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Sun Gazette
VOLUME 81 NO. 52 NOVEMBER 17-23, 2016
ARLINGTON’S SOURCE FOR HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1935
Arlingtonians on the Hook for Metro’s Deficit
WMATA Board Member Dorsey: $68 Million Request Must Be Pared Down SCOTT McCAFFREY
O’CONNELL WINS STATE VOLLEYBALL CROWN!
Staff Writer
Arlington’s representative to the Metro board said he will do what he can to ensure county residents don’t get hit with a whopping increase in the annual subsidy required to fund the beleaguered transit system. County Board member Christian Dorsey on Nov. 9 said he would work to “value-engineer that subsidy level down to as low as possible” while maintaining basic safety and operational quality. Cutting the proposed subsidy increase “is not only my hope but my expectation,” Dorsey said in a briefing to fellow County Board members. His comments came after the transit system’s CEO proposed a $1.8 billion fiscal 2018 operating budget that calls for Virginia jurisdictions to contribute $39 million more in operating funds. Under the proposal, Arlington’s share of the subsidy would grow $12 million, rising to $68 million, to help offset a projected $290 million budget shortfall. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority chief Paul Wiedefeld called the proposal a “reality-check budget,” but Dorsey suggested there could be ways to cut costs for local governments. And he voiced concern that the budget understates likely subway and bus ridership levels in fiscal 2018, with Wiedefeld suggesting ridership will be off more than 20 percent from 2009 levels. “In years past, WMATA has been overly optimistic about ridership trends,”
Bishop O’Connell High School outside hitter Sarah Lawler attempts to hit the ball past St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Carter Morris during a firstround match of the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association’s Division I girls state volleyball tournament last week at O’Connell. Lawler and No. 2 seed O’Connell won that match, then went on to win two more to claim the state title, its first since the 2006 season. O’Connell defeated the top-seed and four-time defending champion Flint Hill Huskies, 3-1, in the Nov. 12 title match at Richard Bland College in Petersburg. See a story in Sports and a slideshow of the O’Connell vs. Belfield match at www.insidenova.com/sports/arlington. PHOTO BY DEB KOLT
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