Reston property owners will pay $900 in annual assessment fees starting in 2027 after the Reston Association (RA) board approved a $24 million budget and a new 10-year capital improvement plan that steers money toward tree care, cybersecurity and a scientific study of the community's four artificial lakes.

The board voted Oct. 22 to adopt the budget, which raises the per-property assessment $10, or 1%, from the current $890 rate, FFXnow first reported. Assessment invoices will be mailed in the coming weeks, with payment due March 1, 2027, according to RA's payment page. Late fees apply after that date.

Property owners enrolled in the Fairfax County Tax Relief Program will owe $450.

Staff kept the increase small by finding more than $550,000 in savings. Those cuts included eliminating a chief operating officer position, shifting the quarterly activities guide from print to digital to save roughly $100,000 a year, and trimming technology and seasonal staffing costs, according to an RA press release. Another $400,000 in capital program offsets came from investment earnings, project savings and contributions from the Friends of Reston.

Board President Travis Johnson said in the press release that staff "maintained services, continued investments in community priorities and limited the assessment increase to just 1%, well below the rate of inflation."

New spending priorities

Despite the savings, the 2027 budget adds funding for contracted tree maintenance, cybersecurity protections, a mobile version of the RecTrac activity registration platform and a study of sediment conditions in Reston's lakes. Specific dollar amounts for those items have not been disclosed.

The budget vote followed the board's Oct. 8 approval of a 2027-2036 capital improvement plan (CIP). The 2027 capital budget totals $4.48 million, slightly below the $4.5 million projected in the prior 10-year plan. Future years range from $3.6 million to $4.6 million, FFXnow reported.

Changes from last year's CIP include a project to replace lighting around Lake Anne in 2031 and a placeholder for office improvements in 2029. RA's headquarters lease at 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive expires at the end of July 2030, and no decision has been made on whether to renew, downsize or relocate.

CEO Peter Lusk told FFXnow that Lake Anne's lights will need replacement "in the next five years or so" because aging fixtures make parts hard to find. He said the process will require community engagement and that no changes are planned before the date listed in the CIP.

The plan also extends a stormwater culvert-replacement program, allocating $75,000 through 2028 and increasing to $100,000 a year starting in 2029. New pool furniture across all RA swimming pools is budgeted by 2030.

Lake Newport draws resident interest

Projects slated for 2027 include a splash pad at Uplands Pool, a renovation of the Lake Newport tennis courts and the conclusion of a three-year trail-signage improvement effort.

At a public hearing before the CIP vote, residents pushed the board to expand the Lake Newport tennis courts project beyond the playing surfaces, which will become tennis-only with no pickleball. Julie Bitzer, chair of RA's Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, asked the board to move a gazebo replacement from 2028 to 2027. Other speakers called for lighting, path and bathroom upgrades and a hitting wall.

The board debated the gazebo timeline but left it in 2028 after staff said safety upgrades, including new lighting at court entrances and repaved pathways, will be part of the tennis renovation. Lusk said restroom and hitting-wall additions are larger projects unlikely to happen before 2028.

South Lakes District Director Jennifer Jushchuk said she was comfortable keeping the gazebo on its current schedule, expressing confidence that staff would bring the project forward if construction timing and funding allowed.