If you haven’t been able to make it to any of County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s in-person budget forums, here is your chance to learn about this year’s budget process without leaving your home or office.
Starting at 10:00 this morning, Donnellan and Deputy County Manager Mark Schwartz will be holding an online chat focused on the upcoming fiscal year 2012 budget process.
A complete transcript will be posted after the chat.
As required by law, Arlington has completed a comprehensive audit of the county’s finances for fiscal year 2010.
The audit, conducted by the accounting firm of Clifton Gunderson LLP, was just posted on the county’s web site and discussed briefly by County Manager Barbara Donnellan at Tuesday afternoon’s board meeting.
“I’m glad to report that the county has once again received an unqualified or ‘clean’ opinion from our auditors,” Donnellan said. “Once again Arlington’s fiscal management has been found to be strong.”
The 216-page report can be downloaded in PDF format here. Instead of attempting what would likely be a woefully incomplete analysis, we’ll open up the comment section to anyone who wants to examine specific sections of the document.
If we can find a couple hundred food critics, there have got to be a few accountants out there, right?
You might think that with another looming budget gap and talk of a new worldwide Age of Austerity, Arlington County would be looking at cutting employee compensation as a potential way to trim costs.
After all, every taxpayer in Arlington knows that our famously progressive county probably pays employees more than anyone else in the region, right?
Wrong.
Arlington is, in fact, still playing catchup with Fairfax and Alexandria compensation-wise, County Manager Barbara Donnellan told a group of Arlington County Civic Federation delegates Tuesday night.
Donnellan cited a study released last year which determined that while employee benefits were on par with Fairfax and Alexandria, Arlington’s two biggest competitors in the job market, employee salaries lagged in more than half the job categories examined.
Another such study will be conducted next year.
Donnellan said that Arlington will likely continue to grant merit-based step increases to employees in the upcoming budget. That, she said, should help Arlington compete with Fairfax, which has frozen step increases. Like Arlington, however, Alexandria is still granting pay raises.
“Overall, we’re trying to maintain competitiveness,” Donnellan said. Comparisons to the private sector and to similar jurisdictions in other parts of the country are generally not helpful, Donnellan said, because the county is drawing from a different pool of potential job applicants.
As an example of one area where Arlington is struggling to fill jobs, Donnellan cited a recent recruiting drive by the police department.
Out of some 70 prospective applicants for a significant number of police vacancies (perhaps 20 to 30), only four were ultimately hired after a battery of physical and mental tests.
“Four doesn’t cut it,” Donnellan said, adding that more public safety recruiting classes will be necessary. In other job categories, she said, hiring is a mixed bag.
“We had a hiring freeze for two years, so when we do open up a job, we get a lot of applicants who are applying for it,” she said. “Are they the best and the brightest and fit exactly with the experience that we’re looking for? Not always. But we certainly have been able to capture some people in this downtime that are looking for a more stable environment to work in.”
“We are lucky to be Arlington,” county manager Barbara Donnellan said, kicking off the board’s initial guidance for the fiscal year 2012 budget.
Donnellan was referring to the fact that property values — and, thus, tax collections — have stabilized in Arlington, while other local communities continue to feel the pinch from the recession.
Even with a cautiously optimistic outlook, however, the county is still staring down a $25-35 million budget shortfall for FY 2012.
Reflecting the continued financial pressures, the board on Saturday issued budget guidance to Donnellan that was conservative in tone.
The board asked Donnellan to limit budget growth to 1.14 percent — the rate of inflation. The limit does not apply to additional spending required by the school system and as a result of the county’s commitment to four current capital projects (including a new fire station, Long Bridge Park, and the Mary Marshall Assisted Living Residence).
Donnellan expects capital projects to cost an additional $2.5 million, increases in employee compensation to cost $12.7 million, and post-employment benefits to cost an additional $2.1 million. The cost of additional student enrollment is expected to cost $8.6 million.
Donnellan says the county will likely collect an additional $13.8 million in revenue, based largely on inflation.
The board instructed Donnellan to find “any efficiencies or duplication that may exist in County programs,” as a way to save money. It also instructed Donnellan to add no new positions or programs, unless a dedicated funding source or a net cost savings can be identified.
At the same time, the board asked Donnellan to continue investing in affordable housing while preserving the “safety net for those in need,” as well as public safety and health protections.
County Spending Outpaces Revenue Gains — An improving economy will bring in more tax and fee revenue for the county next year, but those gains will be outpaced by projected increases in county spending. More from the Sun Gazette.
Plane Crash Survivor Back at Work in Arlington — Former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe, who survived the Alaska plane crash that killed Sen. Ted Stevens, returned to work yesterday. O’Keefe is the CEO of Arlington-based EADS North America. More from Reuters.
Rosslyn Metro Escalator Makes Musical Noises — The Ode Street Tribune has a recording of a veritable chorus of mechanical noises emanating from an escalator at the Rosslyn Metro station.
Road Tattoo in Crystal City — Earlier, we reported that a road in Crystal City would be “tattooed” by artist Steed Taylor. Now, the deed is done. “Crystal City adds roadway tramp-stamp,” reads the headline on We Love DC.
Flickr pool photo by Ian Livingston
At times, the preliminary budget recommendations from Arlington’s Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission sound more like something you’d hear on CNBC than at a county board meeting. While recommending that next year’s estimated $25-$35 million budget shortfall be made up by a 50-50 combination of spending cuts and tax increases, the commission says that longer-term changes might be necessary.
“The County may have to make structural changes to accommodate continued significant financial challenges,” the commission said in a three-page report to the county board. “Those changes may include improved efficiencies, outsourcing (to realize improved efficiencies and reduced labor costs) and changes in service levels.”
FAAC recommends that the board “require departments to identify and implement operational efficiency improvements,” and “reduce or eliminate funding for programs that are no longer needed, are not effective, or are no longer affordable.”
The recommendations come at a time when the county will be taking on new operating expenses as a result of several major capital projects. Those projects include the Mary Marshall Assisted Living Residence, Artisphere (which opens this week) and the Columbia Pike revitalization project (which includes the assumption of road maintenance costs from the state).
The commission praised the board for balancing priorities during recent budget cycles, calling the past three budgets “fiscally prudent and responsive to pressing human service needs.”
“Arlington has been fiscally fortunate in comparison to many jurisdictions, in part because of a legacy of strong planning and prudent investments,” the report concludes. “However, the fiscal picture remains uncertain, and we believe that the recommendations contained in this report may provide additional options for the Board to consider in the development of the FY 2012 budget.”
Despite an improving real estate market, Arlington could face up to a $35 million budget gap next year, according to a presentation by County Manager Michael Brown this afternoon.
Brown told the county board that his preliminary forecast anticipates a combined $25-35 million shortfall for the county government and the school system. Brown projects a slight increases in real estate assessments and in tax and fee collections. However, he says expenses are rising due to increasing student enrollment, new school facilities and high county personnel costs.
“Current revenue projections could require program cuts and revenue increases,” Brown said. That’s in addition to the past two years of budget cuts and tax hikes.
“We must continue to be extremely cautious fiscally,” Brown said. He will present his recommended FY 2012 budget to the board in February.
On a per student basis, Arlington is spending more on administrative functions and less on instruction than almost every other school district in Northern Virginia, reports Michael Lee Pope of the Arlington Connection.
Here’s an excerpt:
Alexandria and Arlington spend less for instruction per capita than every other school division in Northern Virginia. And the two jurisdictions spend more on administration per capita than most other localities in the region.
These are the findings of a recent report issued by the Auditor of Public Accounts in Virginia, numbers collected from various jurisdictions during their annual budget process. School officials and elected leaders in Alexandria and Arlington admit they might not have the economy of scale of Fairfax County, a division with about 170,000 students. But with 20,000 students in Arlington and 12,000 students in Alexandria, they say the trade-off is a more personalized environment.
“Am I satisfied? No. I always think we can do better,” said Arlington School Board Chairwoman Libby Garvey. “But I will say that I think we deliver a very good value for the dollar.”
“There’s a general perception that more money in the classroom is more critical than money for administration,” said John Vigstadt, a member of the Arlington Council of PTAs. “I think we need to take periodic look at what these administrators do to make sure all these positions are justified.”
Arlington spends more per capita on welfare and social services than neighbors Alexandria and Fairfax County. In fact, Arlington spends $455 for every resident in the county, nearly twice the spending of Fairfax.
“Considering the emphasis that the County Board has placed on social services, it’s not all that surprising that this category would be one of the highest per-capita spending items in Arlington,” Budget Director Richard Stevenson told the Arlington Connection’s Michael Lee Pope.
The county spends more on welfare and social services than on law enforcement. The welfare expenditures are greater than Arlington’s spending on parks, libraries, courts, sanitation and building maintenance combined. The only individual category that tops welfare is education, at $1,814 per capita. Taken as a whole, law enforcement and fire and rescue account for $588 spending per capita.
“I think we’re right where we need to be” in terms of budget priorities, County Board chairman Jay Fisette told the Connection.
Summers Doing Big Business During World Cup — Summers Restaurant in Courthouse was so crowded during yesterday’s World Cup match between the U.S. and Algeria that the fire marshal showed up, according to NBC Washington. The 300-capacity venue was deemed 25 people over-capacity.
Zimmerman Urges State to Reconsider Metro Defunding Threat — “The state should not break the promise made to its residents and regional partners,” WMATA and Arlington County board member Chris Zimmerman wrote in an op-ed on the Washington Post’s website. Zimmerman and fellow Northern Virginia WMATA board member Catherine Hudgins say that if the state withdraws $50 million in funding, as it has threatened to do if it doesn’t get two seats on the Metro board, then a cooperative $300 million per year infrastructure improvement plan “will fall apart.”
Flickr pool photo by brianmka.
Yesterday we linked to a couple of great videos that gave viewers a behind-the-scenes look at two Columbia Pike restaurants. The videos were produced by the Arlington Virginia Network, the county-run television channel.
AVN’s production values are impeccable. It’s remarkable that the county is producing interesting community video content that could be mistaken for a Food Network show or a local news broadcast.
But it’s a bit discouraging that, before we linked to them, the two videos had barely 100 views between them on YouTube. It begs the question: is there a better way to promote AVN online?
While it’s virtually impossible to know how many people watch AVN shows on the county’s cable channel (channel 25 on Comcast and channel 40 on Verizon), AVN videos get about 50,000 views per year online (UPDATE: AVN Executive Producer Rob Farr says their online views have grown dramatically since the county estimate cited here — see his response in the comments section). Given the office’s budget of about $557,000 this year (according to the county manager’s proposed budget), that’s more than $10 spent per online view.
How can the county better promote AVN online? A Facebook and a Twitter account would help. As would a standalone domain name for the AVN website. What are your thoughts? (In addition to the comments section, feel free to contribute to the discussion on our Facebook page).
