Arlington County Board members pressed their state legislators this week to find more money in the state budget for Metro, and two senior lawmakers answered with a question of their own: Why haven’t Northern Virginia localities used the sales-tax option the General Assembly gave them?
The exchange came during the board’s annual legislative work session with Arlington’s General Assembly delegation on Thursday, ARLnow reported. Under legislation passed this year, localities can ask voters to approve a 1 percent increase in the local sales tax. In most of Virginia the money is reserved for school construction, but Northern Virginia localities may spend some or all of it on transit, under state law. The authority came in the biennial budget adopted this summer, after legislators declined to pass a dedicated regional transit tax, FFXnow reported in July.
“We gave it to you for a reason. I hope that you will use it,” Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) told board members during the two-hour session, according to ARLnow. Later, he added: “This is a tool we explicitly gave to localities, and carved it out explicitly for transportation in Northern Virginia.”
Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington) also pushed back on the board’s request. “I believe we will always find a way to find the funding for the state portion, but we are going to want to see what localities are doing,” she said.
A $80 million bill in 2029
Board member Maureen Coffey, one of Arlington’s representatives on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, said the county faces about $80 million more in transit costs in fiscal 2029, the equivalent of about 8 cents on the real estate tax rate, ARLnow reported. State legislators funded some of the region’s transit request for two fiscal years, but without changes Northern Virginia governments could face significant Metro bills in fiscal 2029, ARLnow reported.
Nearly 50 of Virginia’s 133 cities and counties put sales-tax referendums before voters this fall, all for schools, ARLnow reported. None are on the Nov. 3 ballot in Northern Virginia, where leaders appear to be coordinating so that either all localities hold simultaneous referendums for schools and transit, or none do. In July, Coffey told a regional transit meeting that Arlington was “very seriously considering” a referendum but that there was “absolutely no chance” it would happen this year, FFXnow reported.
Board Chair Matt de Ferranti suggested Arlington was not the one holding up the process. “I don’t think it’s a grand mystery that other Northern Virginia jurisdictions see this as less of a starter,” he said, while calling the lack of referendums “a fair question.”
Board member Susan Cunningham said the state has to limit the costs it passes down. “All the unfunded mandates we’ve been carrying are harder for us to meet,” she said, citing economic conditions. She added, “We don’t have the magic wands we had.”
Favola said legislators from elsewhere in the state are coming around. “Our colleagues more and more are recognizing the vitality of Northern Virginia and the value of having a good Metro system,” she said.
Arlington plans to adopt its 2027 legislative package in mid-November, according to ARLnow. The 2027 General Assembly session convenes Jan. 13. Arlington’s delegation also includes Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker and Dels. Adele McClure and Alfonso Lopez, all Democrats.
The Inquisitor has asked the County Board and Arlington’s legislators for comment and will update this story with any response.
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