Fairfax approves funds for low-income homes

Fairfax County officials approved a plan Tuesday to spend $593,000 on two Herndon homes to house low-income families.

The neighboring houses, which were purchased in 1989 and 1990 by the county's Redevelopment and Housing Authority and called Sunrise I and II, served as publicly subsidized group homes for teenagers with substance abuse and mental health issues, until they were closed last year. Officials say the 1970s-era, ranch-style houses off West Ox Road will be used by a designated nonprofit for "very low income households."

The county is slated to refinance tax-exempt bonds for county-owned properties, for a savings of almost $3.million. The county's Board of Supervisors voted 8 to 2 to spend nearly $600,000 of that amount to pay off the houses' existing mortgages. About $200,000 in federal stimulus funds have also been approved to renovate the houses, including the replacement of a failing septic system.

-- Derek Kravitz