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Alexandria City Council to consider raising fees for ambulances, stormwater utilities and late car tax payments

Flooding on lower King Street in Old Town, October 29, 2021. (staff photo by James Cullum)

It’s about to get a little more expensive to live in Alexandria.

On Saturday, City Manager Jim Parajon will present City Council with proposals to increase:

On ambulances, Council will consider raising the cost of basic life support from $600 to $750, which is about as much as neighboring Fairfax and Arlington Counties charge. As for additional levels of treatment, advanced life support (ALS) treatment would increase from $780 to $1,000, and the most advanced treatment requiring life-saving and other measures could rise from $900 to $1,200.

In the meantime, City Council is also considering a real estate tax increase to fund a significant budget request from the Alexandria School Board.

Parajon estimates that the fee increase will account for $1.1 million in revenue.

The Manager also wants to raise fees for late personal property tax payments. He’s proposing to increase the late payment penalty from a flat rate of 10% to “a rate of 10% if paid within 30 days 20 after the due date, and 25% if paid more than 30 days after the due date,” according to the proposal.

The city’s personal property tax rate is $5.33 per $100 of the assessed value of  vehicles, and $3.55 for vehicles retrofitted to accommodate disabled drivers.

Parajon also wants to increase the stormwater utility fee from $308.7 to $324.10. The increase will help the city pay for infrastructure improvements, Mayor Justin Wilson wrote in April newsletter.

About the Author

  • Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.