Arlington's County Manager release a revised FY 2021 budget April 6. According to the County's press release, the budget "maintains only the current levels of service, removes all salary increases, places many projects on hold, uses funds from the Stabilization Reserve, and removes almost every addition proposed only a few weeks ago."
In the proposed budget, funding for the Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) would remain the same as FY 2020 with an allocation of $16 million to the revolving loan fund. The $2.7 million proposed increase from just a few weeks ago would be used instead for a housing contingency fund that would help cover such expenses as eviction help, housing grants, and food assistance.
We are grateful to the nearly 1,000 people who signed our petition asking the County to invest in Arlington's affordability by increasing the AHIF allocation to $25 million in FY 2021. This outpouring of support shows that our community believes in the value of making Arlington a place where people of all walks of life are welcome and can afford to live.
At this time, we recognize that the immediate needs of our lowest-income neighbors due to the COVID-19 crisis outweighs the long-term goal of increasing the supply of affordable housing.
Many Arlingtonians are already facing loss of income and food insecurity. We support the County's decision to focus on emergency assistance at this time.
BUDGET HEARING AND VOTE UPDATE:
There will be a public hearing on the new FY 2021 budget proposal, followed immediately by a tax hearing, on Thursday, April 23, at 7:00 p.m. (We are waiting for information about how to participate in this virtually.)
The County Board is expected to vote on the amended budget on Thursday, April 30.
To learn more about the new proposed budget please visit Arlington County's budget web site.