Newsroom
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Arlington County Closes Fiscal Year 2006 on a Positive Note
FY 2008 budget guidance: “within existing tax rates”
At its meeting tonight, the Arlington County Board approved the close-out of Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 with unspent funds and made allocations to several key priorities. The County Board moved unspent funds from FY 2006 to FY 2007 to: help close the LPACAP funding gap; help address higher health care costs for active and retired employees; and make capital improvements.
FY 2006 revenues within 1% of projections
Arlington County ended FY 2006 with a balanced budget. Final revenues were within approximately 1% of previous projections provided to the Arlington County Board and expenses were within 2% of projections.
In the close-out, the Board fulfilled a number of prior obligations, including allocations based on the Revenue Sharing Agreement with Arlington Public Schools ($26.5 million) and transferred $23 million to Arlington’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund.
The Board also allocated from the FY 2006 General Fund Balance $11.7 million in one-time funds:
- $0.6 million to the Dept. of Human Services to retain 9.5 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) positions to sustain priority programs through FY 2007, due to the loss of federal LPACAP funds,
- $5 million to a new Retiree Health Insurance Reserve,
- $3 million for projected increased health care costs in the current year, and
- $3.2 million as a reserve for capital improvements.
Details of the FY 2006 budget closeout are online.
To make his FY 2006 budget closeout recommendations, County Manager Ron Carlee reviewed the many comments received from the public on his Preliminary LPACAP Gap Plan (presented on Sep. 21) and he issued the final plan on Oct. 24 which recommended restoring $0.6 million. [ADD LINK.]
FY 2008 budget guidance: within existing tax rates
The County Board also directed the County Manager to bring forward a proposed budget for FY 2008 that will be balanced within existing tax rates. The Board also directed the Manager to follow the revenue sharing agreement with the Arlington County Public Schools; to fully fund all reserve funds and "subject to appropriation" obligations; and to develop strategies to maintain critical LPACAP-funded priorities.
Revenues are projected to continue their growth in FY 2008, but not at the pace of the past several years. With normal pay increases, health care costs, actuarial requirements for retirement, increased costs for utilities, contracts, Metro, and debt service, a challenging set of choices face the County in the upcoming fiscal year.
The County Manager will be working toward closing this projected shortfall and presenting a balanced budget. His first priority will be to create efficiencies that lower costs without reducing services. The County Manager’s report to the Board is online.
The County Manager will present his proposed FY 2008 budget to the County Board in February 2007.
Arlington, Va., is a world-class residential, business and tourist location that was originally part of the "10 miles square" parcel of land surveyed in 1791 to be the Nation's Capital. It is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the United States, occupying slightly less than 26 square miles. Arlington maintains a rich variety of stable neighborhoods, quality schools and enlightened land use, and received the Environmental Protection Agency's highest award for "Smart Growth" in 2002. Home to some of the most influential organizations in the world - including the Pentagon - Arlington stands out as one of America's preeminent places to live, visit and do business.