budget | ARLnow.com

No Real Estate Tax Hike in County Manager’s Proposed Budget

Published February 8, 2011 at 3:42PM | Updated February 8, 2011 at 5:05PM

Under the proposed budget, the real estate tax would remain steady at 95.8 cents per $100. The 95.8 cent rate was approved by the board last year after Donnellan, then the acting county manager, proposed a rate of 94.2 cents.

Arlington is benefiting from a 6.3 percent hike in assessed property values, which is expected to bring in an additional $30 million in tax revenue for the county. In September, when the county was expecting a smaller increase in assessments, then-County Manager Michael Brown warned that tax hikes and spending cuts might be necessary. Neither prediction is coming to fruition under the Donnellan’s proposed budget.

News

Property Values Rebound in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published January 14, 2011 at 12:00PM | Updated January 14, 2011 at 12:20PM

The increase is expected to bring in an addition $30 million in tax revenue for the county, which should help to offset this year’s estimated $25 million budget gap. The county budget office was originally expecting an approximately 1 percent increase in property values.

“It certainly… makes it easier for us to balance the budget,” said Michelle Cowan, Director of the Dept. of Management and Finance, who added that stepped-up commercial lending and property sales helped to drive the increase. “We consider ourselves very fortunate.”

News

County Holding Online Budget Chat

By ARLnow.com

Published December 17, 2010 at 9:50AM

Starting at 10:00 this morning, Donnellan and Deputy County Manager Mark Schwartz will be holding an online chat focused on the upcoming fiscal year 2012 budget process.

A complete transcript will be posted after the chat.

News

Open Discussion: Arlington Releases Financial Audit

By ARLnow.com

Published December 15, 2010 at 12:22PM

The audit, conducted by the accounting firm of Clifton Gunderson LLP, was just posted on the county’s web site and discussed briefly by County Manager Barbara Donnellan at Tuesday afternoon’s board meeting.

“I’m glad to report that the county has once again received an unqualified or ‘clean’ opinion from our auditors,” Donnellan said. “Once again Arlington’s fiscal management has been found to be strong.”

News

With Employee Salaries, County Aims to be Competitive

By ARLnow.com

Published December 9, 2010 at 2:24PM

After all, every taxpayer in Arlington knows that our famously progressive county probably pays employees more than anyone else in the region, right?

Wrong.

News

Board Instructs Manager to Restrain Spending

By ARLnow.com

Published October 25, 2010 at 10:31AM | Updated October 25, 2010 at 11:36AM

Donnellan was referring to the fact that property values — and, thus, tax collections — have stabilized in Arlington, while other local communities continue to feel the pinch from the recession.

Even with a cautiously optimistic outlook, however, the county is still staring down a $25-35 million budget shortfall for FY 2012.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 19, 2010 at 5:47AM

County Spending Outpaces Revenue Gains — An improving economy will bring in more tax and fee revenue for the county next year, but those gains will be outpaced by projected increases in county spending. More from the Sun Gazette.

Plane Crash Survivor Back at Work in Arlington — Former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe, who survived the Alaska plane crash that killed Sen. Ted Stevens, returned to work yesterday. O’Keefe is the CEO of Arlington-based EADS North America. More from Reuters.

News

Budget Recommendation: Cut Programs, Find Efficiencies

By ARLnow.com

Published October 4, 2010 at 3:48PM

“The County may have to make structural changes to accommodate continued significant financial challenges,” the commission said in a three-page report to the county board. “Those changes may include improved efficiencies, outsourcing (to realize improved efficiencies and reduced labor costs) and changes in service levels.”

FAAC recommends that the board “require departments to identify and implement operational efficiency improvements,” and “reduce or eliminate funding for programs that are no longer needed, are not effective, or are no longer affordable.”

News

County Manager Raises Specter of More Budget Cuts, Tax Hikes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 28, 2010 at 7:22PM

Brown told the county board that his preliminary forecast anticipates a combined $25-35 million shortfall for the county government and the school system. Brown projects a slight increases in real estate assessments and in tax and fee collections. However, he says expenses are rising due to increasing student enrollment, new school facilities and high county personnel costs.

“Current revenue projections could require program cuts and revenue increases,” Brown said. That’s in addition to the past two years of budget cuts and tax hikes.

Schools

Arlington Schools Among Region’s Top Spenders on Administration

By ARLnow.com

Published July 29, 2010 at 3:30PM

On a per student basis, Arlington is spending more on administrative functions and less on instruction than almost every other school district in Northern Virginia, reports Michael Lee Pope of the Arlington Connection.

Here’s an excerpt:

News

Arlington’s Welfare Spending Outpaces Neighbors

By ARLnow.com

Published June 24, 2010 at 8:55AM

“Considering the emphasis that the County Board has placed on social services, it’s not all that surprising that this category would be one of the highest per-capita spending items in Arlington,” Budget Director Richard Stevenson told the Arlington Connection’s Michael Lee Pope.

The county spends more on welfare and social services than on law enforcement. The welfare expenditures are greater than Arlington’s spending on parks, libraries, courts, sanitation and building maintenance combined. The only individual category that tops welfare is education, at $1,814 per capita. Taken as a whole, law enforcement and fire and rescue account for $588 spending per capita.

Around Town

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 24, 2010 at 5:33AM

Summers Doing Big Business During World Cup — Summers Restaurant in Courthouse was so crowded during yesterday’s World Cup match between the U.S. and Algeria that the fire marshal showed up, according to NBC Washington. The 300-capacity venue was deemed 25 people over-capacity.

Zimmerman Urges State to Reconsider Metro Defunding Threat — “The state should not break the promise made to its residents and regional partners,” WMATA and Arlington County board member Chris Zimmerman wrote in an op-ed on the Washington Post’s website. Zimmerman and fellow Northern Virginia WMATA board member Catherine Hudgins say that if the state withdraws $50 million in funding, as it has threatened to do if it doesn’t get two seats on the Metro board, then a cooperative $300 million per year infrastructure improvement plan “will fall apart.”