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Officials predict budget shortfall
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Related Topics: Arlington
Arlington (Map, News) - Arlington officials are projecting a shortfall of “several million” dollars in Arlington’s 2009 budget, according to the county’s acting budget director.
Preliminary numbers indicate “a little bit of a gap” with spending exceeding income, acting Budget Director Richard Stevenson told the county's fiscal advisory commission last week.
The exact size of the gap, or if there will be a gap, depends on what the county's revenues actually are in fiscal 2009 compared to the operating budget the county board approves for the next fiscal year, which starts in July.
The shortfall of several million dollars was calculated by increasing the county's current revenues by 3 percent and its expenses by a little more than 3 percent, Stevenson told The Examiner Monday.
“It's too early to know the magnitude -- we have to get all the numbers back from the departments,” Stevenson said.
More accurate numbers will be known in January, after county departments have turned in their budget requests and the county's assessors calculate taxable real estate values in the county.
While budget shortfalls have been projected before, they've never actually transpired during Arlington Treasurer Frank O’Leary’s 23 years with the county, he said.
O’Leary reported a new high of $310.9 million in the county's bank accounts as of Oct. 22. Last year, the county’s revenues peaked just above $250 million, according to the treasurer’s report. The total in the county's bank accounts peaks in October and drops in the winter, before growing again in late spring, based on the county's schedule of spending and when tax bills are due.
Last November, county finance staff projected a $19.6 million shortfall in the county's budget for 2008. The shortfall didn't materialize after cuts were made to the county's budget and more revenue than anticipated came in, Stevenson said.
mhegstad@dcexaminer.com
