February 24th, and it's 532.

There has been a motion by Councilman and Curry and a second by Council.

Okay, it's seven eleven.

Um, Councilman Aguirre.

Madam Mayor, I move that we reconvene in open session.

There's been a motion.

Is there a second?

There's been a second by Councilwoman Green to reconvene from closed executive session.

All those in favor say aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

The eyes have it.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Moment of silence and pledge of allegiance.

Okay, it is our practice to begin each legislative meeting with a moment of silence followed by the pledge.

If you're able to stand, we ask that you please join us.

And whereas the city has been experiencing widespread urban flooding due to more recent increase in high intensity participation events, excuse me, precipitation appearance.

When constant waterfall comes down in a short period of time associated with climate change, and whereas the city has implemented Flood Action Alexandria as a comprehensive initiative to address flooding issues throughout the city through programmatic operations and capital flood mitigation projects and flood prone areas.

And whereas the city's future flood risk will increase as a result of rising sea levels, increased frequency and intensity of storms, as projected by the city's environmental action plan 2040.

And whereas the city joins in partnership with the federal emergency management agency known as FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program, and it participates in the NFIP community rating system, whereby city residents purchasing NFIP backed flood insurance receive up to a 20% discount.

And whereas we invite all Alexandrians to observe Virginia Flood Awareness Week by preparing their homes for floods, adhere to prudent land use planning, including the purchase of flood insurance through the national flood insurance program, where coverage and basements is recognized as limited.

And whereas we are committed to strengthening our flood mitigation strategies and management and have established Flood Action Alexandria initiative to pursue those capital and programmatic solutions.

And whereas the City Council approved a resolution on January 26, 2021 to establish an ad hoc stormwater utility and flood man flood mitigation advisory group and approved a resolution to establish a permanent group on December 16th, 2023 to support and advise the city's flood mitigation efforts.

And whereas we recognize the professional staff from Transportation and Environmental Services, the Office of Climate Action, and the Office of Emergency Management for their important roles they play in making our public infrastructure more resilient and safer for residents every day and in times of disaster.

Now, therefore, I, John Taylor Chapman, on behalf of Aliah Gaskins, mayor of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, and on behalf of the entire Alexandria City Council, do hereby recognize March 9th through March 14th, 2026 as Virginia Flood Awareness Week 2026 and the City of Alexandria and hereby commend all persons who are committed to and work towards becoming a more resilient city.

And witness whereof, I have herein too set my hand to call Cecilia City of Alexandria to be affixed this 24th day of February 2026.

I'll have you come up.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Good evening, everybody.

It's a pleasure to be here.

I'm Dan Medina.

I'm the stormwater program manager for the city.

Specifically, I manage the Flood Action Alexandria program, which is a comprehensive program, a holistic combination of all this, the skills that we have to combat flooding, which is getting worse and worse as time goes by.

I just want to say thank you very much to the council for all the support we've gotten.

Stellar City Manager here and our assistant city manager, Emily Baker, as well as our advisory committee, because it really takes this combination of forces to make things happen.

And we're very grateful to have the this those resources available to our group.

I talked to my colleagues in other jurisdictions, and we're way ahead on what they're doing.

We for being the city that we are, we're really doing some marvelous stuff, world class.

So thank you very much.

It's a pleasure to be here.

Appreciate it.

Well, uh, Dr.

Medina, I'll I'll I appreciate that, but we are only world class because we have some wonderful staff and leadership that have been pushing us.

Um it is not easy.

It is not necessarily sexy to pay for flood mitigation efforts.

Um it is not something that everybody wants to talk about.

Um, but having staff and having a city uh that is leaning forward to understand some of the challenges that we have living on a coast and living near waterways and dealing with climate change.

You and your staff and our leadership has been really on the ball uh as uh we have talked about this as a community.

So thank you very much uh for your work.

And with that, I'd love to go ahead and move the proclamation.

There has been a motion by Councilman Chapman and a second by Councilwoman Green to move the proclamation recognizing um flood awareness week.

Is there any further discussion?

I just want to quickly echo what Councilman Chapman said.

Dr.

Medina, we are so grateful for your leadership.

I think many of us remember when you started.

And I think just the volume of resources that you've been able to cultivate and create, the educational series that you offer, but even the way that you've brought in stakeholders who probably didn't even know they had an interest in this topic or an opinion to give, you've been able to sort of lean into every perspective and really help us become a much more resilient city.

So we thank you.

With that, um there's been a motion and a second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

The ayes have it, and the proclamation carries.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Presentation of a proclamation declaring the month of March as Irish American Heritage Month in honoring St.

Patrick's Day.

I have asked Councilman Green to wear the uh to uh read this proclamation.

Well, that's the reason.

I will end over that.

She was ready.

Um, may I please have the representatives who are joining us for this proclamation come to the front?

Uh I think we have a number of the ballet shanders, and then I think there might even be a few other community members as well.

Does you guys want to come up here?

Yes, everybody will make room.

Oh my room.

Hi, you look everyone looks great, adorned in their sass.

Their sash, you should have brought me one.

Oh, you have okay.

Well, hello, everyone.

I think I may be a little bit Irish, so I'm happy to be presenting this proclamation.

I will read the proclamation and then I will have you all introduce yourselves and and have you speak.

Whereas the Irish have greatly enriched the culture of Western civilization from its earliest days, and whereas the Bally Shiners work to preserve the heritage and culture of the Irish and share it with the community.

And whereas the history of the city of Alexandria is replete with the contributions of many people from Ireland and of Irish descent.

And whereas the city of Alexandria is the home of numerous people of Irish descent who are active in its cultural, economic, political, and social life.

And whereas the City of Alexandria recognizes the incalculable roles played by the Irish in world national and city affairs.

And whereas, please join the Bally Shiners and the City of Alexandria as we come together to honor St.

Patrick and the people of Ireland and of Irish descent.

It is a community event for all to unite and celebrate.

Please gather with us on Saturday, March 7th, 2026 at 1230 p.m.

for the 43rd annual St.

Patrick's Day Parade.

Now, therefore, I, Jacinta Green, on behalf of Mayor Aaliyah Gaskins, and on behalf of the Alexandria City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of March 2026 as Irish American Heritage Month in the City of Alexandria and call this observance to the attention of all of our citizens.

It would in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and cause the seal of the City of Alexandria to be affixed this 24th day of February 2026.

Right.

And we'll start down.

Harold Snett, parade Marshal.

Jean Bransfield, semi-retired.

Joanne Munt, uh parade marshal.

Frank McCraw, Vice Chair.

Tasha Pablo, parade captain.

Maggie Hayes, I'm the chair.

I would just like to thank the city for all of the support that you give us.

We are very grateful, and we are very grateful to the community that embraces us at this wonderful time of celebration.

Thank you.

Kate Brennan, General Manager of O'Connell's Kim Moore, lead Marshall.

Kathleen Walsh, Treasurer.

Sam Poole, Assistant General Manager of O'Connell's.

Well, thank you all for being here.

March is always a fun time, not just because of the parade, but so that we can uplift Irish culture here in our city.

There are so many residents of Irish culture, and they have built upon what the greatness is of Alexandria.

So we thank you all for being here.

We look forward to the parade.

And mostly I look forward to seeing everybody wearing green.

So thank you so much for being here.

All right.

And with that, I moved uh the proclamation to be adopted.

Okay.

There has been a motion by Councilwoman Green and a second by Councilmember Chapman to move the proclamation, recognizing March as Irish American Heritage Month and honoring St.

Patrick's Day.

Is there any further discussion?

I guess I would just echo, I know Maggie, you said thank you to us.

I just want to say thank you to you and to all of the Bally Shanders and all of the many volunteers who I know this room would be filled if everyone was here.

It is not an easy lift to put on this parade and the parade is such, I would say not even just an opportunity for celebration, but an opportunity to showcase the connection, the community, and the things that make Alexandria so special.

And so I'm really excited.

My son has a green suit, which is a new addition.

Um so we we are ready.

And so just um, as councilwoman Green said, we welcome everyone to line the streets, come out and join us, spend time at the parade.

But I have to say also spend time at our restaurants, our boutiques, shops, spend your entire day in in Old Town and across the city.

With that, the um proclamation has properly been motioned and seconded.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye, any opposed?

All right, the ayes have it.

The proclamation carries.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Or important city council on boards, commissions, and committees.

Okay.

The first one is the council of governments, and this one is me.

So uh two meetings this month.

The first one was really focused on a debrief of every jurisdiction's response to the January 2026 snowstorm.

I think some of the key takeaways was that this was not like any traditional snowstorm.

Uh, it was, I think the term is now snow creed, but the amount of ice that we received, freezing rain made the conditions much more challenging and more difficult for all of the surrounding jurisdictions to navigate.

Something we talked about was one, the importance of communication.

I think a lot of residents were eager to get out of their homes, back to work, back to school, and we understand that, but how can we do a better job of communicating all the work that is going on, the speed at which it's happening and how we're tracking and evaluating what we're doing?

I'd say the second big focus was really a discussion around staff.

At the end of the day, many of our staff were working 24 hours a day in 12 hour shifts.

Uh, I know across our city, over 500 staff were activated to be a part of that response.

And many other jurisdictions had the same, as well as needing to bring in many contractors from not just surrounding states, but as far as Minnesota and other places.

And so thinking through how you support staff through such a sustained response.

We also talked a lot about opportunities for joint after action reviews.

One uh discussion that came up was related to bus stops and potentially the role that Wamada could play, recognizing that Wamada they specialize in transportation.

It's all they do day in and day out.

And once they have their infrastructure clear, how can they also support surrounding jurisdictions as well?

So that meeting is on the COGS website.

Um, so I encourage folks to just kind of dive in.

We plan to have an additional debrief at the end of snow season as we pivot to things like potholes and road pavings and all of the other things that come from storms like this.

The other update I will provide is yesterday the council of government held a briefing on the um Potomac River and particularly on the interceptor collapse.

The recording for that meeting is also on the COG website.

Uh, I think the most important things that folks should know is that the Virginia recreational water advisory for the Potomac River still is in place and will likely continue to be in place until substantial repairs are completed.

I think folks should also know that daily testing has been going on since the break.

That testing has been conducted by DC Water as well as the Maryland Department of the Environment.

And recently, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has also started testing as well.

I think one of the things that the COG really talked about was there's so much information.

And there are multiple local agencies, state agencies, and now even federal agencies like FEMA and the Coast Guard.

Everyone has a different website.

Everyone has a different report about what's going on.

How do we maybe consolidate some of this information?

So there's one place you can go to get information on testing on advisories and on the state of repairs.

Future conversations, I'm sure people have seen this on the news related to the cost of the repairs and sort of what that will look like, who will be paying for it.

Another element is they're going to start hosting public hearings for the public to weigh in, public town halls, um, for people to ask questions.

Currently, all of those are happening in DC and Maryland.

And so one of the things I will be pushing for is some Virginia type of engagement because I think we have a lot of questions as well.

And that is the COG.

The next update is the ARHA Redevelopment Work Group.

And this is myself and Councilman Chapman.

Would you like to start?

Okay, we'll keep on rocking and rolling.

Um so the ARHA redevelopment work group met uh last week.

A couple quick updates on major projects.

The first being Samuel Madden.

Samuel Madden has successfully completed uh 31 relocations.

As of February 21st, there are only three individuals left at the site, and they are currently in the process of being relocated as well.

Um, a new website is going up so that people can follow along with the project as well as review any supporting uh documents for that project.

The LaDre, the LaDre is now fully vacant.

All members of all residents of the LaDre have either been relocated to the a late or other housing throughout our community as well.

One challenge that they recently faced is due to the cold weather.

There was a major pipe burst in the LaDre.

And so there will need to be some additional assessment to really figure out.

Um, I think one plan they had was they were going to keep their maintenance staff at the LaDre so that they could keep the building warm and activated and um make sure that it was still in in use.

But uh the pipe burst has complicated some of that.

We also spoke a lot about funding for the LaDre and sort of different options that ARHA will pursue in order to keep that project moving forward.

The a late, the big focus here is that they're now focused on lease up.

So folks may remember with this project, there were a certain number of units that we um set aside for ARHA residents from the LaDre to be able to move there.

And then there were a number of units reserved for market rate in order to create a mixed income community, but also to help with financing the project.

And so the major focus now is filling those other units.

I think the exciting piece was that they're really starting to build a community and more programming.

And so they're partnering with groups like senior services, the Department of Community and Human Services, and others to offer daily activities for our seniors and older adults.

Um lastly, we talked about the last major project was Cameron Valley, and um ARHA will be engaging with our planning and zoning staff so that they are up to date on the Duke Street uh small area plan and are able to communicate any vision that they have for that project.

I'd say the last thing that I would just leave folks with was we had a large conversation about evictions and everything from some of the issues that we've heard in our public hearings around ledgers and what ARHA is doing to get their ledgers accurate.

We also heard about plans they have related to 445 individuals who currently owe back rent.

And so the city is going to be engaging in conversations about how we might support those individuals, how we get a better sense of what people owe, and how we can work with ARHA in order to get those rents addressed, but also most importantly, to get people on a path towards financial um stability.

And I think that is everything from the ARHA work group.

The next one is me again.

Um legislative committee.

The only update is um with Councilman McPike leaving.

We have appointed a new member.

A new member will be Councilman Chapman.

And I'm next, who will take the next report?

Just kidding.

Um, who will come to the next meeting?

The next one is the city schools committee, which is myself and councilman Chapman.

And this one was canceled due to weather.

And moving right along, we now have the waterfront commission, which is someone else.

It is Vice Mayor Bagley.

Okay.

Uh the Waterfront Commission met bright and early at 7:30 a.m.

on February 17th at the Lease Center.

These meetings are open to the public.

So for all of you early risers out there, um, come and join us.

Um, we got updates from the Jason North, uh, Captain North with the police department.

Um, as you'll sort of saw probably in a press release, generally for the city, there's not a lot to report on the crime front, and that's always good to hear.

Um, there also isn't a lot to report um in terms of private development activity along the waterfront at the moment.

We're waiting for Robinson Terminal North to get started.

Um, the primary use of the presentation was actually a really great presentation done by David Robbins about how to facilitate more access to the waterfront from non-motorized watercrafts, which is a fancy way of saying kayak, I think.

Um, but uh David gave this, and I I shared it to my colleagues.

I think I forwarded it to all of you all.

But basically, he did a full-length analysis of all the all the spots in which you could potentially reevaluate accessibility for someone to arrive, say from DC or from Maryland or from PG, or depart from Alexandria and go elsewhere.

And we have last studied this issue as a city, I think in 2017.

And that was before the parts of our waterfront were developed where they are now.

And it was he tried to identify sort of where the opportunities are and uh what there became then a conversation at the commission about you know where might we invest and how that energy was sort of redirected was in the form of the, I think we've already received it, haven't we?

So the waterfront commission submitted a letter to the council asking us to consider in this budget updating that feasibility study for um sort of marina um access and um revitalizing some of our marina spots.

So um that was a really interesting, I thought conversation.

And um we will talk more about it potentially during the budget.

Um there was also a conversation just to update my colleagues.

Um the the boards and commission subcommittee obviously put the waterfront commission on the table for sundowning in 29 or 30 or at the conclusion of flood mitigation activities.

Um to their credit, I think the waterfront commission members have seen that as sort of a call to action to sort of reaffirm their mission and how they can best serve it.

And so I'm just I'm sharing with my colleagues that um they are taking a very hard look at their bylaws, at their membership, at their mission statement in an effort to refine it and revisit it.

It may ultimately come before our clerk and the city attorney to the extent that any of those proposed changes require work on y'all's behalf behalf.

So um it was a very it was a very effective meeting, and um those were the primary topics.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Bagley.

I will just say um I know I can't take the role of first budget memo question because I think Abdel did that last week, but I did um forward the letter from uh the waterfront commission just so that we could get a cost update on that study.

And you have the next one, the Virginia Railway Express.

Yeah, um, so VRE met um also bright and early.

Did I get all the early morning boards?

I'm just catching on.

Um VRE meets at 8 30 in Prince William County.

Um, when do we meet?

It was just last Friday on the 20th.

Um, each of us received their annual report in this lovely uh form.

There's actually a lovely picture of um our mayor and myself at the groundbreaking at the Amtrak station.

Um I wanted to one thing I wanted to lift up um from the meeting.

Well, two things.

One, um, the new CEO, which is actually the first woman to um run VRE in 31 years.

Her name is Katie Cho.

She has joined us from the T in Boston, um, comes down here.

So this is her, this was her first meeting.

Um, she joined the organization in January when the snowstorm happened.

Um, and we and so it was an interesting time, I think, to be a part of it.

But um, to go along with what the mayor raised about the COG meeting, um, what I heard at the VRE meeting was people who have been in the rail industry for decades had not seen an event like this either.

And it really challenged everybody.

So it didn't just challenge Metro or a bus system, it challenged our rail system as well.

And um I wanted to take the opportunity to to thank.

We actually gave some small, some small tokens to members of the maintenance staff and the operation staff who slept in their trucks in Walmart parking lots, sort of to, you know, to keep the work going.

And they knew they couldn't get home and get back um safely enough uh to keep things moving.

And so um, much like our own tests and many around the region, um, there were VRE employees really going above and beyond to keep the the trains going.

Um, but they are going.

Um, the other thing I'll add is that um the Longbridge schedule, construction schedule is now in place.

Um, and every week the staff gets better at the Alexandria Shuffle, which is sort of shifting people when they arrive at Alexandria onto two separate trains, one to Manassas, one to Fredericksburg.

They've got it down to six minutes, I think.

Um, at you know, it's basically added six minutes to people's journeys.

But um, please continue to ride.

Um, you know, check the schedules for any changes, but um, things are going as well as they can and they keep getting better.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Bagley.

The next one is the Eisenhower Partnership Board of Directors.

And this is Councilwoman Green.

Thank you so much, Madam Mayor.

And we meet at 8:30 in the morning as well.

Um, but it is virtual, so it's a little bit easier.

Uh but we met on um the last meeting was on February 20th for the Eisenhower Partnership.

And we had a wonderful, wonderful presentation from Volunteer Alexandria and the need for more volunteers across the city, particularly in extreme weather situations.

So please, please, please reach out to Volunteer Alexandria and sign up.

We also talked a lot about the advocacy that's coming down the pike with letters of support for projects that are coming to the Eisenhower area.

And then also had a nice discussion about the city manager's breakfast, which is coming up on March 18th.

So Jim will be, I'm sure, talking all things Alexandria, including the budget.

And that's going to be at Alex Renew on March 18th.

And we encourage you to sign up and to come for that.

And then movies throughout the summer and into the fall.

So that is all.

Oh, one other thing.

They did talk about wanting to bring in planning and zoning in Paul Stoddard, our director, um, to uh meet with him about um projects coming down the line for Eisenhower and then potential projects in the future.

So thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilwoman Green.

The next three are Councilman Agire, Council of Government, Transportation Planning Board, the Commission on Aging, and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh so at TPB, we had four presentations.

Uh the first was on the I don't want to throw a bunch of acronyms at you guys.

So give me one second and I'll pull it up.

Um the Transportation Alternative Set Aside Program or TAP.

Um the good news there is that uh Alexandria actually won uh a good amount of money.

We won about $2 million to do two improvements around Charles Barrett and George Washington Middle School.

Um it is elevating a crosswalk, getting rid of a slip lane, uh doing some curb cuts and um reducing the distance between some of the crosswalks.

Uh so it was very nice to see that.

I always get to see Alexandria get some money.

Uh we also had the presentation on the UPWP, the Unified Planning Work Program, uh, which is what every single MPO, Metropolitan Planning Organization has to do every single year uh to continue uh receiving funding.

So while it has a very interesting name, and we're planning a program to do more planning for the year.

Um, it is important, like I said, so that we continue getting funding.

Um we also had a quick update on some of the goings-ons for community connections and the work program for community connections.

And the last presentation that we had was on um some of the regional transportation safety trends uh both around crashes, serious injuries, fatalities, and um speed cameras.

That was the last one.

Almost forgot that one.

Uh, that was TPB uh for the commission on aging.

I had to leave a little bit early, but I still got to stay for the majority of the presentation.

The first part was a presentation from the Patrick Henry Community Center staff, basically highlighting all the different activities and opportunities that the recenter offers, ranging from summer camps for kids to uh senior groups and everything in between.

So uh it was very good for the commission to hear that.

We also had a lengthy um presentation on SNAP and implementation issues.

Uh, this, of course, is a concern uh knowing what's going on at the federal level and trying to keep up with all the constant changes there.

Uh and the last thing that I wanted to mention is that the age-friendly plan that the commission on aging uh works on diligently will be coming to the council uh fairly soon.

I think in I believe in March, and if not in April, but um we'll get a confirmation on that at a later time.

Uh, but looking forward to uh presenting that to the rest of the council so that everyone can see uh what the commission has been working uh so hard on for several several from a long amount of time.

Uh moving on from the commission on aging to NVTA.

Um I was pinching for the mayor, and luckily for me, it was a very short agenda.

Uh and no fireworks, uh, pretty straightforward.

Uh it's pretty cool.

MVTA has their new uh travel trend dashboard.

So basically you could go there and see basically how long is it going to take you to get from point A to point B and how reliable is the timing every time you take that trip.

And as you can imagine, it's not always reliable given crashes, given traffic and some of the other things.

But a pretty cool uh tool to be able to take a look at if anyone's interested.

Um, and then there was um a couple of approvals for some projects in Prince William County and uh a couple of updates from the government governance committee, and that was pretty much it from NVTA.

And uh, Madam Mayor, if uh you will, I forgot to add libraries as part of uh one of my updates.

Uh the library board met last week, and um one of the conversations we had was around what it would look like if the libraries were to become a city department.

Uh many people are unaware, but the libraries are not actually a full city department.

Um, they are a quasi-city agency.

While they receive their majority, vast majority of their funding from the city, um, it is not considered a city department.

And so um there's a lot of history behind this, but uh director Dawson should be bringing uh a proposal to the city manager uh the next few days or so um asking to do a study to see what this would look like.

And because this will take more than eight hours of uh staff time.

I wanted to endorse uh that study and look to my colleagues for uh consensus around that so that the city manager has clear direction uh to work with the library director in doing so.

Thank you, Councilman Aguirre.

Uh Sarah consensus to move forward.

Uh I have a are you raising your hand?

No, I was a raising my hand.

Okay, I got them.

Yes, there is full support from the council to move forward into looking at what that would take.

Thank you all.

Any additional updates?

Okay.

And thank you for attending NVTA for me.

I appreciate that.

Madam Clerk, next item.

City Council general updates.

Okay, are there general updates from the council?

All right.

Yes.

Um Councilwoman Green.

And then I was gonna let Councilman Gary go first.

But it's all good.

All right.

Um, I just wanted to um announce again that on Sunday, March 8th, I, along with Alexandria Celebrates Women and the Ivy Foundation.

We are hosting a women's health forum, which is called Empower Her, um, Intergenerational Women's Health Forum.

And it's on International Women's Day.

So great, great tie-in.

Um, we are looking forward to wonderful panels that focus on women's issues.

We have over 25 vendors um and wellness activities, and we're gonna feed you also.

So we look forward to people coming out at to the Charles Houston Center Sunday, March 8th from 11 to 3 p.m.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Green.

Councilman Aguirre.

All right, here we go.

So um first wanted to give a shout out to Senior Services of Alexandria for another uh very successful Valentine's Day luncheon.

I know several of us were able to attend.

Um it's always a good time.

People are boogieing down on the dance floor, and everybody's wearing their red and white and pink, and it is a great time.

So thank you to all the seniors for participating in that.

Um we also uh councilwoman Green and I were able to attend the grand reopening of Wells Fargo on Washington and Orinoco, maybe or yeah, somewhere around there.

Um so always good to have a good community partner uh keeping their business here in Alexandria.

Uh wanted to give a quick shout out to all the organizers and participants of the GW parade.

Um, seeing how this is part of uh America 250.

Uh big deal to have it uh this year, uh given all of our connections with uh the very first president of our country.

Um also wanted to give a shout out to the Friendship Firehouse uh for their yearly breakfast that they conduct.

Uh several of us were able to attend that.

Um and then shout out to our Go Alex staff.

Um they helped to host a transit transportation, trains, planes, and automobiles trivia at uh Port City Brewery.

It was a lot of fun.

And so thank you for our staff for going out there, providing some of the great questions and um really engaging our residents in things that they might not think about regularly and getting a different type of audience um that isn't always gonna be paying attention, not just to transit, but also to um utility usage and how do you improve some of the the grid performance uh with improvements to your home and different things like that.

Also definitely wanted to give a shout out to formerly 10,000 villages, but now the World Craft on King.

They had their reopening.

Also wanted to say there was one last thing, and now I can't find it.

And uh shout out to CCNA and I believe it's the Rotary of the Lions Club that does the uh annual James Bland music competition.

And uh with that, Madam Mayor, I am concluding.

Thank you, Councilman Aguirre.

Thanks, Mayor Bagley.

Uh thank you, uh Mayor Gaskins.

Um, so yeah, I just want to I was at the Rubbon Cutting for World Crafted on King and just wanted to encourage people.

They've been there 30 years, but they've rebranded, but they still have all the like fascinating small business um and international um brands um there that are make really great gifts.

Um the other thing I wanted to mention is that I think many of us were at the Center for Alexandria's Children on Saturday night.

Um it was a great event.

That organization does really important work and um uh it awarded um our our retired sheriff uh Dana Lawhorn, um, John Porter, as well as Deb Debbie Evans, yeah, um, Deborah Evans, um, were acknowledged for their work in the community and their work supporting children and youth and um Mayor Gaskin spoke.

I don't mean to take your thunder if you plan to talk about it.

Um, but acknowledged um the awardees and um, yeah, it's a great organization and want to encourage anybody to look into the work that they do and they throw a great um a great party.

Councilman Chapman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um so I wanted to highlight first um visit Alexandria, their what's new uh in 2026.

Uh our vice mayor.

Um she's laughing because she was uh a speaker uh at the event talking about um the the value uh and not just the value of tourism, but the practical value when we're talking about uh attracting residents like herself, uh as well as retaining uh residents and and tourists and businesses of all kinds.

Um I know I was there, uh I believe uh Councilman Aguirre was there as well as the vice mayor.

Um, and so we got to hear about what Visit Alexandra plans to do uh this year in terms of uh some of the programs.

Uh of course, we've got the 250th.

Uh, and then of course, we have the announcement about uh being a FIFA base camp uh for Croatia.

And so um there is gonna be uh some more items and activity rolling out uh surrounding that.

Um also uh a new brand launch.

Uh and so please go to visit Alexandra's website to check that out.

Um also I um had the opportunity uh last week to uh attend a kickoff for the National Innovation Quarter.

Uh it is an initiative, uh newly launched uh nonprofit, mission-driven innovation district in North Virginia's National Landing.

Uh and for those of us who refuse to call it National Landing, because I know there are some of you who are, um, that would be uh Crystal City and uh the Potomac Yard area of of Alexandria.

Uh but this uh this initiative is really designed to accelerate technology breakthroughs at the intersection of national security and industry.

And so we had a number of startups and uh organizations there to talk about how uh this quarter uh this area is going to be hopefully uh a beehive of activity uh as it relates to uh national security and startups.

Uh and uh we are excited to be a part of that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I just had one or I think two quick ones.

The first is last week I had the opportunity to attend an event with the George Washington Memorial Society um at the Masonic Temple, and they wanted folks to know that they are um launching a new exhibit in honor of America's 250th.

And so the museum is reopening, and there's a number of new artifacts and opportunities for people to come and to learn about our country's first president, but also his connection to the city of Alexandria.

And then lastly, I wanted to give a special thank you to Miss Legina Gross, who is the librarian at ACHS Minnie Howard's campus.

I was invited to come and speak for Black History Month and a celebration of sort of telling our story.

And I just want to personally thank her because when I arrived, um, she had done some research on my story, and she had um put out an entire display of books that were written about my grandma.

And for those of you who know me, my grandma passed away about two years ago and was my very best friend.

And so it was a really interesting opportunity to just share my story and my family with our Titans and for them to share a little bit about their grandmas and special friends within their life.

So I just thank her for that.

And I would encourage folks as you continue in these last several days of Black History Month to continue to think about your stories and how we can tell them all across our city.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Mr.

Manager.

Yes, thank you, Mayor and Council.

I just have one highlight that I would love to share.

So this is with the Office of Historic Alexandria.

They participated, were selected through a competitive process to participate with the American Alliance of Museums on a social impact and practice survey.

And I just want to highlight the great work that Director Bulva and Deputy Director Liz Williams and the staff did.

That analysis yielded uh results that are very exciting.

Um it demonstrated that uh the Office of Historic Alexandria Museums enhance the quality of life by offering accessible, meaningful experiences.

They support community cohesion through shared understanding and dialogue.

They advance educational goals through by teaching inclusive history.

They contribute to economic vitality by strengthening Alexandria's identity as a unique historic destination and promote social resilience by encouraging empathy, reflection, and civic pride.

Um I I know, Mayor and Council, you received uh the complete data on that, and we'd be happy to share it more publicly.

I think this might be something we would want to post on the web, uh, our website.

Um, but this is a great example of some great work by that department and the team.

That's great.

That's really exciting.

Thank you for sharing, Jim.

And I I think I saw some heads nodding about putting it on the website or finding a way to display that.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Action docket roll call consent item number 10.

Okay, there's been a there's been a motion by councilman Aguirre and a second by councilwoman Green to move approval of docket item number 10.

Madam Clerk, this is a roll call vote.

Please call the roll.

Councilman Aguirre.

Hi.

Councilwoman Green.

Hi.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Councilman Chapman.

Councilman El Nuby.

Aye.

All right.

The item carries.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Consideration of the calendar year 2026 real property assessments.

Okay.

We're going to welcome staff up.

I believe we have a brief presentation.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and members of City Council.

I'm Kevin Greenleaf, Director of Finance.

With me tonight is Ann Wynn Milns, or one of our appraisal supervisors.

We're here tonight to present an overview of the 2026 real estate assessments that are resulting in a 3.41% overall increase.

Anne Wynne's going to walk us through the presentation, but beforehand, I'd just like to make a couple of preliminary notes.

First, in all localities in Virginia, the law requires us to assess properties as of January 1.

So that's the uniform date for all properties.

It also requires us to assess based on 100% of fair market value.

And then finally, our assessments are required to reflect the highest and best use of the property.

All of that results in the valuation.

Our professionals appraisal statistics indicate that we're doing a uh good job of meeting our statutory mandate.

The 2026 median assessment to sales ratio is about 98%.

So on average, or the median rather, assessments are about 98% of the actual sales price.

So that's a reflection of uh quality assessments.

It's critical to note that the budget needs of a locality do not drive the assessment process.

Um we establish values independent of the budget.

We then present the values to the city manager and LB, and it's up to the manager to then take the available revenue and craft a balanced budget.

Um it's a common misperception.

It's the budget needs do not drive assessments, they're independent.

It's also important to note that appraising is termed an opinion of value.

It's not an absolute science, it's an opinion of value based on statistical analysis of many things like market sales data, cost information, income, and um expense data for commercial properties.

What Ann Wynn will discuss tonight is that the data we're presenting are averages.

Individual properties can vary tremendously dependent upon many factors.

And then she'll also discuss a robust appeals process that we provide to the public.

As of this meeting, people can go online and check the real estate assessment information at realestate.gov.

And in turning this over to Ann Wynn, I'd just like to recognize and compliment the very hard work of my staff in the real estate division.

They combine a combination of professional appraisal knowledge with a quick commitment to provide quality customer service, and I'm very proud of all the work that they've done throughout this year.

So Ann Wynn, I'm going to turn it over to you and see if I can start the slideshow.

That's the summary of what we're going to go over.

Excellent.

Thank you, Kevin.

Thank you to the council for your time and consideration tonight.

So tonight I'm going to share.

Oh, I'm sorry, I'll get a little closer.

There we go.

Tonight I'm going to share our 2026 real property assessments with you.

I'm going to give a broad overview of the assessment changes.

I'm going to talk a little more detail about the residential values, and I'm going to follow up with the commercial values.

And then at the very end, I think most are familiar, we've done it before.

I'll go over some of the new construction projects and then wrap up with important dates.

All right.

So the division of real estate assessments determines the value of most of the properties here in the city.

Again, as Kevin said, effective January one.

So this means we're looking at information prior to January 1.

This is not reflective of what is happening now, but where the evidence pointed us at the end of 2025.

So anything that happens in the market this year will be seen for the 2027 assessment.

So the main news is that our taxable assessments increased the tax base 3.41% from 2025.

The residential tax base added 1.4 billion dollars in value.

The commercial tax base gained 335 million, and the non-locally assessed was reduced by 20, 20 and a half million.

So in total, the taxable assessments are nearly 1.7 billion more than they were in 2025.

We've continued to see a normalized rate of overall change, just like last year, where we saw an increase of 2.57%.

This year's 3.41% change is more in line with what we saw pre-COVID and not the big changes that we might have seen in 2020 and 2022.

So this has been driven by the residential properties.

Our residential tax base has not declined since 2010, and it's increasing on average more than 3.5% each year.

So this year we saw an increase of 4.4% for residential properties.

So the amount of change over the years has fluctuated from increasing 11 and 11% to decreasing 10.63%.

And that's because the commercial tax base is going to vary more because commercial properties are really their valuation is tied to investor expectations and the national market.

So these are things less outside of the city's control.

Whereas steady local employment, renovations, health and safety, they can be necessary to commercial properties, but they're bigger bolsters for the residential market.

So 1.5 billion of the overall increase this year was due to appreciation.

And appreciation is the change in the market.

The driver of this market change was that residential market appreciation.

So 955 million of that increase is from residential market appreciation alone.

But we also saw an increase of 456 million due to new growth.

So that is new construction.

Residential growth was the largest component, about 66% of that, 302 million dollars.

And so while we've seen less new construction than we did in the early 2020s, um, when many of our large apartment projects were completed, we have seen other years with much less growth.

So like last year, new growth looks like it's continuing to normalize from the peak years.

This chart shows where the growth dollars are coming from.

So it's comparing the commercial, the multifamily, and the residential.

The residential there is in blue.

And you'll see that multifamily construction slowed over 2025, but there still are a number of projects under construction and anticipated to complete during the course of this year.

There are fewer other commercial construction projects contributing to the overall growth.

The numbers that you see there are really the impacts of what was happening in Potomac Yard and the former landmark mall site.

I'm going to highlight some of those projects contributing to that growth in the end of the presentation, along with some projects on the horizon.

So our tax base is mostly residential properties.

So of the 47,322 total parcels assessed in 2026, 43,328 are residential.

So that residential categories, they are going to include single family, and that is in our jurisdiction, both detached and attached houses, as well as condominiums.

So overall you'll see that the residential tax base makes up about 33 billion of the 51 billion in total value this year.

Oh, sorry, could you go back, Kevin?

Another 18.77% of the total city value is from multifamily.

So these properties are considered a commercial property.

Even though people live in apartments, they generally have a single ownership, and their value is found using rental income.

So we've put them in a shade of red here, just like in years past, just so you can distinguish between the properties where people live and other kinds of commercial properties.

Multifamily rental value is the majority of the commercial tax base, so 9.65 billion dollars.

But it has not always been this way over the years.

So here is how the tax base split between residential and commercial properties has looked over the years.

But if you combine the residential along with the multifamily tax base, you'll see that the categories make up 80 82.6% of the tax base.

So in other words, 82.6% of the real property tax base comes from properties where people live.

So our residential assessments did do that 4.4 overall increase from the 2025 assessed values, but not all residential properties are changing at the same rate.

So 63% of our properties saw an increase this year, 8% saw a decrease, and 29% of the values remained unchanged.

So the average assessed value of a condominium is now 460,185, and that's up 2.81% from last year.

The average single family property is now at 1,045 750.

So again, those are both the detached and attached houses, so townhouses included.

And last year was the first time this average was over a million.

It's now increased from last year 4.44%.

These properties are driving the total increase in the tax base.

So the average total assessment for all the residential properties is now $757,706.

So that's increasing 3.1% from last year.

So for every single property over a million dollars in value, we have another that's under a million dollars of value.

And in years past, um, the council has asked us to provide the median residential assessed value, and that is $680,406.

So the increase that we've seen in residential property value is around a similar pace to the other areas, the other jurisdictions nearby.

Arlington County, for example, saw an increase of 3.2% in residential properties, but they had 78% of their properties increasing.

Their average residential assessed value is 882,900.

So compared to our just about 758,000.

Fairfax County saw an increase of 4.31% in residential, with 81.16% of their properties seeing an increase.

And their average assessed value is 828, 895 again, compared to our 758.

So this is how the next one is how our average assessments have compared over time.

We've been on a steady increase since 2011, and values of single family properties are increasing at a faster rate than the condominiums.

So we'll move on to our commercial.

We saw an increase this year of 1.91%.

So from 2024 to 2025, we had that decrease.

We were going down 0.88%.

And the year before that, it was down 4%.

So this year we've seen the largest component of our commercial tax base.

That's the multifamily rental properties, also known as apartments, slightly increased compared to the last two years where they declined.

So this means, in spite of overall decreases, you might see there in the offices and the office condominiums, the commercial assessment values are still increasing.

Arlington, for example, saw a decrease of 1.5% in their commercial properties, whereas Fairfax County saw an increase of 1.84%.

So while we still have some sectors experiencing decreases, like the offices in the mid-rise apartments, the increase is really being led by general commercial properties, shopping centers, and high-rise apartments.

In order to really understand the changes in the commercial market better, I'd like to direct your attention to the attachment two provided in the assessment report.

In attachment two, on the second page, there's the last column, column nine, you'll see the percent change in appreciation.

So that's the market change for each of the different commercial properties that we account for.

Excuse me.

We also account for new construction there.

And so I think that the last column gives you the clearest picture of what the market is doing.

So you'll see when you look at the appreciation that most of the commercial markets are appreciating, including office buildings.

But hotels and shopping centers really do stand out.

And I think we talk about these frequently every year.

These are both types of properties that are most apt to change.

So shopping centers this year saw a large increase as many of the properties had big vacancies over the last many years.

And they were able to lease up the spaces.

So now their value has grown just slightly above the pre-pre-pandemic value.

Hotel property values are tied to that revenue that they earn per room each day.

So even though we saw a good good year for travel compared to some of the years in the past, their value total is not a return to the pre-pandemic values.

So for example, in 2019, the hotels' total value were at about $881 million.

And today they're valued at about $697 million.

So keep in mind there are only 31 hotel properties in the city as well.

So they do punch above their wheat, so to speak, but their total value is still less than other sectors like multifamily rentals.

And when the funding, yeah.

We've heard a lot over the last few months about a slowing in the market and the downturn of flattened consumption taxes.

So the multifamily rental property class shows those effects of the new construction on the overall value change.

So new growth is a large component of why their total values are increasing rather than decreasing this year, primarily due to new high-rise properties.

So from 24 to 25, looking back, the overall multifamily values saw a decrease.

And that continued into some of those reviews and appeals that we saw in the course of 2025.

So you'll see the starting point after those changes if you're looking at the attachment two is a little lower than our January 1 number from 2025.

So and that's because we're a lagging indicator of value.

So that brings us to the new construction part.

So this year we had a few projects come close to completion.

And we saw the starts of projects that we'd been anticipating for a couple of years.

But there's still uncertainty in the market, and there's difficulty obtaining equity capital.

So loans are difficult to obtain because debt capital fluctuating rates.

Lenders are not necessarily reducing their rates.

Labor costs are increasing, and the workforce for labor is decreasing.

So high profile projects like luxury apartments, even with those with all the necessary amenities to support that high value and that high rent, they're just not penciling out.

And so this is stalling the completion and delaying the starts of some of the projects that we see.

So here are some of the projects that we have assessed for 2026, though.

These are the ones that are complete or under construction, those that are contributing to our new growth number.

I'm going to note a couple of these, but this is definitely by no means comprehensive.

These are the big projects that are making up that 456 million in new growth.

So New York City Hall, there's a lot of activity.

We saw the completion of the Aden condominium, River Row Towns, and then Brookbrook Estates townhouses came on the roll.

But on the next slide, the active project here, the active project list is big.

So we're still seeing the partial completion of the tide lock projects, City House, Whitley phase one, they're getting ready to start phase two.

Yet to come, we have some of the conversions that I'll highlight.

And a little further north, there are still plenty of brand new properties under construction at Oakville.

We all know there are more coming soon in Potomac Yard.

So the recent approvals in the Potomac Yard increase the value of those vacant properties.

And all the way back west, we've got our other large hub of new construction.

This is around the former landmark mall, the soon to be INOVA Hospital, now called West End Alexandria, as well as landmark overlook.

And then we've got the Eisenhower Point townhouses, which are nearing completion there.

Coming soon along that same corridor.

We've got the Victory Center site a little further west.

We've got the Vulcan site and office building conversions again near Landmark Mall on Stevenson.

And then if we come back up North Van Dorn, we're a little closer to where we are now.

Newport Village has begun their construction to add more multifamily units.

And we're going to see the smaller Cardinal Path condominium flats coming soon.

And then right around the corner, actually, almost next door to us.

That's the former Hermitage site.

1900 North Beauregard Street.

And then back in the center of the city, we're almost there.

We have housing Alexandria Sansa and Naja, nearing leasing, Whitter Place, affordable multifamily along Duke is underway.

Uh, we have a couple townhouses coming soon along Longview.

Um, and then all the way back north, we have um 3908 Albert Elbert Avenue preparing to expand.

And then finally, uh, we'll bring it home with uh Carlisle and Eisenhower.

Um, we've got uh conversion coming soon um with 187 residential units.

Um so that's the end of my whirlwind tour there, but um, we're finally at our last slide.

Um so as Kevin mentioned, we're gonna mail our assessment notices tomorrow.

And we always encourage anyone who has questions about their assessment to start with our office.

Um, we welcome the opportunity to talk more in depth and more specifically about the properties.

Um so every property owner has two opportunities.

Um, it's the same as every year to contest their real property assessment.

The first one is the review, and its deadline is gonna come soon.

It's gonna be March 16th.

Uh, property owners can send the official form to us.

Um we have a pretty easy to submit form online.

Um you can download it as a PDF.

Um you can mail it to us, and we're happy to mail out a paper copy if anybody needs one.

Um, and then if after the review, property owners not satisfied or they miss the review deadline, the second opportunity is an appeal.

Appeals are heard before the Board of Equalization.

Um they're independent from our office, comprised of fellow property owners who have real estate expertise.

And the appeal form and supporting documentation are due June 1st.

And hearings will be scheduled after that date, and any property value changes to either a review or appeal is always effective January 1st.

Um, and then we also like to remind everyone that April 15th is the deadline for um the elderly and disabled tax relief applications to our finance department.

And so we are very available to walk customers through the review or um appeal forms on our website.

And we're delighted to take a really personalized approach and to start a dialogue.

Um we encourage people to call us at our phone number or um visit our website um for a lot of information about assessments.

Um we're grateful to our colleagues from ITS who really help us put that information out on the web and make it easy to find.

And we I'd like to note that on the tax relief deadline.

That's a pretty fluid deadline.

We work with the Albertland disabled in terms of trying to grant extensions case by case basis, but we're very flexible on that.

And with that, um, I will conclude our presentation and ask accept any questions you may have.

Well, thank you both.

I always have to say, Kevin and Anwin, the way you do your job with such a joy and a smile, and it's just always appreciated, and you can feel it.

You can feel the passion and attention to detail every time you are before us.

Um, number two, I will say I don't think you ever have to apologize for taking the time that you do on going through the different properties.

I think the numbers that stood out to me was that 82% of our tax base are where people live and 456 million is due to new growth.

So I think it is really important that we take time on every project that is contributing to that growth because it is a major piece of what is holding together our future budget.

I had two clarifying questions, and then I'll open it up to my colleagues.

Um, I just want to make sure I captured the number, but I think you said that 63% of properties are going to see an increase in their assessment, so an increase in their tax bill, even before we get into future tax rates and so forth.

That's correct.

So it's 63% of the residential properties are gonna see an increase.

Okay, thank you.

And then you mentioned the comparison with Arlington and Fairfax.

And so I just want to make sure I'm tracking it.

Is it that we not only have a lower assessed value than the properties in Arlington and Fairfax, but we also have fewer number of properties that are in like feeling that increase in assessed value.

And I may be saying it wrong, but I was trying to track both sets of numbers when you gave us the price change.

Through a lot of numbers.

So I think I separated between the residential and the commercial.

Okay.

So in Arlington County, um, they saw an increase of 3.2% in their residential properties, but then they saw a decrease of 1.5% in their commercial property.

Um, they do have a higher average assessment than we do.

Um, so does Fairfax County have a higher average assessment than we do.

Um, but Fairfax County saw um uh an increase more in line with ours.

Um they increased 4.31 in their residential properties.

Um there you go.

Thank you, Kevin.

Uh always prepared.

The numbers are a little easier to digest there.

Um, but you'll see that more of their properties are increasing as well.

Okay.

No, that's helpful because I think sometimes when we get into budget, we also get in comparison with other jurisdictions and to understand like the changes in our assessed values, but also the amount of properties that are changing and the differences between our numbers.

Um, I think it's just really important when we're doing that.

I want to open it up to my colleagues to see if there are any questions.

Councilman Chapman.

Um first, not a question, but a comment.

I think one of the things that I appreciate about the world wind tour about new construction, particularly this year, is the number of properties that um are multifamily but have uh that ground floor retail or that mixture of square footage of retail in them.

Because I do think as we look at where we're going and you know, the challenges of trying to change the dynamic around the percentage of residential to commercial, I think even as we continue to build residential um and multifamily, we're still making sure we have some commercial in there.

Um I think that is really key.

The I think the way that we have shifted as a community to uh mixed use development, I think is really showing its way uh in this development that we have going on um right now.

Uh and so hopefully that continues to bear fruit that we can keep us from having the the commercial change negative negative percentage that we're they're seeing in Arlington because of some of the areas of pure commercial that they have, where we're mixing that in with residential and neighborhood neighborhood serving retail.

I think the key um key takeaway in a different way that I took was um the value of filling vacant space.

I think when you talked about shopping centers and that large percentage, uh, I think that is something I I will be looking at as we move forward in our budgeting.

How we making sure that we we take care of the vacant space that we have here in the city and look to fill that because I think that that will end up showing out in the numbers in the future.

Thank you.

Other questions?

Hi, Samar Bagley.

Um again, yeah, thank you for the presentation.

And um the I I one thing I'd add to Councilman Chapman's comment is the other thing I appreciate about the tour is that there is growth happening everywhere in the city too.

Sometimes we get feedback about, you know, in my neighborhood and my neighborhood.

But I think what that tour shows and what I appreciate about it is there's really contributions happening of all building types throughout the city.

We're seeing townhomes and multifamily and higher rises throughout.

So thanks for bringing that together.

And again, it's on the docket and publicly available.

Um, one thing I was curious about, you know, is the eight percent that went down.

I'm just curious if there's any trend, and there might not be because it's a relatively small figure, but if there's anything that y'all picked up on that we should be mindful of that impacts property values um negatively.

I mean, the other thing is you only gave a down, and they might have gone down like 0.05 in a negligible way.

So do you mind just speaking a little bit to that 8%?

Um sure.

So every every year we um divide the city up into smaller groups of properties, and we're analyzing for residential properties.

We're looking at their sales.

So we're looking at the sales that have happened in a particular set.

So every year we're gonna have some that decrease.

Um and uh I would say we didn't have a lot of large decreases.

Um, they are closer to single digit decreases.

Um we had a smaller amount of uh residential condo sales this year.

And I think a lot of the decreases that we're seeing might be kind of an adjustment to maybe increases that we had seen in the prior years, um, especially in condominiums.

And I would say percents in the normal range.

You wouldn't it's not an indication of a significant problem or anything.

No, I appreciate that.

And that's really what I was I was hoping the answer would be, and that I wanted to draw out, which is in in any city of our size, there will inevitably be pockets where there is a decrease.

Um, and part of why I ask honestly is everything we consider, we often get concerns about impacts to property values.

And so this is an opportunity to sort of see hey, is is a particular area particular kind of housing seeing a hit.

I happen to I happen to look mine up and in full disclosure, like I'm in the 8%, but I absolutely think it's a it's a course correction because I went up wildly last time, you know, and I I don't know at the time I questioned the validity of it, and it seems to have course corrected back down.

So um I appreciate you just kind of taking that a little farther.

Councilwoman Green.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you for the presentation.

I mean you do bring great joy uh to this presentation.

So we appreciate you.

Um just could we bring up the slide with the multifamily commercial percentage?

I think it was 17 point something.

Yeah.

So I know it was in the 17s.

I think I need our ITS.

Yeah.

That's okay.

Um, my question around this um when we when we get it up.

They they pay a lot.

Well, number one, I would love to know how many um complexes that equates to.

And um how it's it's often misconstrued that renters don't pay property tax, but those complexes then put fees after paying taxes into the rents and fees on time, you know, for the renters to pay.

I was wondering, do we look at how that's done from property to property or how it's done in general?

So um we have 365 apartment complexes in the city.

Um, and those are what we call um garden mid-rise and high rise.

Um majority of those are garden um garden properties.

Um, so we are looking at the market indicators there for how much does the rent um bring in, how many expenses go out, and then we're gonna capitalize that income to get an indication of value.

Um we're looking at them the same way an investor would look at a property to purchase.

Um, and so we do look at them in the categories because usually um investor in a garden apartment is going to be a little different than investor in a high-rise apartment.

Um, so they do have different rates, different capitalization, but you are absolutely correct in that um property owners of the apartments or multifamily do pass down the the tax burden to their renters.

Um they they have a big tax bill, and so you're gonna see when the tax bills go up, sometimes the rents go up, and sometimes the um conversely, the capitalization rates might go up too, along with the tax.

It's also important to understand that that 0.94% increase, or mark on the market value of apartments, does not necessarily mean rents are only going up that rents could go up significantly higher.

Um the expenses of apartment is a drag against value.

So the rents are going up.

If expenses are going up, that drags against value.

So it's a combination of those.

Thank you for that explanation.

Councilman O'Neavie.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

First of all, I want to thank you, Kevin, and your team.

Um because of how much you help residents, and these are things people don't get to see.

Every time I refer a resident to you, you always have that posture of a problem solver.

If there's a solution, you find it, and you do it with joy and you do it with grace.

So I really thank you and your team for that.

Alexander's very lucky to have you guys.

Um couple of questions here.

Uh, first of all, at what point in the construction process, at what point does the building start getting taxed?

Yeah.

Um, so as soon as we start seeing improvements to the land.

So, you know, we we're gonna do it annually.

So um we're we're not gonna incrementally uh throw new assessments on properties.

We're gonna do it uh January 1st, and then when it comes to completion.

So if a property was at 80% complete as of January 1, um we do have the opportunity to bring it to 100% when it is finaled, but we'll probably wait until it's finaled rather than increase to 85, increase to 90 and go up that way.

But yeah, and any kind of improvement to the land um is is an improvement that we can tax.

Got it.

Thank you.

Um can you talk to me a little bit of how the commercial to residential conversion helped us with this picture we're seeing here?

Um I think where you'll see some of that this year we didn't have that many properties come to completion.

Um, but where you're gonna see that is in the multifamily rental assessment, new growth.

It increased.

Um, and some of that is from um office buildings turning into multifamily.

So now they were at a lower producing property, and now they're bringing more value to the um assessed values.

Well, it all it also tends to reduce the overall vacancy on commercial, and that's that vacancy rate on the commercial.

It's clearly decreasing um values.

So basically, if we did it like if we didn't do some of the conversions, this office building number, the negative 3.4 would have been much bigger.

And then the residential number would have been much smaller.

Yes.

Yes.

Thank you.

Can we go to the commercial to residential split?

Um the 82 point six or seven, and then like.

I know we talk a lot about the decline in office buildings since COVID and uh drop in demand, but this chart has been getting worse since 2010.

So, what was happening before COVID that contributed to that trend?

The the vacancy rate has been continuing to decline.

I mean, we're I think we're probably at our peak, but um it has been on a downward uh as vacancy increases over time, the values are going to be impacted.

I I guess so what COVID caused office build demand to go down, but before that, we still had vacancies.

I guess what is that?

Why was offices get why were we having a higher vacancy in offices even before COVID?

Is it because our office buildings were getting older, less desirable?

I I would say it's not a an Alexandria problem.

It's it's a regional problem, it's a national problem.

It's in part changing of the business um picture.

Um COVID accelerated by far.

Yeah, but you are certainly starting to get people to downsize their real estate footprint.

They realize they can operate differently, they can telework.

Um they're you know those trend trends have been going on before COVID, but with COVID, they increased uh exponentially, and they haven't really gone back.

It's kind of reached to a new new plateau of that.

Age in the buildings is absolutely some of it.

Um and when you get into times of uncertainty, um, commercial investors are flocking to quality.

They're they're trying to um make certain they're maximizing their rents.

Older building, especially with the trend in vacancies, they're saying that's a risky venture.

They're less apt to invest into that.

Um so I think those the combination of those trends are all part of what's going on.

At the same time, housing is getting more and more expensive.

Yes.

So uh so that's adding to that split.

Housing is getting more expensive and commercials getting there's no question.

And and frankly, um I I referenced hotels earlier, that there's no um guarantee they're gonna continue to go up.

That's a period of uncertainty, particularly with the flattening of the market.

We have the same thing with apartments.

Um this year we we reached a better equilibrium because rents and expenses um more or less balance out for a slight positive.

We still have tariffs going out there, and we still have issues of of construction costs, um, potential inflation.

That could impact us next year in a in a negative way.

But the point you touched on, um, Councilman Al Nubi is a very important one is affordability.

Affordability in this area is a very significant issue.

At any point in time, even with a favorable interest rate, that can affect um market sales.

It could tend to slow things as your prices get to a point where it's it's harder for the um ability to reach.

And then you have the the K economy aspect.

You have the million dollar homes, you have a lot of people that aren't able to reach into that.

And so you really focus on the lower um echelon of private properties.

I think it's very helpful.

I appreciate it.

And that's all, Madam Vice Mayor.

Any other questions or comments from my colleagues?

Vice Mayor, I would like to end with with one note that I think is very important.

I'd like to make certain it's out there for the public.

City hall is closed for renovation.

Um people are very used to coming to City Hall to talk to real estate appraisers.

They can't do that now.

We put it on the assessment notices, we put it on our website, we put it on lots of tax mailers.

You can um certainly call our real estate appraisers and you can email us, but you are also able to make appointments.

Um, we can come in and see appraisers in person by appointment.

And on the notice that gives the telephone number and the email.

And the reason it's by appointment is that we're in our lease space.

We don't have a public counter at that building where they are.

So we ask that they call and make an appointment.

We'll schedule and get time to do it.

But we're very happy to meet them.

We're now at a 100 North Pitt Street.

We just ask they make an appointment and we'll be happy to help them.

Thank you, Mr.

Greenley for that reminder.

And if all else fails, 311 is there for you to direct you where you need to go.

Thank you both very much for the presentation and for all the work that led into it this year.

Thank you very much.

Madam Clerk, next item.

Presentation of the proposed annual operating budget for FY 2027, including schools, the proposed capital improvement program for FY 2027 to FY2036, including school CIP and the proposed tax rate recommendations.

So once again, uh over the last few years, our budgets have prioritized our quality workforce that is the engine by which the community receives essential services.

It needs to be successful.

At the same time, we have consistently made difficult decisions to reduce city operating costs, reimagine the delivery of city services, and delay or not add workforce in some important areas to facilitate balancing the budget, counter rising costs, and avoid placing greater burden on our taxpayers.

During this time, we have also made and continue to make significant, very significant financial commitments to our public school education.

In fact, over the last four years, we have provided over $56 million of new new funding to address the needs of our students and teachers who play a critical role in their education.

As we look ahead, Alexandria's future is bright.

We have a strong set of fiscal policies that you put in place and continue to adhere to a disciplined budgetary approach that addresses our needs now and into the future years.

This approach is especially important in this year and into 2027 due to the continued fiscal pressures caused by federal government policies and decisions, increased costs for goods and services, and the competition for the best talent.

With a focus on making steady progress toward the goal of making life better for our residents and businesses.

I'll provide the details in the for the proposed 2027 budget.

You've seen this agenda before.

And then I want to uh show you the again to the community, the budget calendar, and then finish with uh budget video that hopefully summarizes the message behind this year's budget.

So for your consideration, the budget is ninety nine hundred and seventy-seven million dollars in the general fund operating budget.

It's uh and the capital, the 10-year capital improvement plan is a $2 billion capital improvement plan.

Uh the on the general fund side that represents about a 2.2% increase over this current uh fiscal year.

I uh the proposed budget does not recommend a real estate tax rate increase.

However, it does show $9 million in expenditure reductions.

It makes steady progress from the previous year's investments in many of the programs and initiatives that the council established last year and in previous years that really help our citizens, particularly those that need that the most.

So also continued focus on the four council priorities that I'll highlight later in the presentation.

And then it's also strategic funding in trying to grow our commercial tax base.

You just had a significant assessment discussion.

And if you'll notice that one chart that sticks in, I think everyone's mind about the 82%.

Uh growing the commercial tax base reduces the burden on our taxpayers.

It places uh relieves pressure on uh future growth uh opportunities where we have uh a little bit more of a balanced budget.

Uh and the growth in the commercial tax base has a compounding effect on the revenue that's come that comes into the city.

So the more commercial opportunities that we build from a quality standpoint, the larger our tax base grows, which means that there's less burden on the residents.

Some of the highlights in this budget proposal, 32% of all of our CNU city funding goes to ACPS for operating capital needs, almost a third.

Funds uh for existing collective bargaining agreements and a step increases uh through merit, and then a one and a half percent pay scale adjustment for all eligible non-collectively bargained employees is in this proposed budget.

Almost $34 million in housing support and opportunities are in this budget.

We have increased funding for food hubs and other survival programming.

That's really related to some of the senior services and shelter operations.

And then continued funding for early childhood intervention programs.

And then we also uh have provided over a million dollars in economic development funding to try to again to continue to try to grow responsibly in the commercial sector.

So those are some of the highlights.

I do want to talk a little bit about how we built the budget.

Um, this is a very significant process, and I hopefully it's instructive to the community.

So we always start with the the priorities that the council established, and we make sure that these priorities are for are at the front and forefront of all of our conversations related to uh what stays in the budget and what perhaps gets lost and gets removed.

So uh quickly uh advancing housing opportunities, reducing community disparities, strengthening our economy, and retaining and recruiting a thriving workforce.

That's all through the lens of uh equity and climate action that we've proposed this budget.

So you see that this slide shows revenue forecasting and organizational review.

We go through a very lengthy and comprehensive process to review every aspect of our current budget, the performance and value of our current programs, our cost to effectively operate city government.

We also focus on revenues using historical and actual data to inform this aspect of our budget preparation.

It should be noted that this was particularly challenging this year given the uncertainty created at the federal level and federal decision making.

A great example of that is the tariff uh decisions that frankly changed almost every day.

That is very difficult to manage in terms of certainty in the capital markets, the resident the development markets, as well as in city government as we're trying to procure goods and services.

In terms of that development process, uh we really look to review all of our costs for every single service that we provide uh in this budget.

We examine opportunities where we might be able to provide some level of savings.

We ask the question are we the best organization to provide these services?

Is someone else able to provide it more effectively and more efficiently?

We also look and ask the departments.

We have multiple departments and then I want to commend all of our department directors and leadership as well as their staffs.

This budget that's being presented to you cannot be this way without tremendous collaboration and support from all those departments and pitching in to assist us during this challenging time.

So it really starts with a lot of conversations with our community and building a budget.

We have boards and commissions information that we receive.

We uh get information from council members in your normal conversations throughout the community.

And we also get them through uh our conversations that we have with neighborhood organizations, civic organizations, uh, individual conversations.

Uh I live in the city and I walk around the city quite often and get stopped quite often about opportunities to learn a little bit about what people think that that we should be doing differently or enhance.

Um, all that goes into a more formalized process where departments propose two things.

They propose uh reductions or efficiencies in their own budgets since they are the experts in those.

And then they also submit uh where they they believe they need additional resources uh with accompanying cuts uh to help cover the cost of those.

And then there's a series of conversations and discussions, some formal, some informal in the departments.

Our deputy city managers who are here tonight, they play a critical role in the review of those proposals and not just the review of the proposals, but the decision making as to what stays in and out of the budget.

And then this all results in a presentation that we're doing tonight to present uh proposed budget to you uh for the council.

Just a little bit more on our decision making.

You know, when we think about additions, we look at uh alignment with city council priorities.

We look at whether these are mandated, absolute required uh elements.

Uh we look at uh making sure that our infrastructure is in a good state of repair.

Um good example of that.

This gives me a chance to explain that given the weather situation, we'll be doing some work on potholes.

I know that's that's that's right at the forefront right now.

Uh, that's an example of taking care of your infrastructure so that it's maintained in good condition.

Uh protecting obviously life safety, making sure people feel safe in our community, and continuing vital services.

When we look at reductions, we really look at you know whether we can reallocate some of our resources.

Can we take advantage of efficiencies uh including technology efficiencies?

You'll see in this budget, there is some uh piloting of proposed piling of some uh artificial intelligence technology uh to help us uh gain more efficiency uh in our uh government operations.

We reexamine and uh continually look at our vacant positions to see asking the question is that a position needed, or is it a position that perhaps we can forgo for a year or longer?

We look at uh prior year savings to make sure that when we allocate money that it's being used for that purpose, and then we always look at uh minimizing the impact of services, particularly services to people that have no other choice but to use those services.

We also base all of our decisions based on the fiscal policies that the council has established.

Uh, we do not deviate from these fiscal policies in this budget.

Adherence to these policies is one of the key reasons that we've been able as a city to obtain the triple A bond rating by independent rating agencies.

That saves us millions of dollars over that 10-year capital uh program.

So that's how we build the budget.

Now I'm gonna transition into uh revenues, and then we'll go into costs.

This this pie chart shows a breakdown of the general fund revenue.

It's 977 million dollars, which again is about 2.2% above uh where we are today.

What I would want to note on this slide, it's it's quite busy, but note that the state revenue, which is up on about 11 o'clock on the the pie chart.

The state revenue is less than 6% of our revenue, which does not pay for the state mandates.

They provide us with 6% or six, 6% of our revenue.

And there's a slide later that I'm gonna articulate a little bit why that's so important.

Um on the revenue side, we are also again uh not suggested, not recommending a change in the tax rate, the property tax rates.

Um we continue to provide the uh tax relief to elderly, disabled, and veterans.

Um keep in mind that last year that number, the current year, that would number was right around 10 million.

So that's grown two million in one year.

That's significant.

And there's no change in the other tax rates proposed.

We also looked at revenues from potentially some fee increases and some additional collection opportunities.

Um I'm not gonna go into detail here because you'll have several work sessions to do that, but I do want to highlight, particularly the largest one, which is really related to some market rate charges related to parking, parking meter rates.

Um, we hadn't changed these rates in quite a while, and uh those that rate uh would be increasing from $1.75 to $250.

And um that's fairly consistent with what the region is doing, and that that is consistent again with uh the need to continue to be market competitive.

Sometimes some of those rates will help us, uh, particularly on a business environment, like say on a Sunday, where right now those spaces are being taken up by perhaps uh cut not customers utilizing those businesses because they're free at this point.

So a small charge might help those those parking um those parking spaces move rather quickly so that the opportunity for our our businesses uh to have customers be able to park should they not want to use our our free transit service or walk or bike on the enterprise funds.

Um, the only one that is changing here, no change in the sanitary sewer or the refuse rate, but we continue to uh put investment into the stormwater to address uh flooding and stormwater issues, and that's that is uh a 5% growth uh for future project needs.

So, what does this really mean to the average uh the resident uh on a tax bill?

So uh you heard again heard the the uh appraisals talking about single family condominium and overall.

So overall uh on an annual basis, the to for to an average uh uh assessed value property, um, it's roughly $26 a month in an increase in your tax bill.

Uh to a single family home uh average assessed value of a little bit over a million dollars would be 42 dollars a month.

And to a condominium average, it's 12 a month.

So that's the revenue on the expenditures.

This is the summary slide.

Just want to call attention to a couple of key things here.

Um the city operations that's growing at 2.5%.

You recall last year, I think it was about 1.8%, which was lower than the cost of the inflation.

Um of that two 2.5% is is not made up by new growth.

That's that's also related to the $9 million in cutting expenditures to afford some of the compensation and and manage some of our operations that are necessary based on cost increases.

Um as you can see, the total expenditure changes around 2.2%.

Um, just to emphasize this point, this has been a systematic approach to how we look at budgeting.

So over the last uh five budget cycles, the city has found efficiencies at 30, almost 31 million dollars.

And what that really means is that gives us the opportunity to do all the things that we're trying to accomplish um without putting significant burden on our taxpayers.

But but it but it without that, without those efficiencies, without those reductions, without looking at budgets that acutely, what that would mean is that we would either have to incur additional uh tax rate increases, or we would not be able to achieve uh some of the things that we're trying to achieve in this budget.

Um, and we would ask all of our partners to to look at how we budget to do that, because that's everyone needs to contribute to achieve this uh given some of the uncertainty uh that we're facing at the federal level.

In terms of staffing in this budget, we are eliminating 45 uh full-time equivalent positions.

Um those are all vacant at this point.

Um, but we are cutting 45 positions out of the FY27 budget.

Um we are adding seven positions back, four of those are in uh with firefighters to achieve the 46 hour collective bargaining.

Uh one is in the health department with the community engagement manager who uh is uh native embark speaker, and uh two uh positions in uh the ITS department, uh one particularly with uh related to cybersecurity, which continues to be a significant threat for us.

And then there's three positions that we've recommended to freeze for about half a year.

One of them is in climate action, and two are in office of communication.

So when we think about other expenditures, uh one of the key areas is the city support for youth.

Um, so in this slide, you'll see that uh the combination of uh operating budget and capital improvement proposal for ACPS is 336 million uh add roughly almost 29 million from city operating and capital funding for youth services, and that equals about 365 million on an annual basis to support our youth, um, not just uh in periods of the day, but throughout the entire day as long term, they're our future.

Um this is a slide council asked about uh previously, um, and I just want to highlight what what the mean behind this slide is is if you look at uh one o'clock and about three o'clock, uh city personnel that are collectively bargained, our our expenditures are somewhere around 15% uh and non-collectively bargaining at 16 percent.

Keep in mind that's before uh per the the next round of collective bargaining for professionals should they be certified.

So that number will clearly jump um from 15%, probably you know, to the largest percent on the uh the bargaining side as opposed to non-bargaining side of the equation.

Um just a little bit more on where the new revenue is going.

Um revenue is going again, 6.7 uh million dollars to ACPS, the collective bargaining was $7 million roughly, and then smaller increases with city operations and transit.

Um this is a very simplified graphic of the budget process uh for our school system, which is much more complex uh than is illustrated.

Um but I wanted to highlight two points with this slide.

The first one is that city council makes the decision on the level of uh funding for the school system.

Under the current model, the city council makes the decision on the amount of funding that goes to this to the school system.

The second point, ACPS decides how to prioritize the funding and where to allocate the funding that's not the city council under this current model.

So for instance, on Saturday, there was quite a few people on the put in the at the public hearing asking council not to cut individual programs out of our public school system.

Um, our current model, that is not a decision that the city council makes.

That is a decision for the school board and the administration at the school system.

And that's I just wanted to highlight that in the slide because I think we've gotten numerous questions related to that.

So the operating transfer proposed is 286.6 million dollars, which represents 4.2 million or 1.5% increase from FY26.

Uh the school's increase in the operating transfer and debt service is about six point two six point seven million, which ends up being about two percent increase over the uh FY26 budget.

I want to illustrate uh the point I made earlier about uh sustained funding in a really important priority, a priority of uh assisting our our children with their education and and supporting our quality teachers.

Uh when you look from FY23 to 27, 56 million dollar increase in uh budget has been provided, which is roughly a 20% increase over those years.

Uh and then as we know, the enrollment has been uh growing slowly.

Um, and I don't mean to say that that's indicative of the need.

It's just indicative of a piece of information I think that's helpful.

But I do want to highlight that this budget provides a significant amount of funding to meet the needs of each and every child and pay our teachers well, supporting classroom learning to prepare our children for our bright future.

This will require uh the school board and then school administration to use the almost 300 million in funding they will receive from the city to prioritize the needs of our students and support our teachers.

While the uncertainty in the economy created by federal government decision has constrained available funding, the significant investment the city has made in our public school system, totally over the 56 million in the last four years, does provide needed funding uh to prioritize our students, classroom learning and teachers to strengthen our school system this year and into the future.

On the priority of affordability, um, again, just to remind the community, we are not recommending in this proposed budget uh tax rate increase.

We continue to provide the uh elderly disabled and veteran tax release, and we continue to support the free dash service.

In terms of housing, um, that's the $33.8 million dollars in housing supports to advance uh affordable housing goals.

What I would highlight here on the right side is that um the housing uh affordability, the the additional money dedicated to affordable housing increased by almost a million dollars, eight hundred and thirteen thousand dollar increase uh this year uh related to some of the supports.

Um as a rule of thumb, um every city dollar of that 11.6 million in development and preservation funding leverages about four or five dollars from other sources.

So that is a pretty good ROI when you think about how to grow the housing supply.

And I know that's something that the council is want to continue to uh pursue opportunities to do.

On the reducing community disparities, one second, Mr.

Manager.

Councilman Gary.

Apologies, uh Mr.

City Manager.

Um if you don't know it off the top of your head, that's okay.

But I was curious uh what our uh one percent for the meals tax brought in recently.

Um you guys can get back to us.

It's okay.

I'll get that for you.

Yeah, okay.

Okay, we'll come back to that.

Um, in terms of reducing community disparities, um, there's there's a lot here.

Most of this, frankly, is one-time funding.

Um, there are some recurring funds there.

Uh, you'll see $750,000 uh for the alive food hubs, $325,000 for some of the survival programming.

Uh, that's the emergency shelter and meals for seniors.

Um for one-time funding for the early child intervention programs, including child health care referrals, home visits, and preschool.

Uh, we are funding uh recommending funding the community outreach manager for in the health department uh to support the Alex Brees program.

Uh that was grant funded previously.

Um you recall in last year's budget you added uh line 32 expansion as a pilot.

Uh that pilot is now moving forward, and I'm recommending that we continue funding for another year since the pilot uh I think is not has had a few months of of use uh of use and service.

Um we don't really know how successful it's going to be at this point.

Uh we are funding recommending funding the Alexandria Recovery Court.

Uh we're increasing some of the funding for volunteer Alexandria by $15,000.

That's primarily to support our seniors, not just in the winter challenge or the storm event that we had, but in some other opportunities where our seniors really just need a little extra assistance.

And volunteer Alexandria has done a nice job of that.

Uh, and then we continue to carry the balance forward for the lost grant funding.

I call this the protection against some of the poor decisions that the federal government could make.

And these are typically grant program that really provide the sole support, the sole safety net for some of our community.

It's I think critically important.

In terms of strengthening the economy, the this is this was was one of the strategic focuses in this budget.

We are continuing to add 200,000 in one-time funding for Visa Alexandria, really to help push uh marketing and trying to drive visitor traffic into our community.

Every time a visitor spends a dollar, they don't really use our service heavily, and yet they contribute to our tax base.

And you'll have a work session tomorrow, and we'll cover some of the details of that.

But I did want to highlight that included in that 750 is $300,000 in small business support and a couple program recommendations that we'd like to have council consider.

And then we're also carrying forward the balance designation for of $1 million for the economic incentives.

We did that this past year, and we we would suggest that we do that again next year.

The focus for all of that is to continue to not just uh try to grow uh new recruitment of large bus large employers, large businesses.

That's certainly an opportunity.

But really, what this is about is making sure that we protect and enhance and grow and retain some of our best small businesses that really are the lifeblood of a lot of our economic development.

And then the million dollar designation for economic incentives, that represents the opportunity where we might have have uh potential prospect where it would be generating employment, such as systems planning that was announced in this past year that generated a significant amount of new jobs or will generate a significant amount of new high-paying jobs, hopefully for Alexandria residents.

And that's one of the ways to do wealth creation in our city and help people with economic mobility.

On the goal of recruiting and retaining our thriving workforce, um, obviously we have the collective bargaining that uh really is a demonstration of uh the support um for our uh quality staff, which is great.

Um we also are proposing the one one and a half percent cost of living and the step and benefit for non-collectively bargained employees.

And we continue to carry forward the compensation adjustment.

That's the cyclical uh compensation adjustments that are underway, looking at every four years, every position gets looked at.

And we're fortunate that the Virginia retirement system uh cost, we had some savings in that that we could put to uh finding a way to do some of this.

Again, just pointing out that's how we do this budget.

It's not just use the new money.

We are always looking at where can we find new ways to find opportunities to uh redeploy resources differently.

And then there's a couple of specific items in this area uh fire.

There's a promotional process that again trying to get to the 46-hour uh work week, and then in our 911 operators to the community deck is essentially 911.

Uh it's 911 and 311, but 911 is where the hiring bonuses and and that bonus of 10,000 is not a one-time bonus.

It's spread over multiple staff, multiple recruitment and retaining of staff uh at small increments where they gain certifications and and experience.

And then the one I would just highlight here on Thriving Workforce is the flexible hybrid work environment.

I just want to um, and this is hopefully for prospective employees.

We are a city that uh wants a great work-life balance, and uh we have a flexible work environment where uh we're a combination of in-person and uh remote work environment, and that that is proven very successful, particularly for uh people joining our workforce.

We also are fortunate that we have a solid uh retirement system in place that helps us retain our employees.

A couple other significant investments in the Metro, that's a $7 million increase.

That's really related to the DMV moves.

We are also in particular putting small amounts of money.

It's not significant, not large amounts of money, but it's a focus on improving the quality appearance of some of our older facilities.

We can't necessarily renovate massively our buildings, but say in our parks and rec areas, just taking quality care of the facility, providing a little bit extra investment to repaint, to change out some of the plumbing, the fixtures, things like that, make it a little bit more quality environment for our residents, youth and seniors in particular, that uh what would take advantage of that opportunity.

We also increase the storm emergency funding.

That was around $800,000.

We've added uh a couple hundred thousand dollars to that balance.

Uh and then that three million, that's really related to uh anything from natural disasters to uh significant changes that uh the federal administration might impose upon us.

And then the opportunity for some small uh special events transition where some of the signature special events we would transition away from a contracted role and into from visit Alexandria and into a more of a city directed role, uh working with great partners.

I think this slide is particularly important in that it it shows so many of our partners and how they assist our community in providing such great service.

Everything from the NOVA regional park to shelter care to voter registration, which um this year in particular, there's been a lot of uh elections.

Um you can see our our fantastic library system, DASH, uh carpenter shelter.

So it's a really a mix of uh really quality partners that help us provide the type of service that the community needs.

And I want to take them in on this slide.

Um I alluded to the little bit more than 5% coming from the state.

Um, if you look at this slide, it says total FY27 city funding, 30 million dollars.

So the cost of state reimbursed staff is at 41.4 million dollars, 41.4 million dollars.

The state reimburses us at 11.3 million dollars, which means there's a net subsidy of 30 million dollars, and that doesn't even include the non-personnel cost of operating these departments.

The point with this is that with assistance from the state in a fair way in supporting the state positions and the constitutional officers, this will relieve some of the pressure on our budgets in order to be able to fund some of the things that we're not able to fund in this budget, including perhaps additional supports for our public school system.

Just a little bit about challenges ahead.

Um, I'm an optimistic person.

We're gonna manage these effectively, but I wanted to highlight a few of those.

You've heard me say a couple times about the uncertainty economically driven by uh policies and decisions at the federal level.

Uh that continues to be not a small concern, but a serious concern to the point where we've put some uh guarantees or protections financially in our in this proposed budget.

Uh next year is also a year where our debt service in our CIP is going to be approaching one of the highest it's been, and that's because we have a couple of large projects in that.

And then uh council had asked about uh if uh in the in the budget guidance, if there was an additional tax rate increase, say of one cent, what would be recommended?

And what I would recommend at this point would be to put that allocation towards capital, should the council want to do that and be happy to talk more in detail about that in some of your work sessions.

So on to capital, just again to remind everyone about capital.

It's a 10-year capital plan.

It's two point billion dollars.

Uh FY27, it was it was uh about three and a half, or the previous year was about uh three percent less than that.

Um we continue in the CIP to maintain investments in state of good repair of the city assets.

Um we have a very aging set of facilities, but we continue to make incremental progress on that, and we are uh continuing the commitment to the school's capital plan for the approved CIP.

year capital plan it's two point bil two two billion dollars uh fy 27 it was it was uh about three and a half or the previous year was about uh three percent less than that um we continue in the CIP to maintain investments in state of good repair of the city assets um we have a very aging set of facilities but we continue to make incremental progress on that and we are uh continuing the commitment to the school's capital plan for the approved CIP just like in our operating budgets we have strong fiscal policies that we adhere to uh in this CIP we do the same um and you can see the debt as a percent um really the goal there is never to take on more debt than we are able to guarantee that we can cover um in a very conservative nature so where's the money going in the CIP you can you can really see the different parts the the biggest chunk of that is transportation you know that's that's metro that's Dash some of the large ones uh stormwater management is 230 million dollars again that's really about taking care of this state of good repair making sure we're addressing flooding um you know I'd also call attention to the IT plan uh we continue to try to use technology as much as possible to be uh more efficient and effective in how we operate so for ACPS uh capital funding uh we are uh proposing an F an FY27 to fund 25 million dollars for their their next year CIP which funds 100% of the school board's uh FY27 capital budget request remember we all we allocate in one year we plan for the other nine um the proposed 10 year total is 193 million that funds a little less than 70 percent of the school board's capital funding uh plan request um i do want to highlight what's what what I'm proposing council consider is the removal of 88.7 million from uh the 10 year plan um that is not being allocated to any other project but what that 88 million comprises is the proposed uh transportation improvements transportation facility improvements um the two renovations of uh Patrick Henry and Jefferson Houston as well as looking to find an opportunity to accelerate and put back core killy elementary school into the 10 year plan trying to align that closer to Chick Armstrong renovation um I know this is this is different this is not unusual we have done this as a city before but what this really is about is identifying that these are such significant land use decisions these are these are catalytic changes that can happen in our community and they require the city council who has the ultimate authority around land use and how our city is built and how our city grows that that conversation and those funds have been removed to a basically reservation for capital capacity.

And over the next year with the the city council leading that conversation uh working with the school board to try to address again these these these critical issues particularly the the movement of Cora Kelly forward and how to address uh the middle school capacity and uh particularly additional conversations around um uh Jefferson Houston elementary school and Patrick Henry so those are not in the 10 year plan at this point uh subject to additional conversation and direction from the city council as the lead agency making those future land use decisions this chart just shows the dark blue is is really uh shows the proposed capital funding for the schools the light blue shows where by year where those that 88 million in reservation uh exists the point I would try to make there if you look at FY27 and FY28 those are fully uh there they they are planned at the 100% capacity so we have a little bit of time uh to take the proper planning to review some of this that doesn't mean that there wasn't good planning it just means this decision is so significant to the community that it really needs the council's uh direction to our staff on the budget calendar uh you've seen this before this sort of shows the combined uh ACPS budget calendar and city calendar this this slide really isn't intended to be exhaustive although it looks exhaustive it's eight work sessions four budget related public hearings two employee town halls several presentations to the public um some pop ups a lot of different conversations this is all around trying to continue to to get feedback and input by from our community in regard to arguably one of the most important things the city can do and that's adopting a budget which is an expression

It's eight work sessions, four budget-related public hearings, two employee town halls, several presentations to the public, um, some pop-ups, a lot of different conversations.

This is all around trying to continue to get feedback and input from our community in regard to arguably one of the most important things the city can do, and that's adopting a budget, which is an expression of where what we are prioritizing.

So with that, if you would indulge me, I'd like to do one more thing and show a video that is a fairly short video, but it it really tries to tie, you know, what is this budget really about.

Progress doesn't always arrive with fanfare.

Sometimes it looks like showing up every day and doing the work that helps keep the city moving forward.

In fiscal year 2027, our focus is simple and intentional, steady progress.

Steady progress doesn't happen all at once.

It happens through careful planning, smart land use, and continued investment in housing options for a range of incomes and needs.

The FY27 proposed budget supports long-term housing stability and strengthening neighborhoods across Alexandria.

People come to us at different moments in their lives.

Sometimes they need a hand, sometimes they need a path forward.

Steady progress means reducing disparities by strengthening support systems, expanding access to essential services, and responding with care and dignity.

The FY27 proposed budget invests in the well-being of Alexandrians, helping individuals and families move towards stability and long-term opportunity.

This city invests in its small businesses.

That support makes a difference, especially when you're trying to grow.

Progress means moving Alexandria forward, supporting existing businesses, welcoming new ones, and growing a stable tax base that supports our community.

The FY 2027 proposed budget includes investments that help Alexandra remain competitive, resilient, and ready for the future.

Steady progress depends on a strong city workforce.

Employees who are supported, trained, and equipped to deliver essential services every day.

That responsibility matters.

The FMAR27 proposed budget invest in recruitment, retention, and the people who keep Alexandra running on the front lines and behind the scenes.

The FY27 proposed budget reflects steady progress, thoughtful investments, careful planning, and a shared commitment to Alexander's future for all.

They've worked pretty much every day, thousands of hours, um, combing every aspect of our budget to deliver what you have in front of you today.

Well, first, thank you, Mr.

Manager, for the presentation and really walking us through sort of the budget and the investments that we will make to continue progress in so many important necessary services, but also in our amazing uh workforce.

I also too want to thank the team.

I know it is such a team effort, and I saw some of the video celebrities in the audience.

Um it was it was just great to see there.

At this point, I want to open it up to my colleagues in case there are any initial comments or reflections before we start tomorrow through our 14 or so meetings every week.

Vice Mayor Bagley.

Um yeah, no, thank you to everybody involved.

Um, and uh in one thing I just wanted to highlight, because I was asked, I've already been asked twice by residents is when the ad delete deadline is for council.

And I just if we can bring the schedule up real quick, I believe it's April 9th on there.

And I just wanted to highlight that because over the years we've tried better, I think to make sure that the community knew when the ad delete deadline was, so that the advocacy that happened after that point was keyed to those ad deletes.

Um just wanted to reiterate.

Yeah, so Thursday, April 9th is when our ad deletes will be due.

And then we will have another hearing uh it looks like on the 18th, where people can comment.

And I think that's something we've tried to yeah, tried to um highlight uh in the process.

Thank you.

And just speaking of that prep process, I don't know if Director Route wants to comment.

Um, but one thing you will notice, given all the special elections is there are only six of us.

Um the earliest that we would get a new member after the April 21st election would be May 2nd.

And so that is after the budget process.

I did ask uh director Route if that means if we have to change anything for our ad deletes and like the number of co-sponsors and all of that.

Um if you want to comment, but it seems like the answer is no.

No, I don't I don't think that can make any um difference as far as the co-sponsorship rule or any of the other rules as far as the ad deletes are concerned.

So all rules stay the same.

And for anyone uh just so it's a remember on the process, this is the first budget memo.

It's already up there what the rules are in terms of how it works, the key deadlines, sponsorship, and and all of that.

Uh Councilman Chapman.

I just do want to ask a quick question on that point.

If we get to those budget work sessions, uh those uh ad delete work sessions, and there is a three-three vote on something, it it dies, correct?

Um, Madam City Attorney, do you want to comment on this?

Yeah.

Add delete is an internal process, and so it's not governed by the state code.

But it is not accounted for in the rules, but it would be my opinion that it would die.

And I think we did try, we'll circulate that, but I think we're gonna try and document everything so that everyone's on the same page about because this will feel a little different.

Um, other questions or comments.

Uh Councilman Alnubi.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Can we go to slide 43, please?

43.

The one that talks about the HPS capital funding.

Yeah.

There you go.

Thank you.

Um just to make a comment about the process and uh further conversations that are needed um to come to some of these decisions in order to be able to release that 88.7 million dollars.

Um, especially around the middle school capacity question, the ACPS is grappling with.

Um, the vice mayor and I signed on a letter with two other school board members, school board member Rena and school board member booze to propose a process and a framework for how we can go about making these decisions, or specifically the middle school decision and how we can have this conversation.

Um so we put together a framework so we can look at like board member Rena says the full chess board.

We can look at the full picture together.

Um, so we suggested two members from each body to form like a subcommittee and can work for a limited amount of time on this middle school question, come up with proposals, present them to both bodies to come up with um a decision.

So I just wanted to highlight this um proposal um for the public who probably may not be familiar with it.

Um obviously it's a decision for both bodies to decide if that's sub if that is a process they want to adopt.

Um, but that's the proposal that's out there right now.

Yeah, I would just um so I guess two things.

One, I think where you started at is I do see this as an opportunity.

We talk about ways for us to work together, and I think figuring out how we plan together and share information about where the city's going, but also how we are very honest and transparent about what we know about land use and sort of where we are growing and and moving as a city is important.

Just in response to the memo, I do know that that was received by the um city schools committee in December.

Uh in January, we had to cancel due to snow.

In February, we also had to cancel due to snow.

Um, so hopefully in March we will be able to take up that conversation.

Councilman Chapman.

Yeah, and I would just say um I'd be kind of cautious about uh attaching that process to this budget process that's uh you know we have uh as we just said, uh April 9th deadline for ad deletes.

And so um while that discussion is is gonna happen.

I think it is probably going to happen beyond this particular budget cycle.

Um obviously the the last two meetings being uh postponed doesn't help.

Um, but I would I would caution kind of trying to tack that on to what we're we're already currently doing.

Councilman O'Nebe.

Um I and I totally agree with my colleague here.

Wicks but we can also kind of talk through um what sort of timeline we need to be on to make decisions knowing that we allocate in year one but we plan in the others and so we can add that to tomorrow's discussion.

Any further comments okay then um sorry I can't tell if people are like raising their hand director route uh if I could just real quick the affordable housing question the dedication for 27 is 10.6 million dollars about 6.4 is from the meals tax and a little bit more than four million dollars from the real estate dedication with that I will just invite the public this is only the beginning we're not asking a lot of questions tonight because we break down every piece of this into a weekly update where we go department by department and so those sessions I believe will be in this very room uh starting tomorrow and so and invite folks to come um submit questions two other things that I would offer up I just saw this on our budget website um so I was really excited we not only have the comment form that we've had in years past but staff is now offering sort of weekly questions to get your feedback on different parts of the budget and so it's a new engagement tool that we're offering and so we just encourage people to go take the polls take the surveys but they will be I think in if I'm describing it correctly it seems like they'll be coming out frequently throughout the budget and give you a chance to interact with the content that we're receiving as we're receiving it each week so that's a new a new tool that you will see.

And so with that um just thank you again to staff thank you Mr.

Manager for a great presentation and we will look forward to seeing everybody tomorrow.

Um let's see madam clerk next item contested appointment Alexandria redevelopment housing authority three citizen members okay um so for folks who are familiar with our process we typically do board and commission appointments at our first legislative meeting we added this to um today's agenda because we wanted to be responsive in making sure that we help fill the remaining seats for the RHA board recognizing how critical it is to continue upon our path for a fresh start and um strong leadership to help with the future of that organization.

We had over 20 something people apply so I want to thank everybody for their commitment and excitement and being a part of this board.

It is our process that I will read the names of those who received um votes and then I will announce the majority vote getters and then we will take a vote to um accept those so um we need three citizen members those who receive votes Michael Butler received all all six votes at the council William Campbell received one vote Anna Gray received four votes Cassandra Lewis received four votes Renisha Parker received one vote Albert Sam received two votes and so the majority vote getters for appointment will be Michael Butler Anna Gray and Cassandra Lewis and you can see all of the names in the notes and the exact numbers of votes um in the minutes is there a motion to receive um the majority vote getters as read into the record there's been a motion by councilwoman green and a second by vice mayor bagley any discussion seeing none madam clerk this is a roll call vote please call the roll councilwoman green aye vice mayor bagley mayor gaskins aye councilman gear councilman chapman councilman al newbie aye okay madam clerk next item consideration of city council schedule is there a okay there's been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by councilman chapman to approve the city council schedule all those in favor say aye any opposed all right the ayes have it at this point we have reached the end of our um business meeting however we need to go back into close executive session if you recall when we started the meeting we went into executive session but we did not complete that portion of the meeting and so we will go back under the same exemption that was previously read into the record by councilman Agiri and then when we are finished we will come back out and vote to certify.

So at this time councilman Agiri Madam Mayor move to reconvene in closed session um given the code section previously cited there has been a motion by councilman and a second by councilwoman green to reconvene and close executive session all those in favor say aye aye any oppose all right the ayes have it we are now in executive session

Any opposed?

The eyes have it.

Councilman Gary.

All right.

There has been a motion and a second to adopt the resolution that was previously circulated to the council.

Any discussion?

Please call the roll.

The eyes have it.

Is there a motion to adjourn?

There's been a motion by Vice Mayor Bagley and a second by councilman Green to adjourn tonight's meeting.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The eyes have it.

Meeting uh adjourned.