The Arlington County Board passed its 2013 budget Saturday, raising real estate taxes by 1.3 cents.
Part of the tax increase, 0.3 cents, will be used to create a $1.9 million reserve fund for Arlington Public Schools, the county reported. Those funds will lessen the impact of a new state mandate that requires teachers and local government employees to contribute 5 percent of their paycheck to their pensions. In return, the county must give the employees a 5 percent raise.
On top of the reserve fund, Arlington Public Schools will also recieve $405 million for operations from the board – a 5.1 percent increase from last year.
The board also increased funding to the county’s affordable housing fund, allocating an additional $2.8 million in addition to the $6.7 million the county manager had initially proposed. It also approved pay increases for county employees, including a 2.3 percent increase for county board members.
