Staff raises and market rate adjustments are a few of the proposed highlights after Alexandria City Public Schools got the green light last week by City Council to add $273.03 million to its combined funds budget.
The $14.3 million increase over the current ACPS budget comes at considerable cost to the taxpayer, as last week City Council approved a 2.5-cent tax increase to pay for it and other city services.
Alexandrians will see their taxes go up this year, with most of that going to help Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS).
The Alexandria City Council unanimously approved the FY 2025 General Fund Operating Budget at a quick meeting last night. The operating budget totals $926.4 million — a 4.8% increase over last year’s budget.
It’s about to get pricier to host events in buildings operated by the Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA).
On Wednesday, along with passing the fiscal year 2025 budget and considering other fee increases, City Council will consider OHA’s proposal to adjust renting out space at the following venues:
Those hoping to learn a little more about the candidates running for local office in Alexandria can do so later this week at a forum hosted by Tenants and Workers United.
The forum is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 2 at the Tenants and Workers United, 3801 Mount Vernon Avenue. The rain location is the Del Ray United Methodist Church at 100 E Windsor Avenue.
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is the biggest winner of a 2.5 cent tax rate increase being considered by City Council, but it still falls short of the budget voted on by the School Board.
The School Board voted earlier this year to request $384.4 million from the City Council — $21 million more than previous budgets and double the budget proposed by Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt. Mayor Justin Wilson previously said that fulfilling that budget request would require an unprecedented 6-cent tax increase.
Alexandria Civil Rights leader Ira Robinson, the first Black man elected to the City Council after Reconstruction, died last Friday at his home in Temecula, California.
Robinson was 85 years old.
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.
Over time, Alexandria’s Alex311 service hotline has been getting better at responding to requests from locals.
The City of Alexandria usually gets a little over 30,000 requests through the Alex311 hotline. Those range from reports of missed trash collection to questions about trees and potholes.
New parks, 400-foot-tall commercial and residential buildings and more.
The Hoffman family and its associates have a comprehensive idea for the future of the 79-acre site next door to the Eisenhower Avenue Metro station in Alexandria’s Carlyle neighborhood.
A new advocacy group called the Communities for Accountable City Council (CACC) is pushing for Alexandria to return to a wards/district system for City Council elections.
Currently, all members of Alexandria’s City Council are elected at-large. A ward or district system would, like the School Board, have City Council members elected from and represent certain neighborhoods.
The Alexandria Police Department is asking City Council to fund an incentive program to help it monitor crime in real-time.
Council will consider the release of $20,000 to help create the Alexandria Real-Time Information Center (ARTIC) at its meeting on April 24.
