To Cut Tax Rate More Than 5 Cents, Board Needs to Hear from You!
The weekly Arlington Sun-Gazette dated today includes a story that notes the Arlington County Board chairman "hints at cut in real estate tax rate" of more than the 5 cent cut proposed by the County Manager. The page 8 story begins, "A wink here, a nudge there, and the clues begin to fall into place" that the County Board will go beyond the Manager's proposed cut of 5 cents. A cut of at least 6 cents now seems on-course since the Manager in his annual "mid-year review," provides Board members notes that each additional $0.01 cut in the rate would reduce FY 2005 revenues by $2.1 million.
To reduce the cut in the real estate tax rate, however, requires Arlington taxpayers to tell the County Board at next Thursday's tax rate hearings that the rate must be cut in a meaningful way -- meaning beyond a mere cut of 10 cents. If you are not able to attend the March 31 hearing, call, write, or e-mail the Board. They need to hear you loud and clear!