City Council turns to housing, transit, and transportation at tonight's budget work session

City Council holds its fourth FY 2027 budget work session tonight, shifting focus from last week's public safety review to the departments responsible for housing, transportation, historic preservation, economic development, and code enforcement.

The session runs 7 to 9 p.m. at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center, 4850 Mark Center Drive, Community Conference Room on the first floor. It is also available via Zoom (Webinar ID: 966 6860 8649, Passcode: 287866, dial-in: 301-715-8592). Zoom registration is required.

What's on the table

The "Livable, Green & Prospering" functional area totals $210,829,282 across seven departments and agencies. Transit Services ($62.5M) and Transportation & Environmental Services ($96.6M) together account for roughly three-quarters of the total. The full 71-page budget section is available here.

Proposed budget for Livable, Green, & Prospering City departments. (City of Alexandria)

Transit: DASH gets a raise, WMATA holds

Transit Services totals $62,537,432, up 2.4% from the current year. DASH — Alexandria's municipal bus service, which the city made free to riders in recent years — gets the largest funding increase among transit agencies, rising 2.8% to $35,459,246. WMATA funding increases 3.7% to $12,943,554. King Street Trolley, DOT-Paratransit, and VRE contributions are all proposed to hold flat.

Transportation & Environmental Services: staffing jumps, overall budget dips

The city's largest department by headcount proposes a budget of $96,606,070 — a 2.8% decrease from FY 2026 — but adds 24.5 positions, bringing total FTEs to 279.5, a 9.6% increase. Transportation Planning sees the sharpest program-level increase at 32.6%, rising to $20.7 million. Mobility Services grows 18.9% and Stormwater Management climbs 6.1%. Sanitary Infrastructure drops sharply — down 43.1% to $14.9 million — largely reflecting a shift in how interfund transfers are structured. A new Project Implementation line of $2,303,000 appears for the first time.

Housing: capital investment drives growth

The Office of Housing proposes $17,963,230, up 4.3%. The biggest driver is a 61.4% jump in transfers to capital projects — from $6.57 million to $10.6 million — reflecting continued investment in affordable housing. The Affordable Housing Development & Preservation program rises 5.4% to $14.6 million. The Home Ownership program falls 4.2% to $790,972 on lower personnel costs.

Planning & Zoning trims staff and spending

Planning & Zoning proposes $8,934,586, a 6.7% decrease from the current year driven by a 7.1% reduction in personnel costs. The department loses one FTE, dropping from 60.5 to 59.5. Land Development Services falls 9.6% and Leadership & Management drops 10%, while Land Use Services grows 5.6%.

Economic development agencies

The Economic Development budget proposes $9,560,920, up 5.5%. The "Other Economic Development Agencies" line — covering Small Business Development and related programs — nearly doubles, rising 96.3% to $968,092. Visit Alexandria holds near flat at $4.6 million, as does the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership at just under $4 million.

Historic Alexandria holds steady, Code Administration flat

The Office of Historic Alexandria comes in at $5,848,534, down 0.2%, with staffing unchanged at 36.33 FTEs. The Department of Code Administration proposes $9,378,510, essentially flat at 0.4% growth, with its 53-person workforce unchanged. Property Maintenance & Nuisance sees the largest program increase at 9.1%.

How to follow along

The meeting will be webcast live at alexandriava.gov/Dockets. Recordings will be posted within a few days. Residents requiring accommodations or translation services should contact the City Clerk at 703.746.4550.