Growls

From 1995 to 2005, Arlington County's bonded indebtedness has increased an inflation-adjusted 34.2% on a per capita basis and the percentage of debt service needed to pay for total general expenditures has increased from 6.03% to 7.63% (FY 2005 CAFR, pages 166-167). However, two recent stories in the Washington Post emphasize the county's seeming inability to build fire stations on-time and within budget. On December 8, the Post's Annie Gowen wrote about the new Cherrydale fire station that has been in the planning phase since 1990 when "(v)oters approved a $2.5 million bond issue for a new station . . . (with a) second $2.76 million bond issue . . . approved in 1994. Now the the project cost is unknown although Gowen reports "(t)he county is to use about $11.3 in bonds that have already been approved by voters." She quotes the former civic association president saying, "(The fire station is) still in the wrong spot, but if it's got to go there, they've done a pretty good job." Additional information about the new Cherrydale fire station is in the December 14 Arlington Connection. For more information about the project, read the County Manager's multi-part report for agenda item 41 of the Arlington County Board's December 10 meeting.

Gowen wrote about a second, troubled fire station a few days later in the December 18 Washington Post, noting "Arlington County's new fire station on South Hayes Street was supposed to open this year as a state-of-the-art tribute to the firefighters of Engine Company No. 5, the first responders to the fiery scene at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001." However, "Arlington County has a decaying building that may cost as much as $2.5 million to repair and complete, a bill that could be passed on to county taxpayers . . . The situation has become an unusual black eye for a county with a reputation for good management and careful planning." (emphasis added)

During this time, the county's press machine cranked out a press release on December 21 praising the fire department's new mobile command center. Fortunately, the unit was supplied by the private sector rather than produced by the county's bureaucrats. When Arlington County property owners receive their 2006 assessments next month, I wonder how many will associate the increased assessments to living in what our political elite enjoy calling a world-class community?