The Alexandria City Council was expected to approve a $493 million budget Monday evening, a total that is $10 million less than the city manager originally proposed.
The council had come under fire from residents for seeking to increase the budget over last year’s level by 7 percent. The final budget has only a 4.82 percent increase.
Alexandria residents will also see a 10-cent reduction in their real estate tax rate, down to 81 cents per $100 of assessed value. But the average tax bill will still go up by 6.4 percent because of higher assessments, said Bruce Johnson, city budget director.
“We are moving in the right direction of the government being more lean and efficient,” said Mayor Bill Euille, who said all city employees will get a 3 percent pay raise.
A new police headquarters was postponed — one of some 20 capital improvement projects that were delayed for up to two years to save $7.5 million. The council also agreed to slash an additional $600,000 from the schools budget, giving it $2.3 million less than the School Board originally requested, though the new budget still represents an 8 percent spending increase for schools.
“It means that we are going to have to cut into teacher salaries or class sizes or programs because there is no cushion in this budget. It is a significant cut,” said Amy Carlini, Alexandria City Public Schools spokeswoman.
“Everybody is having to share a little bit of the burden in an effort to reduce the tax bills and cut spending,” said Council Member Andrew Macdonald. “The non-school part of the city has tried to do that and the schools are more complicated, but they have to do that as well.”
The council is also cutting $1.1 million from the health insurance program, which will increase co-pays and premium fees for cityemployees.
New employees hired July 1 or later will pay 10 percent of the premium for health plans and current employees will pay 3.3 percent. The city manager has plans to move all employees to 10 percent level over the next few years, Johnson said.
Alexandria Budget
City Operations: $309.2 million, including $14.2 million for transit subsidies
Capital Projects/Debt Service: $34.3 million
Schools: $149.9 million
Total: $493.4 million
