Local budget talks draw few taxpayers

Now that cities across the area have made final budget adjustments, we can take a look at the effect on tax bills and services we citizens depend on in our daily lives.

When I first wrote about this seven weeks ago, the emphasis was on the opportunity local residents have to influence the decisions of their elected officials in the process of budget deliberations.

In Arlington, there were three public hearings and two town hall meetings for residents to attend and participate. I use Arlington as a reference because I am most familiar with it, but anyone can check their own city’s results with a simple visit to its website.

About 35 citizens attended Arlington’s first town hall meeting, 55 showed up at the second one, and there was one speaker at each of the public hearings.

With news reports, social media discussions and widespread notice of the record levels of property value increases that could result in higher taxes, there were expectations of more interest in what the City Council was considering.

While the council lowered the city’s tax rate for the first time in 17 years, the new budget is greater than last year’s and tax bills will reflect those decisions.

We can look at what the additional revenue is going to provide for us and what that will cost, then we can decide if we should have been more involved or if we are OK with the outcome.

The largest amount of Arlington’s budget is again devoted to public safety. Police and fire services now constitute 64 percent of all general fund spending. A new expenditure for police body cameras alone will cost $2.4 million.

In order to compensate the municipal workforce at a level that puts those employees at about the average pay employees receive in other cities, the council agreed to raise salaries and related personnel costs.

Council members were presented with data that revealed Arlington’s number of employees per 10,000 residents ranked the lowest among 16 comparable cities in the area and elsewhere in the state.

It’s reasonable to conclude that such comparisons reveal significant efficiency from the city’s personnel who serve us around the clock every day of the year.

Employee compensation makes up 76.5 percent of expenditures — all cities are in the service delivery business, which is personnel intensive, so that number is not a surprise.

Another area of increased expenditures is in road and street repair and maintenance, probably the city’s single most requested and complained-about service of all.

The council approved a $2.7 million increase in spending for this need. With the help of the quarter-cent sales tax dedicated to street repairs, which produces about $15 million annually, the city will accomplish more of this work in the coming year than at any year in the city’s history.

These are the highlights, although there are other increases in spending for other services too.

So, what’s this going to cost the average homeowner?

Arlington’s property tax per capita ranks 15th lowest among those 16 comparable cities, and the additional spending comes to an increase for the average homeowner of $6.54 per month.

An additional $3.34 will cover the increased cost for water and wastewater treatment, storm water drainage and garbage collection.

With further study of the outcomes of the budget season, people can now reach a decision as to whether they believe the increased cost will produce what they want and need from their city.

If they would like to see something different, there will be another chance to say so when budget-setting time comes around again in about nine months.

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Local budget talks draw few taxpayers."