taxes

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Spring blossoms (Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley)

Artisphere Executive Director Left in Feb. — Jose Ortiz, executive director of Artisphere, quietly left the position in February. Ortiz is now working as the deputy director of the Bronx Museum in New York City. Artisphere programming director Josh Stoltzfus, meanwhile, has been promoted to acting executive director of the cultural center, which is on the county’s budgetary chopping block.

CivFed: No Tax Hike — Members of the Arlington County Civic Federation approved a resolution this week urging the County Board not to approve any increase in Arlington’s real estate tax rate. Fiscal conservatives on the Civic Federation argued that the county has plenty of reserves and surpluses to tap without the need to further tax struggling homeowners. [InsideNova]

Planning Comm. Rejects Wilson School Historic Status — Arlington’s Planning Commission on Monday voted to oppose a historic designation for the Wilson School in Rosslyn, by a vote of 5-4. That follows the School Board’s unanimous vote again a historic designation for the school, which was built in 1910 but was subsequently renovated significantly from its original form. The school system says trying to preserve parts of the school would require additional time and expense as it plans to build a new facility for the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program on the site. [InsideNova]

Urban Igloo Debuts Clarendon Page — Local apartment matchmaking service Urban Igloo, an ARLnow.com advertiser, has debuted a number of neighborhood information pages, including one for Clarendon. The company says its recently revamped website makes it “one of the first real estate companies to take an online hyperlocal approach to connect renters to specific neighborhoods.” [Urban Igloo]

Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley

Few Tech Companies Taking Advantage of Arlington Tax Break

By ARLnow.com

Entrepreneur at work on a computer in UberOffices in RosslynOnly a handful of companies are taking advantage of an Arlington tax break intended to help bolster the county’s tech sector.

One possible explanation for the lack of participation in a program that could save companies thousands of dollars a year: many local tech companies say they haven’t heard about it.

Last year, the Arlington County Board approved a measure “to broaden the Technology Zone incentive program for new technology companies.” The action was trumpeted in a press release by then-County Board chair Jay Fisette.

“These updates reflect the reality of a quickly-changing tech world,” Fisette said at the time. “I said that we would lay the groundwork this year for Arlington to become a hub of the innovation economy. This update to our Tech Zones is a big step in the right direction.”

As of March 19, however, only eight businesses had applied and subsequently qualified for “Technology Zone” status for their 2014 taxes, according to Deputy Commissioner of Revenue Ann Bisson. She could not say which companies had qualified nor how much local tax revenue those companies represent.

“Because of the nature of the tech business currently having so few companies applying, I am not allowed by law to give you that information in this case,” Bisson said. “Virginia law prohibits us from giving out any kind of information where it could be determined what one company has in income.”

In order to qualify, a company has to prove that it meets the following requirements:

  • Has been in business in Arlington for no more than 18 months, or has grown in full-time employment by at least 25 percent within the past 12 months.
  • Is located in a commercial building in Arlington.
  • “Has a primary function in the creation, design, and/or research and development of technology hardware or software.”

It’s unclear how many of the current crop of up-and-coming media- and service-oriented tech companies — Uber, Snapchat, Airbnb, Pinterest, Spotify, etc. — would qualify under of that definition.

“The use of computers, telecommunications services, or a web page or internet site shall not, in itself, be sufficient to qualify as a qualified technology business,” according to county code.

For those that do qualify, the savings are significant: the Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax rate is reduced from $0.36 for every $100 of a business’ gross receipts, to between $0.18 and $0.10, depending on the size of the company.

“Arlington Economic Development (AED) estimates that the updated incentives would amount to a five-year benefit from about $39,000 for a 20-employee company to $155,000 for an 80-employee company – an average savings of $2.25 per square foot, if applied to annual rent for companies that qualify,” according to the 2014 press release.

ARLnow.com reached out to a number of the Arlington-based tech firms we have profiled for our Startup Monday feature. Of those that responded, most said they would likely qualify for the incentive, but none had heard of it before we reached out.

“Without you pointing it out, I’m not sure we would have figured it out,” said the founder of a Clarendon-based startup, who declined to be identified. “We use an out-of-state accountant and this is a pretty hyper-local set of incentives. We certainly would sign up, now that we know it exists.”

Raymond Rahbar, founder and CEO of UberOffices, which houses at least a dozen local tech startups at its Rosslyn coworking space, said no one has reached out to him or his company about informing its members of the incentive.

Rami Essaid, the founder and CEO of Distil Networks in Ballston, also said he had not been contacted. However, he said incentive program is small potatoes for startups that hope to scale into billion-dollar businesses.

“When you are in hyper growth, you care more about big picture things like being able to continue to scale and not optimizing little things like taxes,” Essaid told ARLnow.com. “That said, Arlington I feel like has done many of the right things to foster an environment for scale. That means having the right talent pool, good community events, etc. The extra tax perks are nice bonuses but they don’t influence our reason for being in Arlington.”

Ironically, despite being an incentive for tech companies, little information about the program can be found on Arlington County’s own website.

There’s a blurb buried deep on AED’s website, but no information about how to apply for it. “Contact Arlington Economic Development for specific details,” the page said.

We couldn’t find anything on Arlington’s Taxes & Payments site. A PDF document on the site, listing business tax rates, does not list the Technology Zone rate. Neither did the paper tax bill mailed by the Commissioner of Revenue’s office. When we asked about it last month, we were referred to the Tech Zone’s section of county code itself.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

"Grilling canceled today" (Flickr pool photo by Dennis Dimick)

Peter Chang Fast Casual Restaurant in Arlington — Chef Peter Chang, who has a large following in Northern Virginia, is in lease negotiations for the Oriental Gourmet space at 2503 N. Harrison Street. Chang hopes to open Peter Chang Wok, envisioned as a fast casual Chinese restaurant. Chang only plans to make “a few cosmetic changes” to Oriental Gourmet, which is still open, after taking over the lease. [Washington Post]

Cherrydale Plan Passes — Cherrydale has a new Neighborhood Conservation plan. The plan, approved by the County Board on Tuesday, calls for protecting trees, ensuring sidewalks are wide enough for strollers and those with disabilities, timely utility maintenance, more daycare opportunities and infrastructure for residents to age in place. [Arlington County]

Top County Staff Gets Raise — The Arlington County Board on Tuesday voted to give a 3.4 percent raise to the three county employees it’s permitted by law to hire directly: County Manager Barbara Donnellan, County Attorney Stephen MacIsaac and Clerk to the County Board Hope Halleck. The annual salary for Donnellan — who’s in charge of the county government and its more than 3,800 employees — will increase to $269,742. [InsideNova]

Abundance of Busted Pipes — This week Arlington County firefighters have responded to a steady stream of calls for busted water pipes in buildings around the county. “Please make sure you know where your water shut off is in case it happens to you,” the fire department tweeted. [Twitter]

Abingdon Street House Fire — Firefighters extinguished a small fire in the basement of a home on the 100 block of N. Abingdon Street on Wednesday morning. One person had to flee the home, reportedly while only wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but no injuries were reported. [Twitter]

Court Ruling May Cost Arlington Millions — A ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court on a tax dispute in Arlington County may cost Arlington and other Virginia localities millions of dollars in lost business license tax revenue. The court ruled that companies with offices in multiple states may deduct certain out-of-state earnings from their license tax. [Washington Post]

GW Baseball Blanks Georgetown — In a chilly game at Arlington’s Barcroft Park that we previewed Wednesday, the George Washington University baseball team defeated Georgetown in a 3-0 shutout. [GW Sports]

Flickr pool photo by Dennis Dimick

Board Advertises Higher Tax Rate

By ARLnow.com

County Board 2014 budget hearingThe Arlington County Board on Saturday advertised a real estate tax rate slightly above the current rate.

The Board advertised a rate of $1.011 per $100 of assessed value, 1.5 cents above the current $0.996 rate.

By advertising the higher rate, the Board has given itself the flexibility to raise the rate should it choose to do so, despite County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s recommendation (and the Board’s guidance) of keeping the tax rate steady.

The advertised rate is the highest rate the Board may set when it finalizes its Fiscal Year 2016 budget in April.

“The Manager has put forward her budget, which complies with our direction. The County Board’s work now begins,” County Board Chair Mary Hynes said in a statement. “This advertisement sets the stage for a Board and community deliberation about revenue and expenditures.”

“While no one on the County Board wants to see tax rates increase, we believe that having flexibility at this point in time is necessary as we hear from the community, scour the budget for savings, evaluate programs and monitor economic circumstances,” Hynes continued. “Our final goal is to arrive at a sustainable, balanced budget that best serves all Arlingtonians.”

Even if the tax rate were to remain the same, the average Arlington homeowner’s annual tax bill would increase $281 to $7,567, due largely to a rise in residential property assessments.

Donnellan Proposes $1.16 Billion Budget, No Change in Real Estate Tax Rate

By ARLnow.com

County Manager Barbara Donnellan presents her FY 2014 budget on Feb. 20, 2013(Updated at 12:50 p.m.) Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan has presented a $1.156 billion proposed budget to the County Board.

The budget keeps the county’s current real estate tax rate — of $0.996 per $100 in value — the same, but would result in a net tax hike for homeowners thanks to property assessment increases.

The county’s real estate tax base has increased 3.4 percent, thanks largely to a 4.9 percent increase in single family home assessments and a 4.7 percent increase in apartment building assessments. (New construction added over 0.7 percent to the base.)

The average Arlington homeowner will pay $7,567 — an extra $23 per month, or $281 per year — in total county taxes and fees under the proposed budget.

For owners of Arlington office buildings, which have experienced record levels of vacancies thanks in part to BRAC, taxes will go down. Office assessments decreased 4.5 percent, while hotel assessments decreased 4.7 percent.

Donnellan says she was able to balance the budget and close a forecasted $4 million budget gap without making any formal cuts. Healthcare and retirement costs were lower than expected and some “efficiencies” were found in the budget, she said.

“I think Arlington have been really fortunate,” Donnellan said of the budget, which she was able to balance without significant cuts despite the high office vacancies.

No changes to personal property, stormwater, business improvement district or business license taxes have been proposed. While there’s no change proposed in the household solid waste rate, Donnellan does propose a 1.8 percent increase in the water/sewer rate. Some parks and recreation fee changes have been proposed, including reductions in the rates for aquatics and gymnastics programs.

While not in her base budget, Donnellan included an optional slate of cuts for the Board to consider. The “budget reduction options” include $4.1 million in cuts and savings in various parts of the budget, including:

  • Closing Artisphere, but reinvesting half of the $900,000 in annual savings into the county’s Cultural Affairs program (last year Artisphere was funded with $1.8 million in county funds, half of which were designated “one-time” funds.)
  • Converting Metrobus 3A service in Arlington to less expensive ART bus service
  • Consolidating an elementary after-school program with Arlington public schools
  • County vehicle fleet reductions and utility savings
  • Publishing one fewer Citizen newsletter per year
  • Reductions to bike and pedestrian programs
  • Reductions to employment services programs in the Dept. of Human Services
  • Reductions to the community energy program
  • Reductions to planning resources
  • Reductions to tree planting
  • Reductions to library materials
  • Reductions to urban agriculture
  • Eliminating a proposed increase in funding to courts and constitutional officers, meant to offset state cuts

Donnellan said her suggested cuts wouldn’t result in “totally outraged” community members, but would likely receive some push back from “interested parties.”

“They’re not core services in the sense of how we deliver day-to-day business,” Donnellan said of the proposals.

At $1.156 billion, Donnellan’s budget is a 0.7 percent increase over last year’s $1.15 billion adopted budget. The proposed budget includes a $710.9 operating budget for the county government. The remainder would go to Arlington Public Schools, which will see an overall funding increase of $13.2 million, or 3.1 percent.

APS Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy will proposed his Fiscal Year 2016 budget tonight.

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Least Affluent Areas Hit Hardest By 2015 Assessments

By Ethan Rothstein

Arlington's residential assessment map, divided by "trend area"Arlington’s residential real estate assessments rose by 4.9 percent on average for 2015, but some of Arlington’s lowest-income neighborhoods, which can least afford the corresponding rise in property taxes, are experiencing the biggest spikes.

According to the trend map (left) provided by the county’s Department of Finance, the area hit hardest by the assessment rise was the southwestern-most part of the county, from Columbia Pike to the border with Alexandria (area 10).

The average assessment for this area rose 11 percent, from $362,527 to $402,404. Homes in this area were the least valuable on average in the county last year and, despite the $40,000 jump, are the least valuable this year. If the tax rate remains at around one dollar per $100 of assessed value, the owners of houses in this area will pay about $400 more on average this year than last year.

The area with the second-least valuable homes in the county is area 8, which includes the Columbia Heights West, Barcroft and Glencarlyn neighborhoods. The average assessment rose 9 percent in this area, from $388,215 to $423,115, or an average increase of about $350 in property taxes this year over last.

By contrast, the wealthiest area in Arlington — area 3 in the northernmost part of the county — experienced almost no rise in assessments. The average home was valued at $1,011,423 last year and $1,014,566 this year, a 0.3 percent increase.

The full list of changes, with area numbers corresponding to the above map:

  • Area 1: $713,202 in 2014; $748,523 in 2015; 5.1 percent increase
  • Area 2: $810,380 in 2014; $853,100 in 2015; 5.3 percent increase
  • Area 3: $1,011,423 in 2014; $1,014,566 in 2015; 0.3 percent increase
  • Area 4: $646,590 in 2014; $683,000 in 2015; 5.6 percent increase
  • Area 5: $698,305 in 2014; $710,175 in 2015; 1.7 percent increase
  • Area 6: $514,552 in 2014; $551,594 in 2015; 7.2 percent increase
  • Area 7: $554,480 in 2014; $598,880 in 2015; 8.0 percent increase
  • Area 8: $388,215 in 2014; $423,115 in 2015; 9.0 percent increase
  • Area 9: $410,274 in 2014; $438,993 in 2015; 7.0 percent increase
  • Area 10: $362,527 in 2014; $402,404 in 2015; 11.0 percent increase
  • Area 11: $524,082 in 2014; $553,954 in 2015; 5.7 percent increase

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Traffic in Arlington (Flickr pool photo by Brian Allen)

Ebbin Bill to Return Checks As Tax Refund Option — State Sen. Adam Ebbin has proposed a bill that would force the state to start using paper checks again for tax refunds. In 2012 Virginia budget eliminated paper check refunds, allowing residents to get their refund either via electronic transfer or pre-paid debit card. Ebbin unsuccessfully proposed a similar bill last year. [InsideNova]

Favola Hate Crime Bill Fails — A bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the definition of hate crimes in Virginia has failed. The bill was proposed by state Senator and former Arlington County Board member Barbara Favola. [Associated Press]

MLK Books for Kids at Library — The Arlington Public Library blog has some recommendations for books that can introduce the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. to children. [Library Blog]

Flickr pool photo by Brian Allen

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

The aftermath of an accident in Rosslyn

FBI Looking for Serial Bank Robber — The FBI is seeking information on a serial bank robber who hit a Capital One Bank in District Heights, Md. in May and the Wells Fargo in Courthouse last September. “In both robberies, the unidentified man displayed a note to tellers demanding money and threatening a violent attack against everyone in the bank,” according to the FBI. [Federal Bureau of Investigation]

Tag Readers Brought Arlington $744,000 — The Arlington County Treasurer’s Office was able to bring in $744,000 in unpaid taxes thanks to use of automatic license plate readers. That’s up 54 percent from last year. [InsideNova]

Rape Prevention Certification for Jail — The Arlington County Detention Facility has been recognized as meeting new federal Prison Rape Elimination Act standards. The jail is the first in the D.C. area to receive the certification. “This certification is a significant recognition of what we focus on every day — operating a safe and secure jail for our inmates and staff,” Arlington County Sheriff Beth Arthur said, in a statement. [Arlington County]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Sidewalk in Westover

Dems Back Special Election Candidates — At its meeting last night, the Arlington County Democratic Committee formally nominated Carla de la Pava for treasurer and endorsed Nancy Van Doren for School Board. Both candidates are running in special elections to take place at the same time as the November 4 general election. [InsideNova]

Possible Attempt to Resurrect Arlington’s Tourism Tax — Two candidates looking to fill the seat of Del. Bob Brink both said at a recent debate that they would introduce legislation to bring back Arlington’s tourism surtax on hotel bills. Democrat Richard “Rip” Sullivan and Republican David Foster both favor the tax, which had been in place for 21 years until it lapsed in 2011, due to anger over the County Board suing the state and federal governments over high occupancy toll lanes. [InsideNova]

Arlington Man Wins Axe Throwing Competition — Arlington resident Christopher R. Miller won the 2014 Lizzie Borden Axe Throwing competition in Falls Church. He is the brother-in-law of last year’s winner. [Falls Church News-Press]

Va. Sales Tax Holiday This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Money(Updated at 11:00 a.m.) The Commonwealth of Virginia will be holding its annual school supplies, clothing and footwear sales tax holiday this weekend.

From Friday, Aug. 1 to Sunday, Aug. 3 eligible purchases will be exempted from Virginia’s sales tax, which is 6 percent in Northern Virginia. To be eligible, each school supply item must be $20 or less and each article of clothing or footwear must be $100 or less.

Generally, computer equipment, clothing accessories, protective equipment and sporting goods are not exempt from the tax.

Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday is Next Week

By Ethan Rothstein

Hurricane Irene (8/26/11)In order to encourage Virginians to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season, starting on Monday the state is again offering a sales tax holiday on emergency supplies.

From May 25-31, certain emergency supplies that cost less than $60 — a list that includes batteries, flash lights, rope, duct tape, bottled water and cell phone chargers — are exempt from sales tax at all Virginia retailers. Portable generators that cost less than $1,000 are tax exempt, as are gas-powered chainsaws that cost less than $350.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today that it anticipates three-to-five hurricanes to hit this season, and one or two “major” hurricanes. The National Weather Service is anticipating a “below normal” hurricane season, but that doesn’t mean NWS scientists aren’t urging caution.

“The prediction of a below normal hurricane season should not be taken to mean Virginia won’t be impacted this year,” said Bill Sammler, NWS warning coordination meteorologist, said in a press release from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D). “Let’s all remember that it only takes one storm to cause severe damage and even loss of life.  Everyone should get ready now for this hurricane season.”

State officials are urging residents to purchase flood insurance, saying “an inch of water in a small home can lead to more than $10,000 in losses.” The governor’s office is recommending families have at least a three days’ supply of bottled water, plenty of nonperishable food, extra batteries and either a battery-powered or hand crank radio to listen to emergency broadcasts.

The complete press release from the governor’s office, after the jump. (more…)

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