Alexandria’s City Council will approve its fiscal year 2025 budget in a little more than a week, and important actions will be taken between now and then.
On Wednesday (April 24), Council will hold a public hearing on the city’s tax rate. Last month, a 4-cent tax ceiling was approved for consideration, allowing city staff and local legislators wiggle room in analyzing funding options in exchange for raising taxes. Each penny added to the tax rate is about $4.7 million, and a 4-cent tax increase would bring in $18.8 million.
This year’s residential taxes are expected to rise due to underperforming commercial real estate assessments, as well as a proposal to raise salaries for teachers in Alexandria City Public Schools.
Alexandria’s commercial property tax rate fell 4% this year, or $736.9 million. The value of the city’s office properties fell 12.38%, from $3.58 billion in 2023 to $3.14 billion in 2024, according to a city report. It’s the second year in a row that office properties dipped in value, dropping 10% last year.
Council will also conduct a budget work session on Wednesday with their proposed budget additions and deletions.
City Council will approve the fiscal year 2025 budget on May 1.
The deadline has now passed for members of Council to propose amendments to the Manager’s proposed budget.
Amendments must have the support of 3 members to be considered during the remainder of the process.
This is the preliminary list of amendments:https://t.co/82LQDifJYN
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) April 5, 2024