Alexandria’s proposed City Budget of nearly $800 million goes before the City Council – and residents – in the coming weeks.
Alexandria City Manager Mark Jinks proposed Tuesday night a variety of new initiatives in his $799.9 million budget, which would take effect July 1 for the 2021 Fiscal Year. Those new initiatives include new funds for historic property preservation, capital improvements, security and increased educational opportunities.
The budget includes no major increases to non-real estate taxes or cuts in service.
The City is in a good fiscal position, thanks to years of prudent policy and the luck of being in a geographic area where the economy is strong. Still, Jinks said Tuesday afternoon from City Hall,
“There are challenge in how we allocate limited resources – the demands and the needs are ever present, and revenues are never enough.”
Alexandria is using the nationally-recognized Priority-Based Budgeting philosophy, which focuses on evaluating programs against objective criteria and peer review. The budget of $799.9 million is a 4.5 percent increase over last year fiscal year.
The proposed budget includes a 2-cent increase in the real estate tax rate, from $1.13 to $1.15 per $100 in assessed value, which increases the average homeowners’ tax bill by $116 per year. That money will be used only for school and City capital improvements, which are outlined in a new, 10-year Capital Improvement Program plan. As the cost of construction labor and materials continues to increase, the City is looking at longer-term planning for Capital Improvement Projects for improved budgeting and forecasting.
Jinks said he plans to recommended increases in the real estate tax rate of an additional 2-cents in 2023 and again in 2025, but City Council will not vote on those increases this year and a variety of economic factors could change that calculus before future increases become a reality. As with this year, those theoretical increases would solely fund school construction and improvements and other city infrastructure and facility needs.
Over the next 10 years, Alexandria may spend as much as $2.1 billion on infrastructure investments and capital improvements. These include new school construction, flood mitigation, Metro rail and bus subsidies, recreation and parks, information technology, stormwater management and more.
According to Jinks, the size of the City’s staff is close to 2009 levels despite an increase in population of 15 percent in the past decade — something the City has achieved with an increase in efficiencies. In addition to saving on salaries, the City has put in place a number of programs to save on healthcare costs and this year will be able to reduce healthcare costs for all City employees making less than $70,000 per year.
Budget highlights include:
- Fully funding all Alexandria City Public Schools requests with a $241.4 million transfer. The budget also includes funding for a new Douglas MacArthur Elementary School and rebuilding the Minnie Howard Campus of T.C. Williams High School to implement a major part of the Connected Schools Network.
- An expansion of summer school and after-school programs, particularly for children ages 3 to 5 who are considered at-risk or quality for Head Start or the Virginia Preschools Initiative.
- Additional Out-of-School Time programming.
- Funding for improvements to turf maintenance and litter removal and landscaping, plus money to help implement the Energy and Climate Change Action Plan.
- Capital preservation funds for 517 Prince St., a significant historic property from the 18th century, and funds for the Freedom House at 1315 Duke St., including expansion of the Freedom House Museum.
- A strengthening of Health and Human Services staff and a variety of other staff positions.
- Funding for full-time security officers in City Hall and additional funding for information security.
Much more information about the proposed budget is available at AlexandriaVA.gov/Budgethttp://www.AlexandriaVA.gov/Budget.
City of Alexandria
Alexandria's City Budget (proposed) for FY 2021.
How to Get Involved
Jinks will host a budget session specifically for residents from 7 – 8:30 p.m. this Thursday, Feb. 20 at Beatley Central Library, 5005 Duke St.
Proposed budget documents will be available at AlexandriaVA.gov/Budget, as well as a detailed schedule of planned work sessions and public hearings, concluding with the budget adoption by City Council on April 29.
In addition to the planned work sessions and public hearings — which are all open to the public — residents are encouraged to give their opinion online through AlexandriaVA.gov/Budget.
