Mark Schwartz | ARLnow.com

With Budget Gap Looming, County Board Set to Ask for Proposals on Tax Increases and Staff Layoffs

Published November 27, 2018 at 1:45PM

Arlington leaders now say they’re ready to start studying unpleasant budget measures from tax increases to staff layoffs, as they gear up to confront next year’s hefty budget gap.

The County Board is set to sign off today (Tuesday) on new budget guidance for County Manager Mark Schwartz, as he gets to work on a new spending plan for fiscal year 2020. The memo directs Schwartz to develop a range of possible options for the Board to evaluate next year, including “a range of potential tax increases” and “proposals for program and personnel reductions or eliminations” if Schwartz can’t develop a balanced budget while relying on the existing tax rates.

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County Manager Proposes Rolling Over Most Unspent Funds from Last Budget

By ARLnow.com

Published October 19, 2018 at 3:10PM | Updated October 19, 2018 at 3:26PM

Facing a combined budget gap of up to $75 million, Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz is eschewing the usual divvying up of leftover funds from the last fiscal year and instead proposing to roll them over with an eye on next year’s budget.

Schwartz will recommend at Saturday’s County Board meeting that the $21.9 million in unspent funds available to the county remain primarily unallocated, with $16.5 million being set aside to give the Board more options going into the next budget process.

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Tax Hikes and Service Cuts Look Increasingly Likely Next Year, County Leaders Warn

By Alex Koma

Published October 19, 2018 at 9:45AM

Arlington officials expect a mix of across-the-board service cuts and tax rate increases is the surest way for the county to tackle its widening budget gap next year.

With a funding gap that could ballon as large as $78 million for fiscal year 2020, County Manager Mark Schwartz has repeatedly warned that some tough times are ahead for the county government. He repeated those gloomy projections at a budget-focused town hall with community leaders last night (Wednesday), noting that factors ranging from swelling school enrollment levels to dwindling county revenues to increasing Metro funding obligations will all squeeze county coffers once more.

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County’s Resident Ombudsman Makes a Change, Prompts Search for Replacement

By Alex Koma

Published August 15, 2018 at 4:45PM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:24AM

County spokeswoman Jennifer Smith told ARLnow that former ombudsman Robert Sharpe transitioned out of the role last week. He’s now serving as assistant division chief for the county’s public health division.

Sharpe took over as ombudsman back in 2016, as part of an expansion of constituent service offerings within County Manager Mark Schwartz’s office.

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County Manager Pledges Not to Abandon Planned Construction Projects, Even Amid Community Grumbles

By Alex Koma

Published May 31, 2018 at 4:15PM | Updated May 31, 2018 at 4:38PM

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Despite mounting financial challenges, top Arlington officials say they don’t plan to walk away from some major construction projects that are already in the works — even if that stance ruffles a few feathers in the community.

County Manager Mark Schwartz has stressed repeatedly that his newly unveiled proposal for the next decade of Arlington construction projects, known as the Capital Improvement Plan, will maintain the county’s standing commitments to several major facilities around Arlington, even as he’s forced to make painful cuts elsewhere.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 29, 2018 at 9:15AM | Updated May 30, 2018 at 8:42AM

Work Begins to Replace Collapsed Pipe — A collapsed 18-inch stormwater pipe is being replaced on Arlington Ridge. The work is necessitating a detour for Arlington Ridge Road traffic between 23rd Street and S. Glebe Road. The stretch has been the site of numerous water main issues over the past few years. [Twitter]

Big Turnout for Caps Sendoff — Thousands of fans reportedly flocked to the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Ballston on Saturday to give the Caps a Stanley Cup sendoff as they traveled to Las Vegas for Game 1 of the finals. [WUSA 9]

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Proposed 10-Year Capital Plan Rolls Back Transportation, Neighborhood Improvement Projects

By Alex Koma

Published May 23, 2018 at 10:45AM | Updated May 23, 2018 at 11:18AM

With Metro expenses climbing and tax revenue growth slowing, the county’s top executive is calling for a rollback in new construction on some transportation improvements and other neighborhood infrastructure projects.

Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz unveiled his proposed Capital Improvement Plan in a presentation to the County Board Tuesday (May 22), detailing the $2.7 billion in construction projects he wants to see Arlington take on over the next 10 years, and he did not have much in the way of good news for county officials.

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Police Department Plans Restructuring Amid Staffing Challenges

By ARLnow.com

Published February 26, 2018 at 11:45AM | Updated February 26, 2018 at 12:39PM

File photo

The Arlington County Police Department is planning a “strategic restructuring” as a wave of retirements and departures leaves significant gaps in its staffing.

Services could be reduced as the department’s functional strength falls to a projected 50 officers below its authorized force of 370, according to an internal memo sent by police chief M. Jay Farr and obtained by ARLnow.com.

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JUST IN: Proposed County Budget Would Trim Programs, Keep Tax Rate Steady

By ARLnow.com

Published February 22, 2018 at 5:40PM | Updated February 23, 2018 at 8:23AM

Community paper shredding events. Arlington’s poet laureate. The Citizen newsletter.

Those are a few of the relatively small cuts that add up to enough savingsin County Manager Mark Schwartz’s new proposed budget to bridge Arlington’s $20 million budget gap.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 6, 2018 at 9:05AM

Plane landing at Reagan National (Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman)

Highway Renaming Bill Fails — A bill from state Sen. Barbara Favola that would have allowed Arlington to rename Jefferson Davis Highway in the county failed to get out of committee on a 7-6 party line vote. The county will likely have to wait until next year’s legislative session to try again to get a bill passed. [InsideNova]

Snagajob Heading Toward IPO — “Arlington job management company Snagajob aims to raise up to $30 million, part of a strategy to reach $100 million in revenue this year to prepare the fast-growing company for a future initial public offering.” [Washington Business Journal]

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Schwartz Gives Bicycle Advisory Committee a ‘Revamping’

By Chris Teale

Published January 3, 2018 at 2:45PM

The county’s Bicycle Advisory Committee has been revamped for the new year by County Manager Mark Schwartz, who has installed a new member as chair.

In a letter dated December 27, 2017, Schwartz told the group he wanted to make the group “more fully representative” of the biking community, and have more civic and citizen associations represented on the 18-person committee. Currently, Schwartz said, less than five of those groups are represented.

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County Could Face $10-13 Million Funding Gap in Next Year’s Budget

By Chris Teale

Published October 25, 2017 at 11:30AM

At the Arlington County Board’s meeting yesterday (Tuesday), Schwartz projected revenue will grow by 2.9 percent in FY 2019, but the county’s expenditures will grow by 4 percent. That would result in a funding gap of between $10 million and $13 million.

The funding gap assumes the current real estate tax rate of $1.006 per $100 of assessed value will remain the same. County staff is also projecting “modest growth” in assessed property values.