  • Public budget hearing on March 24th and tax rate hearing on March 26th (register here, opens 5 days before hearing)
  • County Board votes to adopt on April 21st

City of Alexandria

• Key resources:
  • Budget website, including budget overview
  • Feedback form
• Key dates:
  • City Council worksessions on April 21st and April 27th
  • City Council votes to adopt on April 29th

City of Falls Church

• Key resources:
  • Budget website, including budget forecast overview
• Key dates:
  • Public budget town hall meetings on March 26th and April 30th
  • City Council votes to adopt on May 11th

Given the multitude of jurisdictions, our capacity in Virginia, and in the absence of any five-alarm fires posing immediate significant risk to bicycling infrastructure or programming, WABA won’t typically organize formal budget advocacy campaigns. Instead, we engage strategically by joining specific advocacy pushes led by our local partners and contribute to coalition budget letters as appropriate. 

That being said, the budget process remains an important opportunity to reiterate our pro-bicycling vision and values and so we encourage you to take part however you are comfortable. You don’t have to have a thoroughly-researched 5-minute testimony prepared and practiced to have an impact—short, authentic messages about what’s most important to you are just as meaningful for elected leaders to hear. 

With that in mind, here are a few evergreen themes we think are worth reiterating if you choose to provide comments or testimony this budget season:

1. Praise the progress. Northern Virginia as a whole has been making slow but steady progress towards improved street safety and connected low-stress bike networks. But we have to keep it up. Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas in rethinking and remaking how our communities get around. Underscore the safety impacts, the sustainability implications, or how these projects provide incredible bang-for-your-buck as jurisdictions look to trim costs—whatever resonates most with you.
2. Highlight a favorite project. What recent improvement has made your commute easier or safer? Where can you get to now that you couldn’t before? Give examples of the transportation investments that are making your life better to underscore that these projects are providing tangible benefits to real people each and every day. We know our elected leaders are hearing from cranky drivers every time parking is taken away for a bike lane—let’s be sure they’re hearing the other side, too.
3. Encourage faster implementation. The biggest complaint WABA hears from residents is why don’t projects happen faster? The budget process is the perfect place to voice support for more rapid implementation of bike projects big and small. Underscore the need for further investment in planning staff, quick-build deployments, and/or in-house maintenance crews—anything and everything that will contribute to faster crosswalks installations, bollard replacements, and pothole fixes.

Need additional guidance or want to brainstorm further? Reach out to me at kevin.obrien@waba.org or to your local bike advocacy organization.