budget

Artisphere Visitor Revenue 75 Percent Below Expectations

By ARLnow.com

Thanks to various delays and lower-than-expected demand, Artisphere will fall well short of its initially projected ticket and admission revenue for FY 2011.

In a presentation to the county board yesterday, county staff revealed that Artisphere admission and ticket income is projected at $174,202 for the financial year ending on June 30, 75 percent below the $789,912 in revenue that planners expected.

The shortfall was first reported in the Sun Gazette Editor’s Notebook blog.

Located in Rosslyn, Artisphere opened on Oct. 10 as the county’s premier arts and entertainment venue. The county originally expected Artisphere would attract 250,000 annual visitors. Since opening, it has attracted 48,169 visitors.

Artisphere’s online ticketing service didn’t launch until January and its restaurant is only expected to open next week — two factors that staff says has negatively impacted revenue and attendance figures.

Due to the ticket and admission discrepancy and other revenue shortfalls, Artisphere will fall $809,477 short of meeting its budget goals this year. With staff not recommending any spending cuts at Artishere, the shortfall will likely be paid by Arlington County taxpayers. The county had already allocated more than $700,000 in funding for Artisphere during FY 2011, while the Rosslyn Business Improvement Corporation allocated more than $600,000.

For FY 2012, staff is projecting that admission and ticketing revenue will fall $455,000 short of original expectations, while expenses will be $462,000 higher than expectations. One bright spot is fundraising, which is now expected to come in at $200,000 above projections. All told, staff expects Artisphere will need another $791,1356 in taxpayer support above and beyond the County Manager’s proposed FY 2012 budget.

County spokeswoman Diana Sun says Artisphere’s budget situation “has everyone’s attention.”

“Artisphere is an important part of the revitalization of Rosslyn,” Sun said. “The County Manager has asked for a revised business plan for Artisphere by summer.”

Budget on the School Board Agenda Tonight

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County School Board will hold a vote tonight as part of the on-going FY 2012 budget process.

The board is expected to approve superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy’s proposed budget. The vote will allow the board to move forward with its own changes to the budget before final adoption next month.

A public school budget hearing is scheduled for Thursday, April 7. The school board will also be holding budget work sessions with the County Board.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Dremo’s Coming to the Pike? — The owner of the late, lamented Dr. Dremo’s Tap Room is in talks with the landlord of the former Ski Chalet store at 2704 Columbia Pike. The building would give Dremo’s a spacious new home in a funky old building, complete with parking, room for outdoor seating, and access to plentiful bus routes. We’re pretty sure an ARLnow.com commenter was the one who first floated the idea. [Pike Wire]

Dozens Testify At Budget Hearing — More than 75 people spoke at last night’s annual County Board budget hearing. Representatives and supporters of various local human services agencies asked the Board to increase funding for their causes. Also present at the hearing were supporters of increased funding for arts organizations, bicycling infrastructure and Arlington Public Libraries. [Sun Gazette]

One Hurt in Motorcycle Accident — A motorcyclist suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries last night after a collision with a pickup truck at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. George Mason Drive. The accident happened around 10:15 p.m. The motorcyclist was taken to George Washington University hospital for treatment.

Flickr pool photo by Allee574

Morning Poll: Libraries vs. Taxes

By ARLnow.com

Tonight at 7:00 p.m. the Arlington County Board will hold a hearing on its FY 2012 budget.

Although Arlington will benefit from rising property values this year in the form of higher tax collections, the Board still must make tough choices when it comes to deciding what to fund and how to fund it.

County Manager Barbara Donnellan has recommended keeping real estate taxes steady at 95.8 cents per $100 in assessed value, following a year in which the rate jumped 8.3 cents. The Board gave itself the flexibility of raising that rate slightly by advertising a 96.8 cent rate.

Meanwhile, various groups have been asking the board to increase funding their local priorities, from affordable housing to parks to helping the homeless. One group that has been particularly vocal is supporters of Arlington’s public libraries, who want to see a restoration of the library hours and materials funding after they were cut last year.

If you had to choose between a small property tax increase and a restoration of library funds, or no tax increase and no restoration of funds, which would you choose?


County Sees Revenue Loss As State Funds Dry Up

By ARLnow.com

The downturn in the economy has been unkind to the county’s finances.

Arlington has had to make service cuts in each of the past two budgets as taxes and other revenue sources dried up. After 2009, assessed property values suffered their first year-over-year decline since 1995, prompting the county to hike property taxes to make up for what otherwise would have been a dramatic loss of revenue.

When it comes to real estate taxes, the county can always increase the tax rate for an expected revenue shortfall. But one area that’s largely out of the county’s control is the funds it receives from the state. And in the past four years, overall state funding to Arlington County — excluding schools — has dropped $18 million.

County Board Member Barbara Favola cited the figure at a board meeting yesterday afternoon.

Starting in FY 2008 and up to the current FY 2011, Arlington has lost progressively more revenue each year:

  • FY 2008: -$438,214
  • FY 2009: -$2,603,394
  • FY 2010: -$7,045,368
  • FY 2011: -$7,900,610

Although state revenue still makes up about 6 percent of the Arlington’s budget, the overall decline has meant greater reliance on local sources of revenue, including taxes. As of February, state revenue was expected to decline by $600,000 to $62.6 million in the FY 2012 county budget that’s currently under consideration by the board.

Arlington Business Booster Recommends Replacing Tourism Funds

By ARLnow.com

Officials from Arlington’s economic development office asked the county board to fund the county’s tourism promotion efforts now that the hotel tax surcharge that funded such efforts is being allowed to expire.

“I think we have a great program,” Arlington Economic Development Director Terry Holzheimer said at a board work session this afternoon. “The program has value.”

“This board has been put in a very difficult position,” said board member Jay Fisette, adding that he  hope to “come up with some way to share” the cost of tourism promotion with local hotels to save money from the already-stretched county budget.

Although Arlington has developed “much, much stronger ties to the local hotel industry,” Holzheimer told the board that he did not believe hotel operators could be persuaded to make a voluntary contribution to a tourism fund from their bottom line.

“Even if we got a few to do it, I don’t think the majority would do it,” he said.

With that in mind, Holzheimer asked the board to allocate $450,000 from the county’s budget to fund the Convention and Visitor service between between Jan. 1, 2012, when the current surcharge expires, and June 1, 2012, when the surcharge could be reinstated.

Holzheimer said he believes the Virginia General Assembly, which rejected the renewal of Arlington’s 0.25 percent hotel tax surcharge last month, might be persuaded to to pass it next year.

“I do believe we’ll mount an effort next year and be successful,” Holzheimer said.

Board member Barbara Favola, however, was skeptical of the General Assembly passing an Arlington-friendly tax measure.

“I don’t think that’s a realistic position,” she said.

The board will adopt a final FY 2012 budget in April.

Favola: Tourism Funding Still Up in the Air

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County Board members are still figuring out what to do now that much of the county’s tourism promotion budget has been effectively slashed by the Virginia General Assembly.

Last week a bill that would have renewed the county’s 0.25 percent tax surcharge on hotel rooms — a tax that had the support of the local hotel industry — failed in the House of Delegates. The defeat was attributed to Republicans retaliating against Arlington’s HOT lanes lawsuit.

The tax surcharge brings in nearly $1 million each year, which is used to promote Arlington’s $1 billion tourism industry. The surcharge will expire at the end of the year.

County board member and possible state Senate candidate Barbara Favola says the board hasn’t decided yet whether it will replace the lost revenue. If it does, the money will have to come from the county’s general budget.

“It doesn’t make much sense to me,” Favola said. “This tax is paid by out-of-state people… If Arlington is going to continue this level of marketing, we’re going to have to raise the tax rate on Virginia residents.”

“It really was extraordinarily irrational,” Favola added, noting that Arlington tourism generates $58 million in annual tax revenue for the state. “I would think that having a dedicated tax… is financially in the state’s best interest.”

The lost tourism revenue will now have to “compete with all other county budget priorities” when Arlington’s FY 2012 budget comes up for adoption in April.

Proposed School Budget Includes Pay Raise for Teachers

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 9:20 a.m.) Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy proposed a budget Thursday morning that increases high school class sizes but grants teachers at least part of a desired pay raise.

The proposed FY 2012 budget includes a step increase for teachers and other school employees that was not granted last year amid a serious budget crunch. It does not, however, include a cost of living (COLA) increase. COLA increases used to be granted nearly every year until Arlington’s budget difficulties began two years ago.

Senior employees and employees at the top of the pay scale — who together make up about 33 percent of the work force — are not eligible for a step increase. Dr. Murphy is proposing a one-time payment of $1,000 to  those employees. The total cost of all pay raises is estimated at $16.4 $7.9 million. (The original $16.4 million figure included benefit and retirement increases.)

The new $470 million school budget raises the cost per pupil to $18,115, from a low of $17,322 last year and a high of $19,538 in FY 2009. The budget represents a $27.8 million — or 6.3 percent — increase over last year’s budget. It reflects, however, a projected enrollment increase of nearly 1,000 students over FY 2011.

The superintendent’s budget includes an increase in class sizes for grades 9-12, from 24.4 students per class to 25.4 students per class. Dr. Murphy leaves a one student increase in class sizes for grades K-8 as an “option” for the school board to consider. Dr. Murphy, facing a looming system-wide capacity crisis, also budgets for the purchase of 12 new relocatable classrooms.

“Capacity and enrollment will continue to be something we’re going to have to look at,” Dr. Murphy said, noting that Arlington schools still “have some of the smallest class sizes in the region.”

The budget includes some good news for supporters of the Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium.

(more…)

County Board Advertises Small Tax Rate Increase

By ARLnow.com

Despite County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s recommendation that the property tax rate be held steady, the county board voted last night to give itself the flexibility to raise the rate by a penny, if need be.

The board will now be able to set the FY 2012 property tax rate at or below 96.8 cents per $100 in assessed value. The current rate — the rate that Donnellan recommended in her proposed budget — is 95.8 cents per $100.

Last year, when the board set the property tax rate at 1.6 cents above Donnellan’s recommended figure, the advertised rate was 96.5 cents.

The county will hold two public hearings about the FY 2012 budget next month. The first, on the budget itself, will be held on March 22. The second, which will be about the tax rate and fees, will be held on March 24. Both meetings will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the county board room.

“Now that the County Manager has presented her proposal, in the next six weeks we will hear more from the public, and weigh the needs of the community,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said in a statement. “Our goal is to deliver a sustainable, balanced budget in April that spends tax dollars wisely, delivers core services efficiently and makes intelligent investments in the future.”

The county’s press release also laid out proposed changes to various fees.

According to the county: “The Board also voted to advertise proposed fee changes including: an increase in the water/sewer rate; a decrease in the residential solid waste fee; an increase in parking meter rates; and fee increases in several parks and recreation areas such as preschool, summer camps, senior adult registration, facility rentals, farmers’ markets, and community gardens.”

The final county budget and tax rate will be adopted in April.

No Real Estate Tax Hike in County Manager’s Proposed Budget

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:25 p.m.) Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s proposed FY 2012 budget, revealed today during a county board work session, includes no real estate tax rate increase but, at the same time, no restoration of cuts from previous budgets.

Under the proposed budget, the real estate tax would remain steady at 95.8 cents per $100. The 95.8 cent rate was approved by the board last year after Donnellan, then the acting county manager, proposed a rate of 94.2 cents.

Arlington is benefiting from a 6.3 percent hike in assessed property values, which is expected to bring in an additional $30 million in tax revenue for the county. In September, when the county was expecting a smaller increase in assessments, then-County Manager Michael Brown warned that tax hikes and spending cuts might be necessary. Neither prediction is coming to fruition under the Donnellan’s proposed budget.

The budget does include a 25 cent per hour hike in parking rates. There will be no increase, however, in the personal property tax, the business tangible property tax, business and professional license fees or the commercial transportation tax.

Total county expenditures under the proposed budget will reach $985.2 million, a 3.1 percent increase over last year. The primary source of the increase is the budget transfer to the school system, which will rise 4.9 percent to $378.2 million.

If the proposed budget is adopted by the board as-is, the total tax and fee burden on Arlington households would increase $89, or 1.4 percent, to $6,487 per year.

Donnellan formulated her budget after holding a series of public budget meetings last year.

The proposed budget will be made available on the county’s web site on Saturday. The board will adopt the final FY 2012 budget in April.

Property Values Rebound in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Overall property values increased 6.3 percent during Arlington’s latest round of real estate assessments, which will be mailed to homeowners and released on the internet later today.

The increase is expected to bring in an addition $30 million in tax revenue for the county, which should help to offset this year’s estimated $25 million budget gap. The county budget office was originally expecting an approximately 1 percent increase in property values.

“It certainly… makes it easier for us to balance the budget,” said Michelle Cowan, Director of the Dept. of Management and Finance, who added that stepped-up commercial lending and property sales helped to drive the increase. “We consider ourselves very fortunate.”

However, Cowan cautioned that continued expenditure pressures — like rising health care, benefit and retirement costs — could still make the upcoming budget process challenging. She also said that other county revenue sources, like sales taxes, are unlikely to post significant increases.

The rise in property values is primarily due to strength in Arlington commercial real estate sector. Commercial assessments were up 12 percent, led by a 22 percent increase in hotel assessments and a 15 percent increase in office assessments. Apartment assessments were up between 8 and 9 percent, Cowan said.

Residential assessments, including single family homes, condos and townhouses, increased 1.4 percent this year. The average home in Arlington is now worth $510,200, up from $503,200 last year. The average property tax bill will now be $4,888, up $67 compared to last year.

Homeowners can appeal their assessments here.

Overall assessments were down 7.2 percent in 2010. Residential values were down 3.25 percent last year and commercial values declined 12.7 percent. County budget personnel say this year’s increase will put property values in the county “close to break-even” compared to two years ago.

County Manager Barbara Donnellan will present her proposed budget to the county board in February. The board will then hold public hearings in March, followed by budget adoption in April.

No word yet on how rising property tax revenues may affect Donnellan’s initial pledge to bolster this year’s budget with spending cuts and revenue increases.

View More Stories