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
It was another busy week in Alexandria.
This week’s top stories focused on development projects all over the city, from Old Town North to Carlyle and in the West End. News of the mixed-use projects comes as affordable housing advocates are protesting against being priced out and are asking for greater assistance from the city.
Politics-wise, City Council Member Alyia Gaskins celebrated two recent victories in her Democratic primary race for mayor. Gaskins is leading with fundraising, having raised $149,107 with $69,425 on-hand, according to quarterly campaign finance reports released Monday. Her opponent Vice Mayor Amy Jackson has raised $59,984 and has $22,682 on-hand, while former real estate developer Steven Peterson has raised $44,700 with $14,019 on-hand.
Gaskins also handily won the recent Alexandria Democratic Committee’s Straw Poll by 81%, followed by 16% for Jackson and 3% for Peterson. The primary is on June 18.
On Tuesday, we reported on a new movement to return Alexandria’s City Council to ward/district representation. While the nine-member Alexandria School Board is divided into three districts, the seven members of City Council are at-large, representing the entire city. The Communities for Accountable City Council is a self-described non-partisan group of city residents “exasperated with the intransigent Alexandria City Council that is unaccountable to communities and neighborhoods because of Alexandria’s At-Large election system.”
In our poll this week we asked whether City Council should return to a ward system. Out of the more than 500 votes, 57% voted yes and 43% voted no.
The most-read stories this week were:
- Notes: Old Town North building sold for $15.4 million to be turned into mixed-use apartment building (8413 views)
- Alexandria considering big plans for properties next to Eisenhower Avenue Metro station (4987 views)
- Alexandria City Council approves new ‘neighborhood’ at former Vulcan Materials site (4603 views)
- CVS set to close in Taylor Run neighborhood on Duke Street (3611 views)
- Affordable housing advocates rally outside Alexandria City Hall (3559 views)
- No arrest after fistfight leads to gunfire in Lincolnia (3351 views)
- Notes: Fundraiser for motorcyclist killed on Duke Street raises thousands (2390 views)
- Local organization forms to push Alexandria back to district/ward elections (2303 views)
- Mystic BBQ & Grill opens on Lee Street in Old Town (2235 views)
Have a safe weekend!
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.
A new presentation, scheduled to go to the City Council on Wednesday, April 24, showed that the Alex311 has gradually been getting more responsive and passed its goal last year.
Last year, Alex311 completed 84% of service requests within the estimated service resolution timeframe. That varies by the request, from 3 to 240 business days based on the complexity of the request.
That’s an increase over 76% in FY2022 and 72% in FY2021.
The report also said changes have been made behind the scenes to communicate more of the Alex311 requests to City Council. There’s a City Council liaison assigned as a point of contact to ask “non-routine questions,” who will then work with departments to get a response within seven business days.
The City Council also now receives a file of all requests submitted to all members of the City Council every week. The reports include details on the status of the request and responses from department staff.
Photo via Alex311/Facebook
After two years of reconstruction, two Del Ray dog parks will be reopening to the public over the next several months.
The formerly dusty, not-grassy Simpson Dog Park at 521 E. Monroe Avenue is expected to open within the next three-to-four months, according to the city. The work includes tree and sod plantings, grading and stormwater improvements.
“The majority of the work is complete, although there are important items remaining to allow the park to safely open to the public,” according to the city’s Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities.
Improvements to the half-acre dog run at Mount Jefferson Park and Greenway (2607A E. Randolph Avenue) are also nearly finished, the city says.
“With the exception of the Dog Park, Mount Jefferson Park is open for public use,” DRPCA told us in an email. “The grading plan for the dog park to correct drainage is approved and improvement activities are anticipated to begin within the next two weeks. Weather permitting, the dog park is anticipated to open late May or early June after turf establishment.”
The two-year construction schedule has irked some residents.
“It’s puzzling that Alexandria, a city that prides itself on being dog-friendly, takes two years to build these dog parks,” a Del Ray resident said.
Photos via Facebook and City of Alexandria
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.
City staff said in a memo that ARTIC will establish a “doorbell camera registry, phased implementation of security cameras (license plate readers) and future integration with privately owned security camera systems.”
The city has experienced a crime surge the last several years. APD said that the main goal of the program is to monitor and analyze data in real-time and enhance public safety.
City Council placed the funds in a reserve account during last year’s budget process. The initial plan was to encourage homeowners and business owners to be incentivized to buy private security cameras, but the City Attorney found a number of “legal hurdles” to creating such a program.
Last year, Council also approved $490,000 for five speed cameras at school crossing zones around the city, adding to the speed camera program in multiple school zones.
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.
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.
Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!
⛈️ Today’s weather: Showers are possible from 2pm to 5pm, followed by potential showers and thunderstorms after 5pm. Expect mostly cloudy conditions and a high of 78°F. Winds will remain calm before turning south at 6 mph in the afternoon, with a 30% chance of precipitation. Tonight, showers and thunderstorms may continue, bringing cloudy skies, a low of 59°F, and a south wind at 6 mph. The chance of precipitation increases to 50%.
🚨 You need to know
Tired of paying such a high electric bill? From now until June 30, the city is holding its annual Solarize Alexandria program that provides residents a free assessment for their property to install home solar power systems.
“During this period, Alexandria homeowners can sign up to receive a free solar satellite assessment of their property and discounted prices from vetted solar system installers,” the city said in a release.
According to the city:
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Solarize Alexandria! Solarize Alexandria is part of the broader Solarize Virginia program, a grassroots, community-based outreach initiative managed by the state non-profit Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP). LEAP provides ongoing customer support and education throughout the Solarize process.
Find out more at solarizeva.org.
📈 Monday’s most read
The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for Apr 8, 2024
- Notes: City cancels eclipse viewing party in Old Town, but there’s another party at Ben Brenman Park (6127 views)
- Alexandria’s Planet Fitness evacuated after emailed bomb threat (1702 views)
- Police: Man released after getting stuck in harness on Seminary Road Bridge over I-395
(1568 views)
📅 Upcoming events
Here is what’s going on today in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
- No events today. Have one to promote? Submit it to the calendar.
The Potomac Yard arena’s demise has been met by mixed emotions from public officials, and even landowner JBG Smith.
Now that the Washington Wizards and Capitals are definitely not coming to Alexandria and will stay in D.C., a proverbial question mark looms over the 12-acre property.
JBG Smith released a scathing message after Alexandria backed out of the deal on March 27, and then lightened up in a recent interview with the Washington Business Journal. Now CEO Matt Kelly says that the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus will be the anchor for the area, and that with Amazon HQ2 nearby in Crystal City, Potomac Yard will become a tech corridor.
Mayor Justin Wilson said that the economic benefits of the arena and entertainment district could have funded a number of city priorities, including a potential reduction of personal property taxes for residents. He wasn’t so optimistic on the future of the property, and called the city leaving the deal “perhaps the most negative financial event for our schools, public safety and human services in recent history.”
“Regardless of your perspective on the North Potomac Yard proposal, it held the potential to dramatically reshape Alexandria’s economy, easing the burden on our residential taxpayers and enabling expanded investment in critical services to our residents, as well as yielding new land for a school, open space and committed affordable housing,” Wilson wrote in his April newsletter.
The initial agreement was hailed by Republican Governor Glen Youngkin as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it was vigorously supported by Wilson and Ted Leonsis, the billionaire owner of both teams.
News of the proposal broke on Dec. 13, surprising even D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who was in the midst of negotiating with Leonsis to keep both teams at the Capital One Arena. Youngkin proudly announced the deal onstage at Potomac Yard, flanked by U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D), Leonsis, Kelly, Stephanie Landrum of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership and the entire City Council.
But the sudden nature of the deal, as well as a short, three-month public relations campaign by the city and Monumental Sports, had little effect in Richmond. A House of Delegates bill establishing a stadium authority to issue $1.5 billion in taxpayer-funded bonds was stopped in the Senate Appropriations Committee by Sen. Louis Lucas (D-18), and the city left the negotiating table on March 27.
Leonsis has since turned back to D.C., where both teams will likely remain for decades.
The Coalition to Stop the Arena at Potomac Yard loudly protested the project.
“Economic development that benefits all residents of Alexandria and the Commonwealth can only happen with transparent input from the citizens who will be affected,” said Andrew Macdonald, a former Alexandria vice mayor and co-founder of the Coalition. “Backroom deals negotiated in secret and sprung on the citizens at the last minute must not be standard operating procedure in Alexandria or anywhere else ever again.”
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.
Elnoubi is a freshman politician sworn in virtually during the pandemic in 2021. The last several years meant contending with staffing shortages, learning loss, school safety and budgeting issues. He says that alleviating staffing woes is an important solution for the school system, and consequently added a $4.2 million bonus in the ACPS budget request to the City Council for staff who were excluded from step increases in fiscal year 2021.
That move, and other additions by the School Board, will likely result in a residential tax increase during an election year.
“It’s your decision to decide whether you want to raise taxes or not,” Elnoubi told City Council last month. “If you do that, if you decide to raise taxes, I’m 100% with you.”
Elnoubi, an engineering project manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, also made big changes to the ACPS collective bargaining resolution. Most notably, he gained support to eliminate a voting threshold for ACPS staff to establish unions to begin the bargaining process with the school system.
“We just can’t pay our teachers enough, so it’s personal for me,” Elnoubi said. “In my early days at Metro, I was a young engineer making $66,000. I could hardly afford to live in Alexandria. My family was growing. We (at WMATA) got a raise because the union had a new agreement… Not just that, they got us back pay, and that made a significant change in my life. It made me feel more financially secure. Now all of a sudden I have extra money for savings, I’m making a little bit more money with this newborn that I just had. So, I saw firsthand the impact of being part of a union and having a collective bargaining agreement.”
Elnoubi lives in the Landmark area with his wife and two children.
Early on in his School Board tenure, Elnoubi said he wouldn’t be a “rubber stamp” for former ACPS Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr., and frequently went against established Board practices by speaking with the press.
“I believe in transparency, and I made it a point to be accessible to the press,” he said. “Because I came to this country for Democracy, for opportunity, for the things that make this country great, that we can hold government accountable.”
Born in Chicago, Elnoubi lived in Falls Church until he was eight years old, and then moved with his family to Alexandria, Egypt. He says his return to America and political aspirations in Alexandria, Virginia, makes for a literal “Tale Of Two Cities,” where quality of life issues stand in stark contrast.
“The police there (in Egypt) don’t work for the people,” Elnoubi said. “They’re an instrument of the regime to crush dissent… Education is totally underfunded, especially public schools. Teachers are paid very badly and can’t afford basic life necessities.”
At 21, Elnoubi returned to the U.S. after three years of college in Egypt and transferred to the City College of New York, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in mechanical engineering. He later earned a Master’s in engineering management from George Washington University, and moved to the city in 2012. Prior to his election in 2021, he was also the president of the PTA at Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School and was a member of the city’s Community Criminal Justice Board and the Building Code Board of Appeals.
Elnoubi is Muslim and says he was inspired to run for office after former President Donald Trump was elected and signed an executive order initiating a travel ban to seven Muslim countries.
“My kids know no other country but the U.S., and I didn’t want them growing up in their own country feeling they do not belong or were being discriminated against,” Elnoubi said. “I started talking to people, and they advised me to join the Democratic Committee, to become a grassroots activist, to get involved more than I was. I did.”
He continued, “We can’t take this Democracy for granted. I’ve seen what happens when you don’t have Democracy. Corruption, bad quality of life, you can’t hold government accountable, you’re risking your life just by speaking up. And now I’m like, oh my God, could that happen here? And guess what? We found the answer four years later. It almost happened. You almost had a coup four years later.”
Elnoubi says that he’s a goal-oriented engineer, setting achievable benchmarks and closely measuring progress with data. He said that the failed Potomac Yard arena deal lacked safeguards to shield Alexandria residents from hundreds of millions of dollars in financial liabilities “in the event of unrealized projections.”
“The deal neglected the needs of our commuters posing adverse implications through the anticipated surge in traffic, compounded by insufficient state funding allocated for essential public transportation enhancements aimed at mitigating such concerns,” Elnoubi said. “The deal’s environment details were lacking. The deal failed to prioritize the welfare of our workforce with lack of sufficient labor protections and commitments to uphold union standards.”
On affordable housing, he said that he will use “zoning and permitting regulations, tax incentives, and partnerships” to allow residents of all income levels to live in the city.
Elnoubi admits that he’s got his work cut out for him in this primary election. He also says that his experience on the Board sets him apart.
“I’ve seen how hard the work is, how much effort and dedication it takes,” he said. “I love to roll up my sleeves and get involved.”
It’s not uncommon to hear business owners in Alexandria lament that local sign ordinances can be onerous and unwieldy, but an update to an ordinance could be a sign that things are changing.
Eight years after the last update to the sign ordinance, the City of Alexandria is taking another crack at it.
The new sign ordinance update aims to improve the organization, clarity and consistency of how the city handles signage, as well as offering a little more regulatory flexibility.
Notably, digital signs and A-frame signs are currently prohibited unless approved by a special use permit, like the sign at The Birchmere.
For digital signs, city staff said at a meeting yesterday (Monday) that the city should consider things like aesthetics and safety in considering whether or not to allow digital signs, but also that “they’re able to communicate more information than the typical changeable copy signs.”
Regulatory limitations being considered include:
- No effects, flashing or moving of individual images
- Frequency image on screen can change
- If freestanding, required to be a monument sign
Staff also said A-frame signs in the public right of way have also been a topic of discussion from businesses.
The current zoning ordinance does not allow A-frames in the public right of way, but the city could also consider issues of clutter, safety and accessibility in determining whether or not they should be allowed.
Some regulatory limitations proposed for A-frame signs include:
- Clearly defined pedestrian walkways
- Maximum distance from storefront
- Display hours
- Quality of materials
- Liability insurance
Lastly, staff said painted wall signs and murals have also been discussed. Painted murals currently count against wall signage allotment, but that could change.
Staff said the murals create and aesthetic benefit — highlighting artwork at local yarn store fibre space as an example of beautifully done artwork contributing to the neighborhood — but there are concerns about legal issues around regulating the content of what can be painted.
Staff said there could be restrictions on what buildings can be painted — always a guaranteed brawl at the Board of Architectural Review — and a limit set on the maximum size of the mural.
The Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a work session on the sign ordinance update on Thursday, April 4, at 7 p.m.
Another community meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 29, at 6 p.m. in City Hall, then the ordinance will go to the Planning Commission and City Council for public hearings in June.
