The Price of ‘Caring’ in Parks, Recreation and Culture
Earlier this week, we growled about the price of living in a ‘caring community,’ a feature of Arlington County’s so-called vision statement. We cited the differences in spending in the areas of health and welfare.
Today, we’ll look at how four Northern Virginia counties compare in per capita spending in parks and recreation; cultural enrichment; and public libraries with numbers coming from the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts’ “Comparative Report of Local Government Revenues and Expenditures." (all numbers are for FY 2008):
Parks and Recreation: in the Commonwealth as a whole, local governments spent $54.53 per capita. However, Arlington County spent $177.82 per capita (326.11 of the state average) while Fairfax County spent $100.63 per capita (184.54% of the state average); Loudoun spent $101.92 per capita (186,90% of the state average) and Prince William spent $70.31 per capita (128.95% of the state average).
Cultural Enrichment Activities: in the Commonwealth as a whole, local governments spent $4.87 per capita. However, Arlington County spent $16.79 per capita (344.88% of the state average) while Fairfax County spent $11.29 per capita (231.84% of the state average); Loudoun spent $12.78 per capita (262.50% of the state average); and Prince William spent $3.00 per capita (61.57% of the state average).
Public Libraries: in the Commonwealth as a whole, local governments spent $31.29 per capita. Arlington County spent $75.28 per capita (240.57% of the state average) while Fairfax County spent $37.09 per capita (118.54% of the state average) and Loudoun spent $40.79 per capita (130.37% of the state average) while Prince William spent $34.89 per capita (6111.53% of the state average).
There are some understandable reasons why Arlington County spends more per capita than other Northern Virginia governments, e.g., hours of library operations. Unlike private sector companies that continually have to prune operations to stay competitive, however, governments constantly accrete functions without any attention to the additional cost.
Taxpayers in Arlington County pay a hefty price so that Arlington County Board members can brag about legislating in a 'caring community.' If you would like to know why Arlington County spends more per capita than it’s Virginia neighbors, use the link in the right column to write to the Arlington County Board. Tell them ACTA sent you.