🗺 Every page — the whole flow
The votes
Open questionsElections — when, where, howVoter turnoutPriorities boardWhat came of itGet involved
The budget
▶ Take the 2-minute tourThe money trailYour tax bill, explainedGrants — money we could go getWho gets paidWhat the auditors reportedThe receipt — arithmetic checkedThe documentsHow every number is sourcedQuestions people ask — answered from the dataThe plain-words tour
Public needs
Our waterJails & prisons — from holding to buildingWho’s watching — cameras, plate readers, the rulesWho to call — county and state officesFind help
Dead ends & open questions
The docketThe calendarHow complete is this county?
Research for a better county
Receipts by railsFood sovereigntyGrow-opsThe food flywheelThe two potsFeeding the countyThe growing frontierThe grower’s almanacThe $400K blueprintThe research shelfThe precedents
The wider network
All countiesKindred workWhere we sit in the field
How to trust this
Where we standWhat we will never doHow this is securedThe traffic logOur storyReport a problem
Arlington County, Virginia · Arlington County VA FY2027 Adopted Budget

Arlington County — the money trail

$1,024,492,896
Arlington County, Virginia — an urban county across the Potomac from Washington, D.C., with no incorporated towns inside it. This tree is the General Fund operating budget by department, $1.02 billion, from the adopted budget resolution. On top of this the county transfers about $838 million to Arlington Public Schools and runs other funds; the all-funds county budget is about $2.24 billion. Human Services and Environmental Services are the largest departments. Every figure ties to the FY2027 appropriations resolution and foots to the dollar. Click any number to see exactly where it comes from. Where the trail goes dark, it becomes a numbered issue in the docket. New here? Read our story or take the plain-words tour.
Cross-foots ✓ 7/7
The real money is in your city or town. With no county government here, the budgets that shape daily life — schools, police, roads, trash — are municipal. Browse every city and town →, and walk the ones we've ingested line by line.
Now you've seen it — say what matters. You don't write the budget; the people you elected do. But this is the record they answer to. Tell them what to lean into, or what to take a fresh look at, and why. Set the priorities.
✓ Sourced○ Cited◐ Partial⚠ Ambiguous✖ Dead end
✓ Sourced = cited to a document and the math re-adds to the dollar. ○ Cited = cited to a document, but the math isn't independently double-checked yet. Hover any mark for what it means.

Where it goes — $1,024,492,896 appropriated

▶County Board$3,536,012✓ Sourced
▶County Manager$7,981,6401%✓ Sourced
▶Management and Finance$12,527,2561%✓ Sourced
▶Human Resources$11,136,1171%✓ Sourced
▶Technology Services$32,310,8603%✓ Sourced
▶County Attorney$4,540,975✓ Sourced
▶Commissioner of the Revenue$7,269,8671%✓ Sourced
▶Treasurer$9,098,9461%✓ Sourced
▶Electoral Board$2,184,507✓ Sourced
▶Circuit Court$1,453,871✓ Sourced
▶Clerk of the Circuit Court$5,111,892✓ Sourced
▶General District Court$447,038✓ Sourced
▶Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court$9,813,5651%✓ Sourced
▶Commonwealth's Attorney$8,105,9111%✓ Sourced
▶Office of the Magistrate$30,262✓ Sourced
▶Office of the Public Defender$750,970✓ Sourced
▶Sheriff$56,924,5246%✓ Sourced
▶Police$99,076,87910%✓ Sourced
▶Public Safety Comms & Emergency Mgmt$16,296,5552%✓ Sourced
▶Fire$87,471,9329%✓ Sourced
▶Environmental Services$130,384,23613%✓ Sourced
▶Human Services$214,789,05121%✓ Sourced
▶Libraries$19,259,7022%✓ Sourced
▶Parks and Recreation$67,670,1827%✓ Sourced
▶Economic Development$10,028,8211%✓ Sourced
▶Community Planning, Housing & Development$13,322,6581%✓ Sourced
▶Non-Departmental$48,327,4235%✓ Sourced
▶Regionals / Contributions$10,057,9591%✓ Sourced
▶Debt Service$89,737,1079%✓ Sourced
▶Metro (WMATA)$44,846,1784%✓ Sourced