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Issue brief:

County budget: 2009-10

UPDATE:
The County Board made its final decision on April 28. The Board adopted the $947 budget largely as proposed, and increased the real-estate tax rate by 2.7 cents. The Board did back down on proposals to close Gulf Branch Nature Center, for cutbacks at some neighborhood libraries, on fees for night/weekend parking at the Clarendon garage, and on the vehicle-decal fee. But sewer and trash fees were raised.

Budget proposal:

The County Manager released the proposed budget for 2009-10 in mid-February.

Spending: The budget would spend $930 million (down slightly from 2008-09). That's the first decrease in many years, but it comes after years of substantial spending increases. Arlington's budget has more than doubled in the past 10 years. Other localities in Northern Virginia have proposed much larger spending reductions.

Taxes: The budget would increase the real estate tax rate by 2.7 cents (from $0.838 per $100 assessed value to $0.865). Since there was little change in Arlington's overall residential assessments over the past year, the net result is a small tax increase (averaging about $50 per homeowner). Other localities in Northern Virginia have proposed greater tax reductions for their citizens.

Fees:The budget would also increase a variety of fees, including vehicle decal (from $24 to $33), trash removal, and water/sewer.

• See budget documents and final budget announcement from the County website.
• See Civic Federation recommendations (PDF format, ~2.6 MB).
• See real estate tax information from the County, and look up assessments online.

In the news:

Several items in the budget proposal have attracted public attention, including the increase in the vehicle decal fee, new fees for evening/weekend parking in Clarendon, the closing of Gulf Branch Nature Center, cutback in hours at some neighborhood libraries, and the schools' decision to proceed with salary increases.

• Clarendon parking: On Mar. 26, business and restaurant owners in Clarendon voiced strong opposition to the idea of charging for parking in the County DHS garage on nights and weekends. They said it would hurt business and increase traffic in nearby neighborhoods.
  • County response: The Board decided not to impose this fee.
• Real estate taxes: On April 7, the non-partisan County Civic Federation voted overwhelmingly to recommend a smaller increase in the tax rate (just 1.7 cents), which would keep average tax bills about even.
  • County response: The Board ignored the CivFed recommendation and voted to raise the tax rate by 2.7 cents, thus increasing average tax bills.
• Vehicle decal fee: On April 9, County Treasurer Frank O'Leary (a Democrat) criticized the proposal to hike the decal fee by more than 1/3 - calling it regressive, and questioning its legality. The Civic Federation also opposed this idea.
  • County response: The Board largely backed down, and voted to increase the decal fee from $24 to $25 (rather than $33).

Public hearings:

Concerned Arlington residents may make brief (2-minute) presentations at the budet hearing (on proposed spending), or at the tax rate hearing (on the proposed tax rate and fees), or both.

• On budget and spending
  When: Tue., Mar. 24, 7 pm & Wed., Mar. 25, 7 pm
  Where: County Board Room (Rm. 307)
  County Office Bldg., 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Court House
  (at 15th St., near Court House Metro - see map & parking info)
  Procedures: See County guidance
  Speaker sign-up: Guidelines and online sign-up, or call 703-228-3130
• On tax rate and fees
  When: Thu., Mar. 26, 7 pm
  Where: County Board Room (Rm. 307)
  County Office Bldg., 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Court House
  (at 15th St., near Court House Metro - see map & parking info)
  Procedures: See County guidance
  Speaker sign-up: Guidelines and online sign-up, or call 703-228-3130

NOTE: Citizens may also submit comments to the Board by email: .