ALEXANDRIA, Va. — City staff recommended Saturday that Alexandria take more time before asking voters to approve a 1% local sales tax for school construction and public transportation, and council members raised a range of questions about whether the new state option would work for the city.

The option reached Northern Virginia through the budget the General Assembly passed in June. Outside Planning District 8, the money is limited to school construction and renovation. Inside it — the Northern Virginia district that includes Alexandria — it can go to schools, public transportation or a combination.

A penny would generate about $35.9 million a year, Finance Director Kevin Greenlief told Council at its annual budget retreat, and would take Alexandria's rate from 6% to 7%. State law exempts groceries and essential personal hygiene products, which the state estimates at about 17% of the city's sales tax base, carving out $7.4 million.