Thanks for this blog.
Where is the County's tax-borrow-spend one-party government taking us in 10 years? County's budget is $1.3 billion this fiscal year and County's population is set to grow by 30,000 to 40,000 over the next decade. Given that, and the County Board's extravagant spending the past few years, it's likely the County's FY 28 budget will be about $2.3 billion. We're in Year 16 of the 30 Year War on Terrorism, so that's going to continue sucking money into the region from the rest of the world for at least another decade.
So, figure the County will spend about $18 billion over the next decade. About $5 billion will be used to maintain County Government's Smart Growth addiction (i.e., as many people, vehicles, events, and activities packed into Arlington as possible with no thought to costs or consequences). Another $5 billion will be spent unnecessarily on Taj Mahal public infrastructure and all kinds of corporate welfare and extravagant pet projects and programs for the County Board's pet for-profits, non-profits, and making the County into a regional program and service provider, paid for by Arlington residents.
That leaves about $8 billion for essential services and infrastructure spread out over 10 years, or $800 million per year. About right for a county Arlington's size that's not addicted to Smart Growth and extravagant spending otherwise.
People making the spending decisions for the County either don't live here now or will be outta here in 15 years, or less, so why should they care?
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Ted, 22205
25 comments:
New Taj Mahal schools for 10,000 more students and their operating expenses will cost us $5 Billion more by 2028.
How much more will be spent on sports, recreation, and entertainment?
Hey! What about the budget for stainless steel swirlies in our traffic islands? Dave Schutz
Like the $1 Billion Four Mile Run Valley Regional Sports, Recreation, and Arts Complex?
Then there's the Yellow Dog Dem who wants to spend a billion building an elevated railroad on the Pike. Duh.
Right, 10,000 more APS students equals 5 more $250 million Taj Mahal high schools.
Now, about the idea of an el for the Pike - and I am for this, though I am more of a Blue Dog Dem thankyouverymuch - the Miami el, which is about two thirds of what would be necessary for a Pike el, was about a hundred and fifty million. So if we did one, it should be less than a quarter of the billion you cited. The Board, in its grasp-for-shiny-objects wisdom, has committed the County to a large amount of new development at the western end of the Pike. If that development is not to cause a disastrous amount of congestion, transit needs to improve, and with some sort of transit which will not be vulnerable to the congestion on the street. An el will be far less costly than would be a subway. But we are going to have to do something. Dave Schutz
Same Urban Village Idiot who wants to bulldoze the Army-Navy Club to build Clarendon South. Blue Dog, Yellow Dog, whatever, time to dump da Dems and their wasteful and extravagant spending.
Another Limo Liberal with another fleece-the-sheeple tax-borrow-spend for the Pike Put state-of-the-art double deck buses on the Pike. Can't do it because we're locked in to the same old Dem Pig Stupid Growth.
Agree...put modern double deck buses on the Pike.
Dave is pne of about 8 Smart Growth boosters who monopolize comments on the ArlNow news blog.
Then there's Libby Garvey, who's promised at least a billion dollars in bicycle-related infrastructure to the bicycle bozos, while brick sidewalks all over Arlington crumble.
Libby also obtained a complete exemption from ACPD for bicyclists from having to obey traffic ordinances.
Arlington's Elitist parents will never be happy no matter how much is spent on Arlington's public schools.
I agree that Arlington is building regional infrastructure at Arlington taxpayers' expense. We are talking about a couple billion more spent over the next decade.
If the Arlington Elite who control everyone and everything want to build regional parks in Arlington, why don't they go to their fellow PlutoCrats, like Terry McAuliffe, to obtain state funding?
Then there's Metrorail. As someone recently pointed out (maybe on this blog), the same elected officials who sit on the WMATA Board also approve funding for brand new transportation and transit infrastructure that directly compete with Metrorail back in their local jurisdictions, then wring their hands over Metrorail's lost ridership.
Arlington County could put 10 double deck buses on the Pike within a couple months, if it wanted to. County's excuse is that the County, not WMATA, would have to repair the double deck buses and the County doesn't want to do that. Bur there are dozens of double deck buses on DC streets already. Who repairs them?
Elitists? Like the families who build tear-down McMansions, pay $13,000 / year in real estate taxes and have 3 kids enrolled in APS who cost the taxpayers $60,000 per year? Then demand Taj Mahal schools, rec centers, soccer fields, etc., for their brats?
Then there will be the nickel and dime stuff, like buying 100 homes adjacent to parks over the next decade for an average $1 million each and tearing them down to create vacant lots.
I saw a DC double deck on-off tour bus in my Ballston neighborhood yesterday afternoon. What's the big deal preventing a few double deck buses from serving Pike riders, on a trial basis?
Rather than demand double deck buses on the Pike, which would, in fact, add vibrancy to the Pike, the Democratic Regime's loyalists lobby for more expensive transit gimmicks.
How Arlington County Government works: County Board makes secret deals to benefit itself, pet people, pet non-profits, pet for-profits, then passes the deals on to the bloated County bureaucracy and Democratic Party loyalists to implement. There is near-zero input allowed by affected neighborhood residents, although numerous charade meetings are held to give everyone the impression that neighborhoods have influence over whatever is being planned. The local media are little more than chamber of commerce boosters who will profit from advertising whatever, e.g., new mixed-use apartment building.
How much in operating expenses and maintenance does Arlington's Taj Mahal public infrastructure cost?
I completely resent so many non-resident county employees micro-managing our lives.
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