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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Alexandria City Council convenes in special session Wednesday to adopt a $977.3 million fiscal 2027 operating budget, set the city's real estate tax rate for calendar year 2026 and take final votes on a package of tax, fee and code changes.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 29 in the council chamber at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center, 4850 Mark Center Drive.
City Manager James Parajon's proposed budget recommends holding the real estate tax rate flat at $1.135 per $100 of assessed value, generating a projected $578.1 million. In March, council voted unanimously to advertise a ceiling of $1.145, preserving the option of a one-cent increase before Wednesday's vote. Each penny on the real estate rate yields about $4.9 million in revenue.
Ryan Belmore
Even a nominally flat rate amounts to a tax increase under Virginia law. The rate that would hold total real estate revenue at 101% of last year's level is $1.107 — nearly three cents below the proposed rate — which is why the ordinance carries a state-mandated "effective tax rate increase" notice. Rising property assessments drive the effect; the average assessed value of a single-family home in Alexandria crossed $1 million for the first time this year.
The proposed rate continues the one-cent dedication for affordable housing, projected to generate $4.9 million in fiscal 2027, and the 2.2-cent reservation for transportation projects, projected at $10.8 million. The 20-cent Potomac Yard Tier I special services district tax, which funds the Potomac Yard Metrorail station, continues unchanged and is expected to raise $1.77 million. Personal property tax rates are also unchanged: $5.33 per $100 on vehicles, $4.75 on business tangible property and $4.50 on machinery and tools. Elderly, disabled and qualifying veteran tax relief is expected to total $12 million.
The substantive budget decisions are largely settled. At an April 21 work session on add/delete proposals — the council members' own spending additions and deletions to the manager's budget — members reached majority support on all 11 items on the table, prompting Mayor Alyia Gaskins to cancel a follow-up session scheduled for April 27.
Ryan Belmore
Members declined to support an ordinance extending meter hours to Sundays, choosing instead to raise the hourly meter rate from $1.75 to $2.75 and parking citations from $40 to $55 to close the same projected revenue gap. The Sunday meters ordinance remains on Wednesday's docket for a formal up-or-down vote, a procedural step the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services described as providing "closure."
The meter rate has not changed since 2010, when it rose from $1 to $1.75. The $1 increase is projected to generate about $2.4 million in additional revenue, accounting for a projected 5% drop in transactions. The city's Traffic and Parking Board voted 7-0 in May 2025 to recommend an even higher rate of $3. A separate resolution Wednesday also raises residential pay-by-phone rates on more than 30 blocks — most south of King Street and east of Washington Street — that are currently pegged to the meter rate.
The citation increase would be the first since 2007, when the penalty for most parking violations rose from $25 to $40. Meter citations caught up in 2010. Higher penalties already on the books — $200 for parking in an HOV lane, $500 for parking in a space reserved for a person with a disability and escalating fines of $100 to $350 for commercial heavy-vehicle violations — are unchanged. T&ES Director Leah Riley estimated the increase would generate about $1.35 million annually based on roughly 90,000 citations a year, though she noted revenue could come in lower as drivers change behavior. A file of public comment letters and emails is attached to the ordinance.
Also on the docket is final passage of an ordinance raising the Business, Professional and Occupational License tax rate on financial services businesses from $0.35 to $0.40 per $100 of gross receipts — the first increase in that category in at least 30 years. The new rate would take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and is projected to generate $458,500, which will fund a same-dollar increase to the city's emergency rental assistance program. Council added another $100,000 from contingency during the add/delete session, bringing total rental assistance to $558,500. At $0.40, Alexandria would sit above Arlington ($0.36) and Prince William ($0.33) and tie Fairfax City; Fairfax County charges $0.19 and Loudoun $0.16. The Code of Virginia caps the rate at $0.58.
Council will also vote on raising the stormwater utility fee from $340.30 to $357.40 per billing unit, an increase projected to generate about $1.1 million in additional annual revenue on top of the roughly $21.9 million the fee currently produces. The utility, created in 2017 at a base rate of $140 per billing unit, funds Flood Action Alexandria, the city's response to intensifying storm events and storm sewer capacity issues. Public comment letters and emails are attached to the ordinance.
A separate ordinance raises two Alexandria Fire Department fees expected to generate a combined $418,338. Fire Prevention Permit inspection fees — last adjusted in fiscal 2019 — would rise about 10% across most categories. The Fire Protection and Detection Testing and Retesting fee would rise from $162 per hour to $220 per hour, above Arlington's $200 and Fairfax County's $208, according to Fire Chief Felipe Hernandez. Hernandez said the department "will explore a gradual approach for future fee revisions."
Council will also consider a resolution raising development review fees in the Department of Planning and Zoning for the first time in eight years. Fees for Development Special Use Permits, Development Site Plans, Final Site Plans and Coordinated Development District applications would rise about 6%, and the maximum per-application fee would jump from $80,000 to $120,000. Historic preservation fees would rise about 15%, their first increase in more than a decade, and a new $207 minor sign amendment fee would be established. The changes are projected to generate about $65,000 in additional annual revenue. Planning and Zoning Director Paul Stoddard cited inflation, the complexity of development review and volume — 5.2 million square feet of development approved in fiscal 2025, alongside 409 historic preservation cases processed that year — as the basis for the increases.
The Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities is seeking fee adjustments touching youth sports registration, city marina fees, park and trail rentals, party packages, special events, and the Out of School Time Program. A new Power-Full Fun Day fee would cover supplemental programming on ACPS closure days and teacher workdays, projected to generate $139,825. Smaller fee adjustments at the Office of Historic Alexandria are projected to generate about $500.
Other items baked into the budget resolution include a $200,000 reduction from the Sheriff's Office budget to fund an operational efficiency study of the city jail, a $619,920 frequency increase for DASH Bus Line 32 and a reallocation of $350,000 in capital funds from waterfront flood mitigation to improvements on the 200 block of King Street. Smaller approved items include $30,000 for arts grants, $27,000 to close an animal control officer pay disparity, $116,000 in one-time funding for courtroom technology at the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, $25,000 for a multilingual secret shopper program at RPCA, $123,480 for Therapeutic Recreation staffing in the Out of School Time Program and $83,000 for a Healthy Homes Action Plan.
The capital improvement program for fiscal 2027 through 2036 will be adopted alongside the operating budget in a single resolution.
The meeting can be accessed by Zoom using webinar ID 922 0695 7453 and passcode 929174, or by phone at 301-715-8592. It will also air on government Channel 70 and stream on the city's website. Written comments may be emailed to the city clerk at CouncilComment@alexandriava.gov.
The full docket is posted on the city's Legistar site.
