April, 2004 - Volume 88, No. 8

County Budget Recommendations on Agenda for April 6th

April General Meeting, Tuesday, April 6, 2004.
7 PM Hazel Auditorium, Virginia Hospital Center-Arlington
(Map)

Urban Forestry Presentation

Be it resolved, that the Arlington County Civic Federation:

• endorses the County's plans to work with Dominion Virginia Power and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority to develop an agreed plan for maintenance of the DVP right-of-way along the W&OD Trail;

• favors adopting a management policy of "the right tree in the right place" to reduce the need for future tree cutting along the right-of-way;

• supports the use of environmentally appropriate herbicides to ensure that invasive plants do not advance along the power line right-of-way;

• favors close cooperation between Arlington urban foresters and DVP in identifying and tagging trees that should not be cut in future maintenance cycles;

• supports restoring areas that NVRPA had identified as meadows, temporarily using stakes and ropes, and employing infrequent mowing or alternative techniques to control invasive species;

• urges the County and DVP to provide advance notice to civic associations, other stakeholder groups, and individual users of the W&OD Trail prior to the start of future maintenance cycles;

• favors establishment of a forum where representatives and members of stakeholder groups can meet with County, NVRPA and DVP officials to discuss planned maintenance activities.

1. The Arlington County Civic Federation recommends to the Arlington County Board that it adopt a Fiscal Year 2005 General Fund Budget that is balanced at $712.2 Million [an increase of $46.5 million - 7% over the FY'04 Adopted Budget]. This would be accomplished by: a. Beginning with the County Manager's original revenue and expenditure estimates; b. Recommending a net reduction of $3.6 million in expenditures and contingents; c. Recognizing the Mid-Year Review net additional revenues of $15.8 Million; d. Re-estimating FY'05 real estate revenues (an increase of $10.8 Million); e. Estimating additional final FY'04 carryover availability and FY'05 miscellaneous fee increases; and f. Adjusting all revenue estimates to reflect the Schools/County Revenue Sharing Agreement.

The real estate property tax rate, within the advertised rate, would be reduced by 4.3 cents to 93.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. With the recommended rate, the average single-family homeowner's tax bill would still increase by about $366 - nearly 13% (rather than approximately $525 as proposed).

There is concern that this magnitude of increase, well above inflation and population growth, has continued for a number of years and is not sustainable for the County. This concern should influence future budget decisions and presentations.

2. The Federation recommends to the Arlington County Board a number of procedural improvements in budget presentation and in program operation as well as expressing its thanks to the Board and staff for adoption of a number of past Federation recommendations, such as summary presentations for program areas crossing departmental boundaries.

3. The Federation recommends to the Arlington County Board that: 1) it direct the County Manager to issue the Mid-Year Review and recommendations on the use of proposed budget contingents early in the public review process of future budgets, and 2) it direct the County Manger, through the budget guidelines for FY'06, to prepare a base budget proposal which provides a continuing level of services regardless of real estate assessments as well as readopt, beginning in FY'06, the Greenrod principle whereby budget proposals would periodically identify, agency by agency, the least beneficial programs for specific public scrutiny..

4. The Federation recommends that the School Board and the County Board reexamine the Revenue Sharing Agreement at least every four years. Any future revenue sharing agreement(s) between the County Manager and the School Superintendent should be subject to full public hearings before ratification by both elected Boards.

Two excellent panel discussions were presented, one on a review of development in the County, comparing the vision from twenty years ago to today, and a second on current issues in housing.

Federation Banquet a Success

Randy Swart is Awarded the Order of
Distinguished Meritorious Service

Upcoming Meetings

Arlington Neighborhood Day