Continued calls for a $2 million investment in Arlington after-school programs dominated a Tuesday meeting on the county budget.
Funding for children with behavioral issues, nature centers and a public library were among numerous other priorities that over 60 speakers expressed at the Arlington County Board meeting.
All of these requests would require changes to the county’s $1.62 billion budget draft, which includes a proposed 1.5 cent tax hike that — combined with rising home assessments — would increase the average homeowner’s tax and fee burden by about $500.
Board members, who did not offer comments at either Tuesday’s meeting or a meeting Thursday on the tax rate, have given themselves some leeway in setting the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. To account for uncertainty in state funding for Arlington Public Schools, they have advertised hearings on a tax increase of up to 2.5 cents.
A “wrap-up” work session on the county budget is scheduled for next Thursday, April 11.
After-school funding
Members of Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE) were especially vocal in calling for free after-school programming, arguing that it protects students’ physical and mental health.
Local resident Catriona Rogers pointed to rising rates of anxiety and depression among young people, which the pandemic exacerbated.
“Teens need regular contact with peers and kind, trustworthy adults that get them excited and keep them engaged,” she said. “Teens who are getting those needs met are recovering from the challenges they experienced when those supports were unavailable.”
VOICE volunteer Tony Striner was part of a team who spoke to over 500 Arlington students about their experiences and needs. Echoing emotional testimony at a February rally for more after-school programming, he said poor support networks are part of the reason so many Arlington students are turning to opioids and other drugs.
School programs, Striner argued, can act as “early-stage intervention” and prevent dire outcomes.
“People need to feel like they have help before they find themselves in the back of an ambulance,” he said.
Additional funding requests
Several families also spoke out against a plan to eliminate funding for a program that helps parents and caretakers learn skills to manage children’s behavioral needs.
The Behavior Intervention Services program, currently slated to terminate in mid-May, “was a lifeline” for parents like Adam Mann.
Mann’s son is nonverbal and has intellectual and physical disabilities. When the son’s anxiety and depression caused him to “spiral out of control” in increasingly self-destructive ways, Mann said Behavior Intervention Services helped him figure out what to do.
“Now is not the time to cut a mental and behavioral health program serving some of the most vulnerable children in Arlington,” the father said.
Other speakers spoke up for funding for Arlington nature centers. The two county centers at Glencarlyn Park and Gulf Branch Park, which offer exhibits on the natural world, are open only three days a week.
Volunteer naturalist Mary McLean noted that the county reduced hours “temporarily” during the pandemic but never restored them.
“They are truly libraries of the natural world,” she said. “As with our libraries, they should be free and available resources for a properly well-educated citizenry that is healthier both mentally and physically.”
In a similar vein, several speakers also called for funding a full-time librarian at Glencarlyn Public Library.
Not all attendees, however, were supportive of current plans to expand the county’s budget. At yesterday’s meeting, several residents said that increasing property taxes can have a real impact on some homeowners’ lives.
“A $500 increase may not seem significant to some, but for many families, it can mean the difference between comfort and hardship,” speaker Lenore Edwards said. “It’s an additional expense that many did not anticipate when they invested in their homes.”
The Arlington County Board plans to adopt a finalized budget on April 20 in advance of the start of Fiscal Year 2025 on July 1.