Virginia’s back-to-school sales tax holiday is in effect this weekend.
Starting today, there will be no sales tax on:
The tax holiday will end after Sunday. Click here to see a list of qualifying and exempt items.
A handful of tax-delinquent restaurants have all reduced their debts to Arlington County over the past eight months. But the restaurants still collectively owe the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid meals taxes.
The now-defunct Bebo Trattoria, Arlington Catering Company and Murky Coffee owe $133,825.80, $66,581.76 and $46,240.93 respectively as of July 12. That’s down from $156,330.96, $70,734.58 and $52,949.69 (according to a past Washington City Paper article), for a total reduction of $33,366.74 collectively.
Shirlington’s Extra Virgin and Clarendon’s Tandoori Nights, both of which are still in business, also paid down their considerable debts.
Extra Virgin has paid down $10,939.45, and now owes $72,280.27 — which is still the second-highest figure on the meals tax delinquency list. Owner Shary Thur did not return a phone call for comment earlier today.
Tandoori Nights, owned by the Indaez Group, has repaid $14,048.07 and now owes $18,721.78.
Other Arlington restaurants near the top of the list include Wall Street Deli, Bob & Edith’s Diner, Armand’s Pizza, and Hamburger Hamlet.
Metro Fares Going Up This Morning — Metrorail riders will start paying an extra 20 cents during this morning’s rush hour. Starting today, the peak base fare is increasing from $1.75 to $1.95. On Sunday, riders started paying $1.60 for the off-peak base fare, up from $1.45. Metrobus fares have also increased. More from Fox 5.
Pentagon Shooting Heroes Honored — The Pentagon police officers who stopped the Pentagon Metro Station shooter received the Medal of Valor from the Department of Defense on Friday. Officers Marvin Carraway, Jr. and Jeffery Amos, who were shot by 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell in the attack, were honored alongside officers Dexter Jones and Colin Richards, who also who helped to stop Bedell from entering the Pentagon on the night of March 4. More from WUSA 9.
Big Spenders, Big Collectors — Arlington County collects more per resident and spends more per resident than any other locality in Virginia, the Washington Examiner reports. On average, Arlington collects $4,240 per person and spends $4,209 per person. On a per capita basis, Arlington outspends every other Virginia locality on fire and rescue services, parks and recreation, and social services.
Marine Charged With Rape — A Marine charged in the abduction of an Arlington woman has been formally charged in the abduction and rape of another. Jorge “George” Torrez, 21, has been the prime suspect in the February 27 crime, but is only now being charged after detectives were able to link him to the case. Torrez, who was based at Fort Myer-Henderson Hall, now faces 14 charges including abduction with intent to defile, forcible sodomy, and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief.
Glencarlyn Library Closed This Week — The Glencarlyn library will be closed tomorrow through Friday for repairs to the library’s 50 year old water pipes. The bookdrop will remain open.
Tax Holiday for Emergency Supplies — Starting tomorrow, Virginia is holding a tax holiday for emergency hurricane preparedness supplies. So stock up on batteries, bungie cords, bottled water and anything else you may need in the event of the near-perfect storm.
Arlington to Spend $275k on Prison Laundry Machines — Arlington County will spend $272,550 to replace three washers and dryers at the county jail, the Examiner reports. Arlington spends more per inmate than per public school student, but still spends less than most Northern Virginia jurisdictions.
WaPo Examines Fate of Crystal City Underground Post-BRAC — What will happen to the 140 Crystal City Underground merchants when thousands of DoD and contract jobs leave next year as a result of BRAC? The Washington Post spoke to a few business owners who were remarkably optimistic.
Arlington County board vice chairman and Metro board member Chris Zimmerman says now “is the time to get scared” about Metro’s future.
In a Washington Post Op-Ed titled “The sky really is falling at Metro,” Zimmerman warns of dire consequences if the agency doesn’t get the full $11.4 billion it needs for infrastructure projects over the next decade. That “massive infusion of infrastructure investment” will only be possible if state and local leaders from D.C., Maryland and Virginia increase Metro’s funding, he writes.
Zimmerman proposes that localities, at minimum, maintain current funding levels while working to implement a new regional tax to fund Metro. Zimmerman also calls for the federal government to begin making annual payments to the agency.
Arlington is among the localities that currently contribute to Metro’s operating fund. The county board recently approved $24,191,077 in funding for Metro as part of its FY 2011 budget. Metro receives an annual subsidy of almost $600 million from local governments.
Zimmerman is campaigning for re-election to the county board this year.
The Arlington County Board unanimously approved a $959.9 million FY 2011 budget on Saturday. The budget includes a 8.3 cent property tax rate hike, 24 percent higher than the recommended 6.7 cent increase in the county manager’s proposed budget.
Together with fee increases totaling about $71 a year, the tax burden on the average household will increase by about $346 per year.
Arlington’s residential property tax burden will now total $0.958 cents per $100 of assessed value, which is still lower than most neighboring jurisdictions.
The board said it was responding to public concern over some of the spending cuts outlined in the county manager’s budget. Dozens of people spoke out against many of the cuts at public budget hearings, although the majority of speakers at a separate tax rate hearing spoke out against raising taxes.
Among the line items rescued from the chopping block as a result of the tax hike:
“This budget reflects the values of our community,” County Board Chairman Jay Fisette said in a statement. “We listened to residents and acted to preserve core services and our quality of life. We have also been fiscally prudent, making deep and sometimes painful cuts that affected services and reduced staff. This budget ensures Arlington’s fiscal sustainability while protecting the most vulnerable among us.”
Read more about the budget from the Washington Post or the county’s website.
If this were the world of SimCity 2000, computerized voices would be booing Acting County Manager Barbara Donnellan‘s recommended four percent tax hike.
But this is not SimCity 2000. It’s Arlington County. And here, increasing taxes provokes a fairly balanced response between those who think taxes are high enough already and those who take an “increase my taxes, please” approach.
Of the people who spoke at Thursday night’s tax rate hearing, eight asked the board to increase taxes to the maximum advertised rate to prevent cuts to programs and services.
Ten people, a plurality, asked the board to either keep taxes steady or at least not raise taxes to the maximum rate. Find ways to cut expenditures, which rose rapidly during the run-up to the real estate bust, the anti-tax crowd said.
Several pro-tax speakers said they believed they actually represented the majority of Arlington residents. Whether that’s true or not is up for debate, but what is true is that Arlington’s real estate taxes are not egregiously high when compared to neighboring jurisdictions.
The City of Fall Church’s tax rate is already well above Arlington’s maximum advertised rate. And Fairfax City recently proposed a tax rate identical to Arlington’s maximum rate.
The Arlington board will adopt the final FY 2011 budget on April 24.
Arlington leaders will now get to hear what the public has to say about the county’s proposed 2011 budget, which includes a tax increase as well as significant cuts to parks, libraries and community policing.
The Arlington County Board is holding a public budget hearing at 7:00 tonight in the board room at 2100 Clarendon Blvd. Another public budget hearing will be held at the same time on Wednesday.
A public tax rate hearing with more restrictive rules on public comment will be held at 7:00 Thursday night.
Primary reporting for this article was provided by Barry Skidmore of People Powered Arlington.
Property taxes are going up, and on Saturday residents got a preview of just how high rates may go.
Arlington’s advertised property tax rate has been set at 96.5 cents per $100 in assessed value, a nine cent increase from last year. The Arlington County Board unanimously approved the rate during a budget meeting Saturday morning.
The advertised rate represents the highest rate the county can decide to tax for the 2011 fiscal year, which actually begins on June 1, 2010. The FY 2011 tax rate will be set by the board in April.
Although Acting County Manager Barbara Donnellan has proposed a tax rate of 94.2 cents – a 6.7 cent increase – board members said the higher advertised rate will give the county flexibility to meet unexpected budget shortfalls. The county is currently facing a $65 million deficit for FY 2011.
“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.
“I have worked on a lot of these [budgets]” added board member Christopher Zimmerman. “I don’t think I have ever seen this degree of uncertainty.”
The county’s proposed budget for 2011 would raise taxes on the average Arlington family by $235 and — among other cuts — halve the county’s community policing force.
Acting County Manager Barbara Donnellan revealed her FY 2011 budget proposal at a county board meeting Wednesday. Facing a $65 million budget deficit, Donnellan said tough decisions needed to be made.
“My proposed budget includes some hard choices that will impact services in most areas across the community,” Donnellan said. “What I have tried to do is to cut only those things that will not change the values of our community or our basic expectations of responsible government.”
Donnellan, following guidance from the county board, gave priority to funding affordable housing, schools, and the social safety net at levels equal to or greater than the current budget. Also following the board’s guidance, Donnellan plugged half of the county’s $65 million budget deficit with spending cuts, and the other half with increases in revenue.
