budget cuts | ARLnow.com

Morning Poll: Budget cuts, tax hikes or both?

Published January 13, 2025 at 9:00AM

Arlington fiscal 2025 spending (Arlington County)

Arlington County is facing a $30-40 million budget gap in the fiscal year starting July 1.

Arlington’s” budget season” is now underway and county leaders are focused on how to allocate funds and balance the budget. But with more than half of county spending considered non-discretionary, options for cuts are somewhat limited.

On the other hand, another way to close the budget gap — higher property tax rates — looks to be politically challenging given that a continuous rise in home assessments paired with a tax rate increase last year has Arlington homeowners more sensitive to higher taxes.

Given our recent reporting on some of the potential options and tradeoffs, which option for balancing the budget are you leaning towards?

If you vote for cuts, let us know where in the budget should they be made.

News

Tax hikes vs. budget cuts: County Board faces ‘tough choices’ filling $30-40M budget gap

By Scott McCaffrey

Published January 10, 2025 at 9:00AM

Arlington fiscal 2025 spending (Arlington County)

As Arlington County eyes another possible tax increase this fiscal year, County Manager Mark Schwartz warns that trimming the county $1.65 billion budget would be no small task.

From the rising costs of compensation to funding commitments that can’t be altered in the short term, Schwartz suggested that cutting costs to fill an anticipated budget gap of $30 to $40 million — about 2% of Arlington’s $1.65 billion budget — isn’t as easy as some might think.

News

Tax hikes, program cuts authorized as county works to fill budget gap

By Scott McCaffrey

Published December 19, 2024 at 9:00AM

County Manager Mark Schwartz (file photo)

County Manager Mark Schwartz has been directed to consider both program cuts and tax increases as he works to fill a fiscal 2026 budget gap currently estimated at $30 million to $40 million.

County Board members on Tuesday night (Dec. 17) voted unanimously to approve budget guidance providing Schwartz the ability to propose tax increases he deems necessary. That could include another increase to the real-estate tax rate.

Schools

School Board passes $826 million budget, falling short of some officials’ ambitions

By Dan Egitto

Published June 10, 2024 at 1:45PM | Updated June 10, 2024 at 3:16PM

Arlington School Board Chair Cristina Diaz-Torres discusses the Arlington Public Schools budget (via Arlington Public Schools)

The Arlington School Board has unanimously passed an $826 million budget that, in the view of several board members, fails to accomplish key goals.

“This is a budget of status quos,” Chair Cristina Diaz-Torres said prior to a Thursday vote. “I said this the day that [Superintendent Francisco Durán] announced the budget. This is a budget of maintaining the status quo at a bare minimum.”

Schools

Parents push back against proposed ‘pause’ to multi-year overhaul of elementary Spanish immersion programs

By Jo DeVoe

Published March 19, 2024 at 11:30AM | Updated March 19, 2024 at 12:21PM

Claremont parent Meredith Judy (via Arlington Public Schools)

Arlington Public Schools is pausing for one year the rollout of changes to its Spanish immersion programs at Claremont and Escuela Key elementary schools.

The pause and how it was communicated have upset parents of students most affected by the shift: rising second-graders. In speeches to the School Board, an online petition and interviews, this group of parents is calling on the Arlington School Board and school administrators to reverse course.

News

ACFD’s youth firefighting camp on the chopping block this budget

By Dan Egitto

Published March 5, 2024 at 10:30AM

Campers participate in a bucket brigade in Camp Heat 2018 (file photo)

An Arlington summer camp teaching teenagers firefighting skills could go up in smoke this year.

Camp Heat, which annually enrolls around 25 teens, is on the chopping block in the county’s budget draft. Cutting the free five-day camp to save $47,000 is part of a plan to maintain the Arlington County Fire Dept.’s current $76 million budget in Fiscal Year 2025.

Schools

APS superintendent says lean budget proposal reflects state funding uncertainties

By Jo DeVoe

Published March 4, 2024 at 10:45AM | Updated March 4, 2024 at 11:09AM

The Arlington School Board and Superintendent Francisco Durán on Feb. 29, 2024 (via APS)

(Updated at 11:05 a.m.) Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Francisco Durán has proposed a 2024-2025 budget that he says avoids new expenses in a lean fiscal year compounded by state funding uncertainty.

He presented an $824.7 million budget — which increases the current budget by $12.2 million, or 1.5% — to the Arlington School Board last week.

News

County weighs tentative wage increases for trades workers against predicted 2025 budget gap

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 9, 2023 at 11:30AM

County workers fix a valve in Ballston (via Dept. of Environmental Services/Flickr)

Unionized trade workers have tentatively negotiated with Arlington County for wage increases and safety protections for the next four years.

Predicting a budget gap in the 2025 budget, however, the county says it will have to raise taxes or make budget cuts to pay for these provisions, according to a fiscal analysis the Arlington County Board is set to hear about during its Saturday meeting.

News

Marymount approves plan to eliminate some majors, despite some pushback

By Jo DeVoe

Published February 28, 2023 at 3:45PM | Updated February 28, 2023 at 8:09PM

Marymount University students protest the decision to remove nearly a dozen majors (courtesy photos)

(Updated at 8 p.m.) Despite protest from some students, faculty and alumni, Marymount University will be removing some majors, mostly in the humanities, from its catalogues.

On Friday, the Board of Trustees voted 20-0 to move forward with the plan, university spokesman Nick Munson said. He asserted that the change was faculty-led and administration-supported and the eliminated majors were “no longer serving Marymount students.”

News

Proposed cuts to liberal arts program at Marymount University roil students, alumni and faculty

By Jo DeVoe

Published February 17, 2023 at 3:05PM | Updated February 17, 2023 at 4:12PM

Marymount University main house (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) Marymount University is cutting several degrees to save money, but in the process has angered some in the school’s community.

In a bid to cut fruitless vine branches, the school is eliminating 10 degrees and programs — mostly in the humanities, including theology and English.

News

Police and fire unions poised to lose battle for new pay scale amid economic downturn

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 30, 2022 at 3:45PM

Police union representative at the Arlington County Board meeting on Nov. 18, 2022 (via Arlington County)

Arlington’s fire and police unions are poised to lose a battle to change the pay scale the county uses — one that union representatives say contributes to ongoing staffing shortages.

This year, the Arlington County Police Department has hired 29 officers and lost 52 officers, Arlington Coalition of Police (ACOP) President Randall Mason told the Arlington County Board in a meeting earlier this month. It will lose five more by February 2023.

News

Firefighters union calls for funding boost to improve medical treatment, retain personnel

By Jo DeVoe

Published March 4, 2022 at 11:30AM

Arlington County firefighters rescue a window washer dangling in a safety harness in the 1500 block of Wilson Blvd (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Arlington firefighters union says the county’s proposed 2022-23 budget underfunds the fire department and puts residents in unnecessary danger, but county officials dispute the characterization.

The union wants the budget to support having someone with Advanced Life Support training on each fire department vehicle, something that county officials say is not necessary. ALS providers are certified to treat critically ill patients with life-saving drugs or intravenous medicines, among other training that goes beyond basic emergency medical care, also called Basic Life Support.