Fairfax County

Fairfax County is located in Northern Virginia.

History
Up until the 1930's, the county was primarily rural, with farms of varying sizes comprising the bulk of the county. This changed with the expansion of the Federal Government, first in the 1930's in response to the Great Depression, and explosively during and immediately following World War II. From the initial number of 25,264 residents in 1930, the population increased 62% from 1930 to 1940, 140% from 1940 to 1950, and an astounding 179% from 1950 to 1960. By 1960, over 275,000 people lived in Fairfax County, a quarter of a million more than had lived there just three decades before.

Government
Fairfax County is administered by a ten-member board of supervisors, nine of whom are elected from each of the county's magisterial districts, and chair elected at-large.

From 1945 to 1951, Fairfax County used the Executive Secretary form of government, and from 1952 to 1966, the County Executive form.

Since 1967, Fairfax County has used the Urban County Executive form of government, which was approved by a referendum on November 8, 1966 and is defined in chapter 8 of title 15.2 of the Code of Virginia.

Rules and Responsibilities
Virginia courts have concluded that local governments in Virginia only have :


 * 1) Those powers that are specifically conferred on them by the Virginia General Assembly.
 * 2) Those powers that are necessarily or fairly implied from a specific grant of authority.
 * 3) Those powers that are essential to the purposes of government. Powers so assumed cannot simply be convenient, but must be indispensable.

This means that Fairfax County has limited powers in areas such as raising revenue, and it cannot take certain actions without appropriate action from the state, which limits revenue diversification options among other things.