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The iPark is an electronic gadget that allows you to pay for parking in Arlington by pressing a button and hanging the device from your rear view mirror. The big advantage is the ability to pay for parking by the minute, without having to guess how long you’re going to be in a spot and without having to carry coins or fiddle with those multi-space parking meters.

The county stopped selling iParks last winter, after the company behind the device encountered some financial difficulties. Those problems have since been cleared up, apparently, and the county has started offering iParks to citizens once again.


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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.


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“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.


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June 15 is the semi-annual payment deadline for property taxes. Payments postmarked after June 15 are subject to penalties and interest charges.

See the treasurer’s web site for more information about paying tax bills and about the county’s Taxpayer Assistance Program. Residents can also contact the Treasurer’s Office directly by calling 703-228-4000 or emailing [email protected].


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A number of restaurants have fallen farther behind on their payment of Arlington County meals taxes. Such tax delinquencies are sometimes a sign of shaky financial health, as was the case for failed restaurants like Bebo Trattoria, Restaurant Vero and McGinty’s Public House, all of which still owe tens of thousands of dollars to the county.

The latest delinquency list shows that Front Page Restaurant in Ballston (4201 Wilson Blvd) ran up an additional $23,000 tab with the county between December and February. The restaurant now owes Arlington $46,531.82. As of August, it only owed $17,113.52.


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Out of the four design finalists, Wakefield High School student Maya Giacobbe was named the winner for her design, “Hume, Sweet Hume.”

Giacobbe said she chose to design a decal featuring Arlington’s Hume School — the present-day home of the Arlington Historical Society — because “it was one of the first schools in Arlington.”


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County No Longer Offering iParks — The company that makes the iPark electronic parking pass has stopped manufacturing the device due to financial problems. That has prompted Arlington County to stop selling iParks, pending the company’s effort to stay in business. More from TBD.

O’Leary, Morroy Announce Reelection Bid — Arlington County Treasurer Frank O’Leary and Commissioner of Revenue Ingrid Morroy, both Democrats, announced their bids for reelection at last night’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting. See the video from Blue Virginia.


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O’Leary, who first took office in 1984, touts his efforts to bring down the tax delinquency rate in Arlington County. The rate was nine percent shortly before he took office, and is just over one half of one percent now.

Republicans are currently looking for qualified candidates to run against O’Leary and other Democrats who are up for re-election this year.


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