The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is preparing for more difficult budget choices, Chairwoman Sharon Bulova (D-At Large) said Thursday.

The county's economy is seeing some improvement, Bulova said, but the board will have to grapple with an estimated $50 million shortfall to balance the fiscal 2012 budget plan.

Although she wouldn't rule out the prospect of employee salary increases --the board has not even seen a draft county budget yet -- Bulova made it clear that it would be a long shot. Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale's proposed $2.2 billion budget includes a 4 percent pay raise for school employees, but that depends on funding from the county. County employees have not received a raise since fiscal 2009.

It would cost more than $100 million to give raises to both schools and county employees, Bulova said. Raises for county employees would equal $33 million and $74 million for schools employees, she said.

"It creates a significant challenge," Bulova said. "Knowing what we know now ... there is not sufficient funding for us to do that." It would take a tax increase or additional program cuts to pay for pay raises, she said.

School and public safety employees are on a pay scale with defined "steps" and also typically receive an annual cost-of-living increase. General county employees are on a merit pay system, so the amount of pay increase varies based on individual performance and evaluations. No one on the county board has proposed raises for general county employees at this point.

Republican Supervisors Pat Herrity (Springfield) and John Cook (Braddock) both said keeping residents' real estate tax bills flat or lowering them will be a priority for them this budget session.

"People are still paying the tax dollars they were paying in 2006 and 2007," Cook said, "But home values still are nowhere near what they were at the peak."

In her State of the County speech, taped at the Channel 16 studios Thursday, Bulova said the environment, transportation and revitalization will be among the board's top priorities for the last year of their four-year terms.

The Department of Defense base realignment is set to be completed in September as well, shifting 14,000 workers to Fort Belvoir -- 8,500 to new buildings at the former Engineer Proving Grounds, now called the north post, and 5,500 to the main post.

The board remains particularly concerned about a related shift that will bring 6,200 jobs to the Mark Center site in Alexandria.

With limited transit access and no major transportation improvements planned there, the board fears that the facility will cause major headaches for Fairfax commuters traveling on Interstate 395.

Although county officials are working with regional partners to mitigate the impacts, Bulova said, "I don't want people to be mistaken -- there will be a negative impact from those moves into Mark Center."

Bulova proposes Tysons conference center

Conference space could be a part of the redevelopment in Tysons Corner or another one of Fairfax County's urban revitalization areas, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova (D) said last week.

In her State of the County address, Bulova said she wants to work with the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and Visit Fairfax, the county's tourism arm, to identify a location and funding strategy for a Tysons conference center.

In a subsequent meeting with reporters, she added the conference center also could be located somewhere else, such as Merrifield.

The county does not need a full-scale convention center, but is interested in a venue that could host events on a smaller scale, such as meetings and events, Bulova said.

"[Visit Fairfax] has identified a niche that they believe Fairfax County should be pursuing," she said.

The venue wouldn't necessarily be publicly financed or operated, Bulova said, and likely would be proffered by a developer as part of a redevelopment plan.

Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) criticized Bulova for failing to mention what he sees as a more pressing issue for Tysons Corner: the county's plan for funding road improvements. County staff started a public input process late last year for improving the city's roads.

"We're talking about a conference center when we haven't even figured out how to pay for roads in Tysons," Herrity said. "We have an unfunded transportation plan."