The Arlington government plans to spend over $200 million on human services programs and personnel in the coming fiscal year, a new record high.
While officials are making some efforts to rein in the increase, they warn that local and national economic factors may force them to either add more funding or scale back existing initiatives as the year progresses.
Add hotel-occupancy rates to the Arlington County government’s growing list of economic concerns.
Projections for the next 60 days suggest Arlington’s hotel-room usage will be down 15% from a year before and expected hotel revenue down 12%.
Local businesses are weighing their options to cope as record-high egg prices are expected to continue rising this year.
Several Arlington restaurants and bakeries have told ARLnow they are considering raising prices as they face increasingly high costs and, at times, shortages of the ubiquitous ingredient.
Additional no-turn-on-red traffic restrictions are coming to Falls Church, and even more may be on the way.
Police Chief Shahram Fard told City Council members that the Department of Public Works has approved several of his requests for additional no-turn-on-red restrictions along Broad Street.
Arlington’s commonwealth’s attorney is pushing for an increase in funding for her office as the county continues to wrestle with a relatively tight budget.
At a budget work session last week, Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti argued on behalf of three additional staff positions not included in the current budget draft.
Amid federal budget-slashing efforts, Falls Church officials are keeping a watchful eye on about $50 million in approved grant funds.
So far, “we have not heard any word of adverse actions on those grant projects,” City Manager Wyatt Shields told City Council members Monday night.
County Board members on Tuesday night voted 4-1 to advertise a 1-cent increase to Arlington’s real-estate tax rate.
That compares to no increase proposed by County Manager Mark Schwartz, and would, if fully adopted, raise a typical homeowner’s tax bill 4.7% year-over-year.
It may come down to more school funding or homeowner tax relief as Falls Church city leaders start mulling over budget options for the coming year.
Although the formal presentation of draft city and school-system budgets is more than a month off, city officials now have a better idea of the fiscal condition of the 2.2-square-mile locality.
Residential property assessments are up 3.7% year over year, while commercial property values are largely flat.
That’s according to an announcement from Arlington County.
Arlington County is facing a $30-40 million budget gap in the fiscal year starting July 1.
Arlington’s” budget season” is now underway and county leaders are focused on how to allocate funds and balance the budget. But with more than half of county spending considered non-discretionary, options for cuts are somewhat limited.
On the other hand, another way to close the budget gap — higher property tax rates — looks to be politically challenging given that a continuous rise in home assessments paired with a tax rate increase last year has Arlington homeowners more sensitive to higher taxes.
Given our recent reporting on some of the potential options and tradeoffs, which option for balancing the budget are you leaning towards?
If you vote for cuts, let us know where in the budget should they be made.
As Arlington County eyes another possible tax increase this fiscal year, County Manager Mark Schwartz warns that trimming the county $1.65 billion budget would be no small task.
From the rising costs of compensation to funding commitments that can’t be altered in the short term, Schwartz suggested that cutting costs to fill an anticipated budget gap of $30 to $40 million — about 2% of Arlington’s $1.65 billion budget — isn’t as easy as some might think.
County school leaders, both elected and staff, will be presenting a united front as the fiscal 2026 budget season fast approaches.
In a change from typical practice, the Arlington School Board and superintendent will present a joint budget in mid-March, Board members decided Dec. 12.
