County Budget Forum Solicits Suggestions

County Manager Barbara Donnellan's Thursday night community budget forum brought a good mix of civic-minded Arlingtonians to the table to discuss balancing the government budget. While the 25-35 million dollar budget gap for Arlington county and schools remains a significant hurdle to restoring scaled back programs, Donnellan said that the residential and commercial sectors in Arlington have mostly stabilized and the county's general financial health is good.

After Donnellan's presentation at Arlington's central library, the audience was split into small groups. A collection of civic-minded citizens, community leaders, and a surprising number of young people then voiced their concerns and suggestions. Everything from cutting back on capital spending, such as the Columbia Pike Streetcar project, to raising taxes were on the table.

Several young Arlingtonians from the Buckingham Youth Brigade were also on hand to speak on behalf of their interests.

"It's a great opportunity," said Jesse Ferrel, a junior from Washington-Lee High School, "…we're learning where to apply pressure to advance issues concerning immigrants and teens in the community."

Not all of the talk was about mitigating budget cuts, part of the discussions revolved around which services should be restored once revenue is flowing again. Library hours, bus service, and parks seemed to take center stage. The County's emergency financial safety net, which would stave off future cuts, was also mentioned as a main priority.

The next step towards Donnellan's February final budget proposal is an online budget chat, which will occur on Dec. 17 at 10am.