Testimony On Proposed Alexandria Budget Planned At Monday Public Hearing

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Residents will have a chance to comment on the budget proposal for fiscal year 2023 at a Monday Alexandria City Council public hearing.

The Monday meeting at 5:30 p.m. will be held at Council Chamber, 301 King Street and virtually through Zoom. Residents can sign up to speak virtually or in person.

Discussion will be focused on City Manager James Parajon's proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2023, the Capital Improvement Plan for 2023 to 2032, and proposed tax rate recommendations. A public hearing establishing the real estate property tax is scheduled for

In a virtual town hall Thursday, Mayor Justin Wilson noted the impact of increasing real estate assessments.

"This is a budget that grows...7.7 percent which is probably the most significant growth we've seen in the budget now in about 15 years, and that's because we saw significant tax base growth, 6.24 percent in our tax base. That's the highest growth we've seen in 16 years.

Wilson noted commercial values are recovering, although office and hotel assessments have decreasing assessed values.

The real estate tax rate remains the same in the proposed budget, $1.11 per $100 of assessed value. Nevertheless, many residential property owners would see their tax bills go up, as 82 percent of residential properties increased in value, 3 percent decreased and 15 percent were unchanged.

Wilson said employee compensation is a priority in the proposed budget, as Alexandria faces a "hyper-competitive job market," notably for police, fire, sheriff's and teacher positions. The budget proposal has merit increases for city staff, a 6 percent increase in sworn fire pay scales, a 5 percent increase in sworn police and sheriff pay scales, and a 4 percent increase in general schedule pay scales.

The city provides an allocation to Alexandria City Public Schools, but it's up to the School Board to decide how that's allocated. The budget for ACPS includes staff salary increases. The city budget proposes fully funding the ACPS operating budget request.

The city manager's proposal also includes an allocation plan for the second of the city's American Rescue Plan Act funds, or $29.8 million. The city manager proposed funding projects with a total of $21.1 million and keep the remaining balance of $8.7 million to allocate in the future.

"We have some time to spend it, and I think he suggested that we hold on to it for a little while as we determine the best approach for that money," said Wilson.

Residents can view all budget documents ahead of Monday's budget public hearing. Budget work sessions will be held by City Council on different areas of the budget between Mar 16 and April 20. The tax rate public hearing is scheduled for April 23, add/delete sessions are scheduled for April 26 and May 2. Budget adoption is scheduled for May 4.

After the city's budget adoption, the ACPS superintendent will propose an adjusted budget if needed. A School Board public hearing on the adjusted budget would follow on May 19, and adoption is anticipated on June 2.

SEE ALSO:

• Alexandria's Residential, Commercial Tax Bases Increase In 2022
• Real Estate Tax Rate Unchanged In Alexandria 2023 Budget Proposal