Achieving Fiscal Responsibility, Level I
The initial look at Arlington County’s Fiscal Year 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), which includes the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, shows that year-to-year growth in General Fund spending increased only 4.4%. By comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index (CPI-W) increased by 5.5% during the fiscal year while the “municipal cost index,” published by American City & County magazine, increased by 4.5%.
A significant factor in achieving that overall 4.4% rate is due to the Arlington schools where spending increased only 2.8%. Since K-12 spending during the FY 2008 fiscal year was 36.8% of General Funding spending, it helped offset a 6.3% increase in “general government” spending, a 6.7% increase in public works/environmental services spending, and a 6.6% increase in culture/recreation spending.
Although the County Board will take credit for the decrease, and indeed year-to-year increases for the two prior years averaged 8.25%, a great deal of credit for the effort, we’re quite sure, is due to the efforts of Manager Ron Carlee, CFO MarK Schwartz, and Budget Director Richard Stephenson.
Yes, yes. Come February 2009 when the Manager releases his proposed budget for FY 2010, we’re not likely to be happy, but for now the Manager and his staff deserve some taxpayer thanks. A complete analysis of year-to-year spending will be in the forthcoming issue of The ACTA Watchdog. If you’re not a member, you can join by using PayPal -- see the column to the right, or contact ACTA about membership.