Shared sacrifice? Our political leaders call for paying your fair share of the burden of government. That plea falls on deaf ears in Arlington. Example, at their meeting on April 21 according to their own news release "Arlington County Board Adopts FY 2013 Budget" (available at the Newsroom section of the county web site), our county board increased taxes on the average household $13 per month ($156 per year) while raising their own pay $7,268 across the five board members or an average of $1453.60 per member; thereby, rewarding themselves with a net bounty of $1297.60 per member. Cleverly more than insulating themselves from the additional tax burden they passed on to their constituents. I do not begrudge the 2.8 percent average pay increase for county employees in the budget but being on a fixed income myself without the ability to set my own pay, I do resent political leaders that use the power to tax to extract additional money from me while more than exempting themselves from the effect of that additional tax. Shared sacrifice? Not in Arlington! By the way, the new yearly salary for the board chairman will be $55,140 and the other board members will each now pay themselves $ 50,127 according to the county news release.
Cleborne Dean Foster
Arlington