county government | ARLnow.com

County Installing Building Energy Labels Today

Published October 19, 2011 at 10:58AM

The green labels are intended to tell citizens the buildings’ carbon footprint, current energy use and planned long-term reductions in energy use (by 2050). The stats are all relative to the square footage of each building.

The county’s main administrative building, at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, is one of the buildings that will be receiving the labels. The building is 30 percent more efficient than the average U.S. office building, according to its label. Its 17.9 pounds of carbon dioxide per square foot carbon footprint compared favorably to the U.S. office average of 26.1 pounds.

News

Fewer People Show Up on Tax Deadline Day

By Katie Pyzyk

Published October 7, 2011 at 9:52AM

That day alone brought in almost $6.5 million for the county, making the total amount collected from walk-ins during the final week $30.7 million. Compare that with 2009, when 2,799 people showed up on the final day and paid nearly $11.8 million, with the final week totaling $35.8 million.

O’Leary notes that printing trouble last year caused the tax bills to be sent out 10 days late, so the deadline was extended by 10 days, to October 15. That made comparisons to 2010 invalid so 2009 numbers are used for comparisons instead. The 2009 numbers were also adjusted to take into consideration the new technology system this year.

News

So Far, So Good on the County’s Tax Due Date

By ARLnow.com

Published October 5, 2011 at 3:43PM

“A year ago, you would have had a sea of humanity here,” said O’Leary, who has served as Treasurer for 28 years. “So far, that’s not the case…. This is the lightest due date in my history.”

After handling about 1,600 in-person tax payments on Monday, and 1,800 payments on Tuesday, O’Leary guessed last night that his office would have to handle about 2,600 payments today. That, O’Leary says, now seems like an overestimation.

News

Arlington County Names New Planning Director

By ARLnow.com

Published September 28, 2011 at 3:42PM

Katz hails from southwest Florida, where he served as director of Smart Growth/Urban Planning for Sarasota County. He’s taking over the position after former planning director Bob Brosnan succeeded the retiring Susan Bell as director of the county’s Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development.

“Peter brings to this critical position a deep knowledge of the planning principles that Arlington is all about,” Brosnan said in a press release. “He understands and appreciates the robust community engagement that is a hallmark of planning in Arlington. We expect Peter to provide strong leadership and vision as we continue the work of building a sustainable community.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 22, 2011 at 8:28AM

Call for Entries in Arlington Design Competition — Arlington County is asking for entries for this year’s DESIGNArlington’11 design competition. ” Distinctive architectural, public art, and landscape projects completed within the past five years may be eligible,” the county says. [Arlington County]

Police Seek Missing Man — Arlington County police are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing man. Ricardo De Leon, 57, was last seen leaving Pike Pizza (4111 Columbia Pike) on Sept. 10. He’s described as a Hispanic male, approximately 5’6″ tall and 160 pounds with gray and black hair and brown eyes. [ACPD]

News

Volunteer Opp: Help Arlington’s ‘100 Homes’ Campaign

By ARLnow.com

Published September 14, 2011 at 4:24PM | Updated September 14, 2011 at 7:43PM

The effort is part of the county’s 100 Homes Campaign, which will try to cut “chronic homelessness” in Arlington in half by July 2013. The campaign will place some of Arlington’s most medically-vulnerable homeless individuals — described as “those most likely to die if not housed quickly” — in permanent supportive housing.

The county is looking for volunteer surveyors, data entry personnel and headquarters staff to work from Oct. 17-19. Surveyors will be asked to go out in teams and interview homeless individuals from 3:30 to 7:30 a.m., while data entry will be done between 6:30 and 9:00 a.m. More information on volunteering can be found on the 100 Homes Arlington web site.

News

Acrimony Among Neighbors, County Staff During Traffic Calming Fight

By ARLnow.com

Published September 14, 2011 at 9:45AM | Updated September 15, 2011 at 1:27AM

The changes, designed to slow down drivers on a wide, downhill portion of River Street, can hardly be described as “drastic.” But the two-plus year neighbor vs. neighbor vs. county battle that preceded it can be.

Emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by opponents of the traffic calming measures reveal that the fight got so nasty, the acrimony even spread to county staff.

Events

Comcast Renewal Meeting Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Published September 13, 2011 at 11:42AM

The ‘franchise agreement’ that allows Comcast to provide cable television services in Arlington County is up for renewal, and residents are being asked to share their thoughts on what services the company can provide as part of a new franchise agreement.

News

Arlington County Labor Day Closures

By ARLnow.com

Published August 29, 2011 at 10:00AM

Courts, libraries, schools and the Department of Human Services will be closed. All community centers will be closed, except for the Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center, which will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

ART buses will operate on a holiday schedule. Parking meters will not be enforced. Trash and recycling pickup will take place as scheduled.

News

Arlington Declares Local Emergency

By ARLnow.com

Published August 26, 2011 at 3:59PM | Updated August 27, 2011 at 11:20AM

Update at 11:20 a.m. on 8/27/2011 — An Arlington County spokeswoman says the county is not distributing sandbags, despite information provided to ARLnow.com yesterday.

Arlington County has declared a local emergency in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Irene.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 15, 2011 at 9:10AM

Sun Sets on Arlington County Fair — The rides, food stands, and carnival games that made up the Arlington County Fair are all packing up and heading out. Last night was the fair’s last night. In case you missed it, Patch has published 21 separate articles on the fair since Thursday.

Arlington’s ‘Karaoke Cab’ Featured on NPR — Arlington’s ‘Karaoke Cab‘ was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered over the weekend. [NPR]

News

Arlington County Credit Rating Reaffirmed

By ARLnow.com

Published August 5, 2011 at 1:44PM

The rating agency had threatened to downgrade Arlington during the U.S. debt crisis, due to its indirect ties to the federal government. With the debt crisis resolved and with the federal government’s Aaa rating reaffirmed, Moody’s reaffirmed the ratings of more than 300 public finance issuers, including Arlington.

In a statement, Moody’s said that Arlington and other debt issuers would, like the federal government, be assigned a “negative outlook.” The agency said that the outlooks “will be reviewed on a case by case basis in the coming weeks,” in order to determine whether individual outlooks should be set back at “stable.”