The harsh realities of a poor economic climate are presenting an early challenge to Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart’s campaign for lieutenant governor in 2009.

Stewart is pushing for a multimillion-dollar crackdown on illegal immigrants and wants a lower increase in the property tax rate than what some colleagues are willing to embrace. That is rankling fellow supervisors who are pushing back and openly criticizing his leadership during an already difficult budget debate.

The challenge is steep: While property values key to county revenue have plummeted 15 percent, supervisors are trying to build a new high school, raise teacher salaries and add 100 positions combined to the police and fire departments.

While Stewart has been emphatic that the county can accomplish its key goals without a tax increase of more than 3 percent on the average tax bill, only three of seven supervisors agree, setting up a stalemate that has lasted through three meetings.

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“They’re basically trying to blackmail me into supporting the tax increase,” Stewart told The Examiner. “I don’t believe it’s right, and even if it costs me the election, I’m not going to do it.”

That Stewart, who announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination less than two months ago, already is casting the tax vote as a direct challenge to an election almost 20 months away is a testament to the stakes.

“We need to come to an agreement, but it’s got to be the right agreement,” Stewart said. “It needs to fund the new high school. It needs to fund immigration, it needs to ... add staff to the police and fire departments, but I sincerely believe the tax increase is bad for the county and is bad for businesses and is bad for families.”

But several supervisors have charged that the tax increase Stewart supports is inadequate to meet the county’s needs and questioned whether he has done enough to address their concerns.

“The role of the chairman should not be to demand what you want and assume that others follow. Lay out your case and let your position win support,” said Supervisor Martin Nohe, R-Coles. “He has not succeeded in bringing others to his side.”

The board is holding a special meeting Tuesday to set a maximum tax rate after three failed attempts at prior sessions.

“With nobody blinking, this is sort of an embarrassment getting ready to happen,” said Wally Covington, R-Brentsville. “Ultimately, I don’t think the chairman is going to be able to hang on to the votes.”

dgenz@dcexaminer.com