Several Arlington County programs may be canceled or significantly reduced as officials face a restricted budget this year.
The budget calls for rolling back an eviction prevention program, cutting positions in the county’s planning department and canceling a preschool program and a traveling art truck.
County Manager Mark Schwartz’s proposed FY 2026 budget — from which the cuts come — assumes no tax rate increase, though the Arlington County Board did approve a possible one-cent increase to cushion the county against future economic uncertainty.
A non-exhaustive list of some proposed cuts is below.
Eviction prevention
Arlington County could be tightening the belt on its direct assistance program for people facing eviction, despite high ongoing demand.
Schwartz’s budget includes a $1.1 million reduction to the program, which is designed to help Arlington residents in crisis by providing rent and utility assistance.
Current eligibility requirements mean the program serves households at or below 50% of Area Median Income. Households must have an eviction or late notice, and meet several other requirements related to financial hardship.
The households are generally subject to a cap of $3,000 in assistance per year, though exceptions can be made.
This year, Schwartz said the county would maintain the aforementioned requirements and add further limits, including requiring households to be in a new or renewed lease for at least six months prior to requesting eviction prevention assistance.
An exception, possibly a boon to those who were laid off in a recent gutting of federal agencies, is for households who recently lost their job or had another unforeseen financial emergency outside of their control.
“Over the last few years and like other jurisdictions, the eligibility criteria have been gradually modified giving sufficient lead time to property owners and tenants alike,” the budget says. “The County’s program provides the most generous benefits in the region.”
“Increasingly, some tenants are being housed in units where they are significantly rent-burdened and often need immediate financial assistance, which is not sustainable for the tenant, the property owner or the County,” the document continues.
The budget item notes that the cut would primarily impact “vulnerable, minority Arlingtonians.”
“Current eligibility requirements would remain in effect with an additional restriction prohibiting assistance to households whose lease is fewer than six months’ old (unless the household recently experienced a fiscal crisis beyond their control where administrative exceptions will be considered),” the budget says.
The reduction in funding “is likely to increase evictions in the short term for rent-burdened households,” and in the long term is expected to make landlords more selective in approving tenants.
“This requirement is intended to deter landlords from approving leases in the first place for households who are overly rent-burdened,” Schwartz said.
Madison Preschool
Madison Preschool is a half-day, five-day-per-week program at the Madison Community Center (3829 N. Stafford Street), offered through the county’s Parks and Recreation Department.
The proposed budget noted that the program’s cut would come amid a decline in enrollment.
“The program has experienced lower enrollment over the past several years,” it says. “As a result, the program was reduced to three days a week. The remaining participants will be offered enrollment to fill vacant slots at DPR’s Carlin Hall or Fairlington Community Center’s half-day preschool programs.”
The closure would save around $108,828.
The Madison Preschool program isn’t the only Pre-K program being cut: Arlington’s Integration Station program could be broken up and incorporated into the school system’s existing Community Peer Program.
Art truck
The Arlington Art Truck is a mobile platform for local artists to stage pop-up programs. The current proposed budget would cut the program.
The budget says staff running the truck program are being reassigned to the Cultural Affairs Division for a savings of $24,700. This will “support programming and community engagement at the new 3700 S Four Mile Run and 2700 Nelson consolidated Cultural Affairs Division (CAD) Campus.”
“The new consolidated CAD campus fulfills the community’s vision to establish this area as an arts anchor as described in the 2018 Four Mile Run Valley Area Plan and in alignment with AED’s strategic plan,” the budget says.
The budget also calls for the elimination of the “arts enterprise specialist” position, saving $133,507.
The document says the elimination of the position comes with the relocation of the Lee Arts Center to a new facility at 3700 S. Four Mile Run.
“The Arts Enterprise Specialist currently manages the Lee Arts Center (LAC) Studios program, temporary staffing, and facility operations at 5722 Langston Boulevard,” the budget says. “Programming includes a fully equipped membership-based professional studio for artists working in Ceramics and Printmaking, a mini gallery with rotating exhibitions of visiting and resident artists, master workshops and training throughout the year.”
The new Shared Studio facility on Four Mile Run underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation and will open this summer.
Planner and inspector
Two positions cut from Community Planning, Housing and Development could also impact county operations moving forward.
This first is a principal planner position, a role that involves monitoring elements of the Comprehensive Plan, developing county land use policy and more.
“A reduction of one Principal Planner position will reduce overall capacity for countywide land use policy and regulatory work including coordinating overall planning and development activities growth corridors,” the budget says.
The budget notes that the loss of the principal planner position could impact the county’s ability to work with key stakeholders in high development activity areas.
The other proposed cut is a code enforcement inspector.
Code enforcement inspects buildings, structures and systems for unsafe conditions. While there are technically 10 positions in the code inspector office, the budget says one supervisor and two inspector positions are currently frozen due to budgetary constraints.
The loss of one additional inspector position will bring code enforcement down to six staff members.
“As a result of the proposed reduction, Code Enforcement will no longer be able to conduct proactive inspections, and the average time for compliance will increase from 63 to approximately 90 days,” the budget says. “With the resumption of the hoarding task force, the typical response time for investigation will increase from 3-5 days to 5-8 days should this position be eliminated.”
Cutting the principal planner and code enforcement inspector positions would save $202,431 and $128,548 respectively.
Reduced ART bus frequency
A $448,329 cut could reduce the frequency of ART Route 43, which runs from Crystal City through Rosslyn to Courthouse.
According to the budget, the route has a limited number of stops to speed up travel time. The average weekday ridership is 431 passengers with 7.9 passengers per revenue hour, compared to the bus service’s average of 9 passengers per hour.
Currently, frequency of service during peak commuting hours is 10 minutes, with 20-minute wait times during off-peak periods. The reduction would create 20-minute wait times all day on the bus line, with the budget noting that the alternative is Metro, which runs every 17-18 minutes.
Budget timeline
The next County Board public hearing on taxes and fees is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) at 7 p.m. in the Central Library Auditorium (1015 N. Quincy Street).
Final budget adoption is scheduled for April 9.
Photo via Allan Vega/Unsplash
