The cost of funding Metro service may be one of the issues taking center stage in this year’s race for Arlington County Board.
The five candidates on the Nov. 4 ballot have a variety of competing views on how much, if any, additional local funding should be provided for regional transit service.
Northern Virginia could soon be responsible for an additional $150 million to $180 million in annual funding for the system. That would be on top of the roughly $800 million a year currently being spent, under a proposal working its way through the “DMV Moves” initiative of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
How much of that would be the responsibility of local governments and how much would be picked up by the state government remains to be seen. Currently, Arlington County spends about $51 million annually to subsidize Metro service.
At the July 22 County Board meeting, Board Chair Takis Karantonis said property owners should not be asked to directly bear the burden.
“Property taxes are not going to be able to carry the additional weight,” Karantonis said. “A different type of a revenue source needs to jump in.”
He suggested a “modest but dedicated sales tax increase” to fill the gap.
“I see a lot of up sides and less down sides” to that option, he said.
First elected to office in a summer-of-2020 special election and elected to a full term in 2021, Karantonis is seeking re-election in the Nov. 4 election. His challengers are Republican Bob Cambridge and independents Audrey Clement, Jeramy Olmack and Carlos De Castro “DC” Pretelt.
In statements to ARLnow, the challengers offered differing views on the best way to cover Metro costs.
Pretelt, a first-time candidate, said the first step should be requiring the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to scope out further efficiencies before seeking additional funding.
Beyond that, Pretelt said he would rule out various other funding possibilities before discussing potential options.
“If additional measures are necessary, I would try to avoid rising the real state or gas tax,” he said. “I understand the intent behind both, but we cannot keep relying on our homeowners to carry this heavy tax burden, nor should we penalize Arlingtonians who do not live in close proximity to a Metro station.”
Clement, who runs for local office annually as a self-described protest candidate, said now is not the time to be thinking about taking more out of the pockets of local residents.
“With thousands more federal job cuts just announced, any tax rate increase is out of the question,” she said.
“In addition to the hardship a tax increase will visit on laid off workers, WMATA’s need projections should be reevaluated in light of the layoffs,” Clement added. “With fewer workers commuting to work, ridership will decline, obviating the need for increased spending on operations and capital improvements.”
Cambridge, who competed in the July 2020 special election in which Karantonis won the seat of the late Erik Gutshall, also suggested the first response should be finding efficiencies.
“For some time now, the knee-jerk response to fund something new has been to raise taxes,” he said.
“We may be near the limit of how much Arlington renters and homeowners can be squeezed,” Cambridge continued. “The potential benefit of more economic activity because of lower taxes resulting in more net tax revenue has not been considered.”
Olmack, a first-time candidate, said a higher sales tax “is not a sustainable option.” He said the region needs to prioritize public-transit service and funding over other means of transportation, rather than take a piecemeal approach to Metro costs.
“We need to work with WMATA, our Northern Virginia transportation authorities and our municipal neighbors to identify a solution that redirects transportation funding away from road maintenance and public works contracting to fund long-term budget concerns,” Olmack said.
“The biggest risk to our public transportation is the fascists dismantling public services in order to redirect our community to become completely dependent on private corporations,” he added.
To fund increased service and improvements, the DMV Moves task force anticipates a total extra cost of $500 million to $600 million per year regionwide.
In addition to the contribution from Virginia, the additional costs required would be from $190 million to $225 million for D.C. and $170 million to $200 million for Maryland.
Final DMV Moves proposals are expected by December.
The general consensus of regional leaders serving on the committee has been that each of the three regions would be responsible for independently determining how to fund their share of costs. Possibilities on the table range from additional vehicle taxes to a local income tax.
A half-percentage-point increase on Virginia’s sales tax across the local region likely would be enough to fund the commonwealth’s additional costs, according to one estimate provided to leaders in May.
At the County Board meeting on July 22, Karantonis said he believed WMATA had successfully rebounded from the pandemic and changes to commuting patterns.
“Metro today is a desirable alternative,” he said. “It feels safe. It is reliable.”
County Board candidates will have the chance to discuss transportation funding, and other issues, when the 2025 general-election campaign hits its stride in about a month.
The Arlington County Civic Federation will kick off debate season with a campaign forum on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. at Hazel Auditorium at VHC Health (Virginia Hospital Center).
Candidates for County Board will share the evening with contenders for School Board and House of Delegates’ races on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Recently elected Civic Federation president Nick Giacobbe said the annual campaign forum is a way for residents to learn about candidates — and for candidates to get the pulse of the broader community.
“Together, we can tackle the tough topics of the day, including planning and zoning, housing, transportation, transparency and fiscal affairs,” Giacobbe said. “They are clearly not easy issues.”
