My current instinct, given that we have eliminated multiple positions and that there are needs for investments in mental health services and housing and our schools, is to keep the tax rate the same.
To be clear, that would mean increases of an average tax bill for homeowners, who make up 38% of Arlington residents, would see a tax increase of $353 in their property tax bill this year over last year, due to increases in assessments. (Renters make up 62% of our residents and the impact of taxes on rents is a more complicated question, though most would say tax increases are in many cases passed on to renters.)
For a more extensive summary, you can go to our main Fiscal 2024 Budget page: https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Programs/Budget-Finance/FY-2024-Budget-Information#section-2 or watch the video below.
|
|
|
|
Short Video with a summary, followed by comments from the County Manager on the proposed budget.
|
|
|
Amazon and the Budget have led me to reflect on Arlington's economy now: we are in decent shape, but have plenty of work to do. On the positive side, we have significant economic development projects other than Amazon underway--George Mason's tech facility in the Virginia Square/Clarendon neighborhood is an example. We also have an educated workforce and economic growth slated for Clarendon, Rosslyn, Ballston, and the significant transit oriented development we approved in Crystal City at the January Board meeting.
|
|
|
|
Watch this 3 minute video where young Arlingtonians share their passion for tech as they work on living the American Dream.
|
|
The key to our prosperity as a whole will be to recognize the hard choices we must make on vacancy rates and invest in economic development so that we will have the resources to provide good services. That's where the above video on training for tech comes in: we must invest in inclusive growth and up-skill our residents to take the tech jobs that Amazon and other employers will have open over the months and years to come.
We must pay attention to our office vacancy rate of 22%. That rate is a source of concern as it is higher than 5 years ago when I ran on reducing it. The pandemic has changed how we work, and that vacancy rate is based on a much larger denominator than 4 years ago. In other words, Amazon's new office space and the other apartments we have built have added to the amount of our tax base that can take us back toward our goal of a 50/50 split in our property tax revenues between commercial and residential properties.
|
|
|
|
Press Conference from March 3rd regarding the Earthquake in Turkey and Syria. We are at $9,785. Please help us get to $10,000 by contributing.
|
|
I want to close by asking if you will consider contributing to funding that the Northern Virginia Regional Commission is trying to raise for the earthquake victims in Syria. To hear from Northern Virginia elected leaders about this, click on the video above.
Then, to contribute, go here: https://www.embracerelief.org/donation/nvrc-earthquake-fundraiser
Thank you for reading. This Saturday is the hearing on the missing middle. I continue listen to all perspectives and we will act on either next Tuesday, or more likely next Wednesday the 22nd. I will email you in the days that follow to share my thoughts.
Sincerely,
Matt
|
|
|
|
