County Board | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published April 30, 2015 at 9:05AM

Elementary Student Fascinated by Fallout Shelters — Nathan Eberhart, a McKinley Elementary student, has been trying to unravel the mysteries of school fallout shelters for his school’s student newspaper. Eberhart thinks the Cold War relics could be better put to use nowadays “as a community-activities storage area for things like Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, recreational sports and enrichments.” [InsideNova]

Protest Planned in Rosslyn — The Mayday Project will be protesting outside the Infectious Diseases Society of America headquarters in Rosslyn today and tomorrow. The organization wants Lyme disease recognized as a chronic illness. The protest will be held from about 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the 1300 block of Wilson Blvd. [Twitter]

Opinion

Morning Poll: County Board Straw Poll

By ARLnow.com

Published April 29, 2015 at 9:45AM

The results, which reflect the preferences of Garvey’s supporters, broke heavily for “crowd favorite” Christian Dorsey.

With the exception of the bottom two of the field, the results are an inverse of first quarter fundraising figures.

News

Defunded Artisphere’s Future to be Decided by July

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 22, 2015 at 11:45AM

Flickr pool photo by Afagen

June 30 is also the deadline the County Board has set for staff to return with a recommendation for next steps for the space, coinciding with the end of Fiscal Year 2015 and the last performances at Artisphere.

Arlington’s lease for the 62,000-square-foot space ends in April 2023, according to Deputy County Manager Carol Mitten, but the County Board could elect to cancel its agreement with owner Monday Properties and hand them back the unique space.

News

Budget Approved: Artisphere to Close, Tax Rate Stays Steady

By ARLnow.com

Published April 22, 2015 at 10:35AM | Updated April 22, 2015 at 1:19PM

The $1.16 billion budget will provide Arlington Public Schools with the extra $6.2 million it sought to deal with rising enrollment.

It also will fund a new internal auditor position, a campaign promise of County Board member John Vihstadt.

News

County Board Approves W-L Turf Replacement, Late Tax Penalty Reduction

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 20, 2015 at 4:45PM

The County Board approved the proposal by Treasurer Carla de la Pava to reduce the late fee taxpayers are forced to pay from 10 percent to 5 percent, if taxes are paid within 30 days after the due date. Those who are more than 30 days late paying real estate taxes will continue to pay a 10 percent fee. The county estimates more than 1,000 residents will benefit from the fee reduction.

“Sometimes, people accidentally miss a real estate tax due date but make their payment a few days later — of their own accord and without collection action by the Treasurer. In these cases, I believe a 5 percent penalty is much more appropriate,” de la Pava said in a press release.

News

County Board Denies Wilson School Historic Designation

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 20, 2015 at 11:30AM

Instead, Arlington Public Schools has been directed to incorporate pieces of the old building into the new, 775-seat school that will replace it and house the H-B Woodlawn secondary program. The vote was the final hurdle before APS can move forward designing the $80.2 million project, including demolition of the Wilson School.

“We appreciate that there is community passion around preserving sites that help tell Arlington’s story,” Board Chair Mary Hynes said in a press release. “That is why we have directed the Manager to collaborate with APS to honor the history of Wilson School in a meaningful way even as we move forward to build a new school designed to address the challenge posed by our rapidly growing student population.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2015 at 9:20AM | Updated April 20, 2015 at 9:40AM

Record No. of Arlington Runners in Boston — An “all-time record” of 116 Arlington runners are registered to participate in the 2015 Boston Marathon today. [InsideNova]

Vehicle Overturns in Ashton Heights — A vehicle “pinballed off two parked cars” and overturned near the intersection of 6th Street and N. Lincoln Street in Ashton Heights Sunday morning. [Twitter]

News

County Board Expected to Keep Tax Rate Flat Next Year

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 17, 2015 at 10:20AM

The tax rate will likely remain at $0.996 cents of $100 of assessed value, which will result in an average property tax bill increase of $281 per year for Arlington households. The County Board had advertised a rate 1.5 cents higher than it passed, but ultimately decided to make budget cuts instead.

“Every member of this Board is acutely aware of the tax burden on our residents,” County Board Chair Mary Hynes said. “We felt strongly that we did not want to add to that burden.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 17, 2015 at 9:30AM

County Board to Consider Concrete Contract — The Arlington County Board is set to consider an on-call concrete maintenance contract this weekend. The contract is intended to reduce the cost of repeatedly bidding out small contracts for road, sidewalk and curb work. The low bidder, Arthur Construction Company, is expected to bill about $3.8 million annually under the contract, according to county staff estimates. [Arlington County]

Arlington Author’s Book Makes Amazon List — “Seven Days” by Arlington author Ariel Atwell (a pen name) has Amazon.com’s “Hot New Releases in Historical Fiction” list. [Amazon]

News

Treasurer Pushes to Reduce Late Fees on Real Estate Taxes

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 14, 2015 at 4:45PM

Arlington Treasurer Carla de la Pava in 2014 (file photo)

The Arlington County Board is considering a recommendation by Arlington County Treasurer Carla de la Pava to reduce the fee for a real estate bill paid up to 30 days late from 10 percent to 5 percent. Tax bills paid after 30 days would continue to incur a 10 percent penalty.

“The Treasurer … has concluded that as currently implemented a 10 percent penalty for late payment of real estate taxes is unnecessarily harsh for delinquent taxpayers who pay of their own accord,” the county’s staff report reads. “Specifically, it treats those taxpayers who simply forgot about a due date the same as those who refuse to meet their tax obligation without collection action by the Treasurer.”

News

Donnellan Recommends Denying Wilson School’s Historic Designation

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 14, 2015 at 11:30AM

The final decision will be made by the Arlington County Board at its meeting this Saturday, and if the Board follows County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s recommendation, it will reject the school’s historic district status.

The Wilson School was built in 1910, but has since been renovated. Preservations are hoping the County Board will designate it as a local historic district, which would require pieces of the building be preserved before it is bulldozed to make way for a new, 775-seat building to house the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 14, 2015 at 8:55AM | Updated June 29, 2018 at 2:54PM

New Metro Train Debuts on Blue Line — Metro’s new 7000-series train made its public debut on the Blue Line this morning. Riders welcomed the next-generation rail cars with generally positive tweets. [Storify, Twitter]

Home Prices, Sales Rise — The volume of home sales in Arlington in March was 219, which is up 25 percent year-over-year. Housing sale prices also rose. The average sale price of all residential properties was up 1.3 percent to $628,483. The average price of single-family homes sold in March, meanwhile, was $919,858. [InsideNova]