Alexandria City Council candidate Abdel Elnoubi has been making legislative waves recently as a member of the School Board, and says residents should expect the same kind of results if he gets elected.
Elnoubi is one of 11 Democrats running to fill six seats on City Council, including four incumbent Council members running for reelection in the Democratic primary on June 18. The field also includes Jacinta Greene, a fellow School Board Member.
Property owners in Alexandria may notice that the Stormwater Utility Fee is likely going up again in the 2024 budget.
The City Manager’s proposed budget increases the utility rate from $308.7 to $324.10. Mayor Justin Wilson said in a newsletter that the new annual fee structure is broken down for local residential property owners as:
As Alexandria’s City Council works through a tight budget year, one of the big items infrastructure pieces looming over the city is the $110.2 million renovation of City Hall.
The renovation was brought up as an item that could be delayed at a recent budget meeting, but over time repeated deferrals — and an expansion in scope — have made the much-needed renovation more and more expensive.
Rosemont, Parkfairfax, and North Ridge residents could get the short end of the stick as DASH looks to scale back bus service in those neighborhoods.
A memo from Martin Barna, director of Planning and Scheduling for DASH, said the city’s bus system could reduce service on Line 104. Barna wrote that the change is based on the City Manager’s Draft FY 2025 budget.
Alexandria’s City Council set a maximum tax rate at 4 cents higher than the current $1.11 tax rate — a significant increase, but less than the 6-cent increase proposed earlier in last night’s (Tuesday) meeting.
The maximum tax rate, as was emphasized several times in the meeting by nearly everyone on the City Council, does not reflect what the tax rate will be in the final budget, it is only the highest tax rate the City Council can possibly go to in its budget.
It was standing-room-only at a City Council budget hearing yesterday (Monday) and most of the speakers had one of two things on their mind: affordable housing and fully funding Alexandria City Public Schools.
The push for more funding to the city’s affordable housing programs came from a mix of housing nonprofit leaders and residents from neighborhoods like Arlandria/Chirilagua staring down the barrel at gentrification.
Alexandria School Board Members went all-in Wednesday night in asking City Council to fund its budget by approving a massive tax increase.
Mayor Justin Wilson told the Board at a budget work session on Wednesday night that its fiscal year 2025 $384.4 million combined funds budget request would result in a historic tax increase. The Board, in turn, said that the funding could stem the school system’s staffing crisis.
ALXnow will be running a series of City Council candidate interviews through the local election filing deadline on April 4.
The economic potential for the $2 billion Potomac Yard arena deal is maintaining the interest of Alexandria City Council Member Alyia Gaskins.
One item in the city’s budget items will roll out across Alexandria streets throughout this year.
In a newsletter, Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said the proposed FY 2024 budget includes $5.25 million for road repaving around Alexandria, with $64.6 million for the next decade.
As Alexandria’s City Council and School Board work to reconcile their budgets, Mayor Justin Wilson scolded School Board leadership for not taking a longer view of budgets and planning.
Alexandria’s School Board is asking for $21 million more than it received in the previous budget — for a total of $384.4 million — with School Board members adding $10 million in additions to Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt’s proposed budget. City Manager Jim Parajon fully funded the Superintendent’s budget, but did not include funding for the additional $11 million requested by the School Board.
Depending on how you cut it, the residential tax base comprises either 82% of the city’s revenue or 62% — but either way, Alexandria leaders said that’s a precarious balance for a local government’s budget.
It’s an issue that came up in both the city budget discussion and an update on the Potomac Yard Arena development at a City Council meeting last night.
