The county spends money on services such as the fire, police, schools, courts, utilities, and environmental services. It raises money with property taxes, personal property taxes, business taxes, fees, and more. We present the unified county budget, which includes all non-capital county expenditures (including schools). Select "tree" for a visual representation of the county's budget, including the amount of your taxes spent on each program. Select the "table" version to quickly look up an individual budget item or compare spending across years.
Budget
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Operating Budget
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Assessments
Assessments
The real estate taxes are based on assessments, the county-estimated value of the property. Choose the "table" for a list of every assessed property in Arlington (warning: is slow). Choose the "tree" to see how assessment break down along neighborhoods and by property type.
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Capital Budget (CIP)
Capital spending is spending dedicated to larger, long-term investments in county infrastructure including as schools, roads, parks, community centers, and other facilities. Money for capital spending (capital revenues) comes from borrowing, state and federal grants, and other taxes and fees.
Schools
APS is expecting more than 30,000 students by 2021. The bulk of the spending on schools is on educating students currently enrolled, but there are several elementary, middle, and high schools under construction and renovation to accommodate the anticipated enrollment. Tables of school statistics provides a quick overview of each school's test scores, demographics, suspension, and enrollment statistics. The maps provide current, future, and proposed school boundaries. (The make-your-own boundary tool and the student densities available separately.)
Balances
Arlington accumulates money in its many funds. The county typically invests its accumulated money in municipal bonds, CDs, Virginia state funds, federal agency bonds, and other high-quality, short-term investments to earn interest. Arlington also owes money from compensated absences, workers comp, mortgages and leases, other loans, and bonds. Bond issuances are the primary means for the county to borrow money for the long-term. Pension data is not included yet.
County and School Staff
The county and the schools have more than 8,000 total employees. The tree visually demonstrates the breakdown of county and school departments for a single year; the table allows for quick searches for employment by department and comparison of employment statistics across years.
Maps
All residential areas of Arlington are assigned to an elementary, middle, and high school. The assignments are constantly being changed as new residences and schools are constructed. Civic associations are neighborhood associations that interact with all levels of the county government to assist in developing regulations, zoning, police presence, and other government functions. Each association typically maintains a listserv, a Nextdoor group, or a website. Click on the civic association on the map to be redirected to their online presence. Zoning ordinances define the types of development allowed. Voting precincts show the boundaries for the voting precincts, the polling location, and the state representatives for each precinct.
Public Safety and Services
The Virginia State Police (VSP) maintain crime statistics for counties all across the state of Virginia. Their data on Arlington is maintained back through 2001.
Long-Term Arlington Statistics
The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report is a repository of long-term data series on Arlington. We consolidate their tables into a few tables on assessments, demographics, economics, tax rates, debt, and interest going back to 1992. This can help provide a picture of the long-term trends in spending and revenue growth, county population growth, and tax rates.