Arlington County’s government has exploded in size and scope during the last decade, though cash spent on some core services — such as police — has failed to keep pace.
Total county government spending has jumped about 58 percent since 2000, after adjusting for inflation.
Arlington County’s total government expenditures increased from about $490 million in fiscal 2000 to about $773 million budgeted for fiscal 2011. Those figures are both given in today’s dollars and do not include spending on education.
“Arlington’s government has gotten bigger, I don’t think there’s any argument about that,” said county Budget Director Richard Stephenson.
Taxpayer cash has fueled the expansion.
Along with home values, the tax burden for Arlington residents has nearly doubled. The average homeowner, after adjusting for inflation, paid about $2,621 in property taxes in 2000, compared with $4,821 in 2010.
Stephenson said the county offers many more services than it did in 2000. But spending on some core services has not kept up with the local government’s growth.
The police department’s slice of the county’s general fund pie has grown about $14.6 million in real dollars — or about 35 percent — since 2000.
That $14.6 million represents about 5 percent of the county’s 11-year spending jump, and Arlington expects to employ fewer full-time police department employees next year than it did in 2000.
“There were lots of salary enhancements for public safety over the last 10 years,” Stephenson said when explaining the police department’s diminished population in relation to department expenditures.
Other county expenditures have increased at a much higher rate.
The county’s payments to Metro have nearly tripled, up to about $24.2 million in fiscal 2011 from just $8.7 million in 2000.
The county also has spent heavily to enhance its water quality.
“We’ve spent hundreds of millions upgrading the water pollution control plant,” Stephenson said, which was necessary to meet new federal and state regulations.
But, as many county departments have morphed and merged, Stephenson said it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly where all the new cash has gone.
There’s really no one area,” he said. “You’re looking at across-the-board spending increases.”
