Sunday, February 21, 2010

Subject from Blog Reader...

Snowy wrote in asking about this in the last post:

"From the Metro section in the Washington Post on Sunday:

Arlington County Board unanimously voted to propose a tax rate of 96.5 cents per $100 of a property's assessed value, a 10.3% increase over the current rate of 87.5 cents.

Also proposed: higher fees for driver's licenses, sewer and sanitary services, etc."


Thoughts about what Arlington County is doing to our tax rates?

9 comments:

Kevin said...

Annoyed. Sure, take more money from your residents so they have less to spend. Less spending = less tax revenue = higher taxes. Taxing people more is not the answer.

Anonymous said...

Arlington County still has the lowest tax rates in the country. Be grateful you don't live in neighboring Fairfax and Alexandria.

Anonymous said...

More big gov't! You can thank Obamanomics for this! The answer to gov't shortfalls is to tax success.

Anonymous said...

Here is the complete press release..more details on the county website.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Arlington County Board today voted unanimously to advertise a property tax rate of 96.5 cents per $100 assessed value for Calendar Year (CY) 2010. The Board will hold public hearings on the budget in March and adopt the budget in April. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 fiscal year begins July 1, 2010.

By law, the Board cannot adopt a rate higher than the one advertised, although it may adopt a lower rate.

The Board voted to advertise the rate after Acting County Manager Barbara Donnellan detailed her FY 2011 Proposed Budget at Saturday’s Regular Board Meeting. Donnellan’s Proposed Budget is $941.8 million, a 0.5% decrease from the FY 2010 Adopted Budget of $946.8 million. It includes proposed cuts in services and programs, the elimination of 87 full time County staff positions and the real estate tax rate of 94.2 cents -- an increase of 6.7 cents. The Board, in its action, chose to advertise a rate increase of 9 cents above the CY 2009 rate.

In voting to advertise the higher rate, Board members cited the need to preserve flexibility as they assess the constantly shifting economic situation and its impact on County finances. The County must close a budget gap of $65 million for FY 2011, attributed largely to declining residential and commercial real estate assessments.

“This rate provides us the flexibility we need to address the unknowns presented since our budget guidance was provided in the fall – primarily the uncertain state budget cuts and Metro demands that we may face,” said Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette.

To provide additional flexibility in review of the budget, the Board also voted to advertise proposed fee increases, including an increase in the residential solid waste fee to fully cover the cost of leaf collection; increases in motor vehicle decal fee, increased fines for parking tickets and an $8 per-sport, per-season fee for children who play in County Sports Leagues. These additional fees, if adopted, could raise an additional $3.4 million in revenue. For a detailed list of proposed increases, visit the County website.

“Now the work begins, as we scour the budget, engage the community and do what we are required to do – produce a balanced budget in April,” commented Chairman Fisette. “We are committed to find the balance of the service quality that we have come to expect with the burden on taxpayers.”

Public hearings on the FY 2011 Expenditure Budget will be held on Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24 and on taxes and fees on March 25. All three hearings will begin at 7 p.m. in the County Board Room, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington, VA.

Anonymous said...

Leave it to the gov't to nickle and dime people. This is ridiculous! If you want to grow the economy, cut taxes and reduce spending!

Anonymous said...

lowest tax rates in the country? Please....definitely NOT one of the lowest in the country.

Anonymous said...

Low tax rates are like low condo fees. Condo fees are low here, but with this snow storm we've seen what low fees get us. You get what you pay for.

Dr. Quinn said...

Sequeway...we do have decent services in Arlington County, including FREE H1N1 vaccinations available right now--just a few blocks away next to the library on Columbia Pike. Get protected before the next wave hits, people.

Anonymous said...

In other words, Dr. sequacious non sequitur, don't let the swine flu knock you off your Segway!