The Arlington County Board of Supervisors on Saturday approved a budget for fiscal 2007 that increases aid to schools while providing a real estate tax rate cut.
The budget includes a 6-cent real estate tax rate reduction at a cost of $31.4 million. The cut dropped the rate from 87.8 cents to 81.8 cents per $100 of assessed value.
“This budget represents a continuing level of high-quality services that meet the diverse needs and expectations from our community,” said Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman. “We are dedicated to making fiscally sound choices while maintaining a quality of life for all Arlington residents.”
The board also adopted a personal property tax rate of $5 per $100 of assessed value, up from $4.40.
County officials said the increase in the personal property tax rate would fund the majority of an estimated $10.2 million in public safety pay enhancements.
Those enhancements include market rate adjustments in public safety salary structure ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent to keep salaries competitive as well as adding new positions, including eight firefighters and two police officers.
