Alexandria City Council voted to maintain the current real property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year, rejecting proposals to advertise a higher maximum rate during Tuesday’s legislative meeting.
Council members cited economic uncertainty and potential impacts on federal workers living in Alexandria as key factors in their decision to keep the tax rate flat at $1.13 per $100 of assessed value.
“The Trump administration represents a unique and severe threat to Alexandria and many of the people who live here,” said Councilman McPike during the meeting. “Thousands of our residents are worried about their economic future, whether they’ll have a job in a few months, whether they’ll like the job that they have in a few months with new orders coming down from on high.”
The decision came after City Manager Jim Parajon presented a proposed general fund budget of approximately $950 million, representing a 3.2% increase over the previous year, without recommending any tax rate increase.
Parajon cited several factors for maintaining the current rate, including “the uncertainty of some of the federal government decisions, particularly as it relates to workforce with 13,000 federal workers and another probably double that, contractors that rely on the federal government.”
The manager also mentioned concerns about “some recessionary indications towards the end of this calendar year” and ongoing inflation impacts on residents.
The council’s vote to advertise the flat rate passes 4-3 (with Mayor Gaskins, Vice Mayor Bagley, Councilwoman Greene, and Councilman McPike voting in favor), with some members expressing a preference to advertise a slightly higher rate to maintain flexibility during the budget process.
Councilman Chapman, who favored advertising a higher rate, argued that doing so would provide more options during budget deliberations.
“I think it is smart for any organization to advertise higher than what you are focused on trying to do,” Chapman said. “In the past we have advertised a higher rate than the manager has come out with but also messaged the fact that it is council’s full intention not to go above what the manager has.”
Mayor Gaskins countered that advertising a higher rate might create unrealistic expectations about potential new spending.
“I think when you put out a message of a higher rate you invite the community to say, okay, here are all the things that are possible to be filled within that space,” Gaskins said. “And even though it doesn’t mean we have to approve those things, I think it sets up a different type of conversation when we are in a space where we actually need to be pretty cautious and conservative.”
Councilman Elnoubi, participating in his first budget process as a council member, expressed reluctance to eliminate options so early in the budget discussions.
“Raising taxes should be the last option, but it should be an option,” Elnoubi said. “I don’t know if I personally have enough information right now to be able to say I want to take this option off the table.”
The council also approved several other items during the meeting, including the adoption of a Repetitive Loss Area Analysis supporting Alexandria’s participation in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Rating System.
Jesse Maines, Stormwater Management Division Chief with Transportation Environmental Services, explained that the city’s participation in this voluntary program provides residents with up to a 20% reduction in flood insurance premiums.
“The city participates in this FEMA CRS program and has been since 1992,” Maines said. “We’re currently a class six. And what that means is residents, our property owners can receive up to 20% reduction in their flood insurance premiums.”
The council also made several appointments to city boards and commissions, including Michael De La Guardia to the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee, Marcee Craighill to the Commission for the Arts, and William Reeder to the Commission on Aging.
Other appointments included Tom VanAntwerp to the Commission on Information Technology, Babette Cooper and Robert Ludke to the Commission on Persons with Disabilities, Kara Pitek to the Human Rights Commission, and Ann Tucker to the Traffic and Parking Board.
The council also approved two ordinances on first reading that aim to increase interdepartmental coordination and flexibility. Planning Director Karl Moritz explains that the changes would allow city staff to respond more efficiently to resident complaints and code violations.
“Several departments who are charged with responding to citizen complaints and other code violations have been working on ways to remove the silos that the code puts us in,” Moritz said. “The code has been getting in our way a little bit, creating silos so that we are, in some cases, the code will say that only the Department of Transportation Environmental Services can enforce this section of the code, whereas another section that’s very much related must be enforced by the Department of Planning and Zoning.”
To kick off the meeting, the City Council presented proclamations and recognized National 311 Day, Women in Law Enforcement, and Senior Nutrition Programs Month.
The council’s next budget work session is scheduled for Wednesday, March 12, focusing on public health services. The budget process will continue through April, with final adoption expected later that month.
