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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The City Council's legislative meeting Tuesday, June 9, carries a dense agenda spanning the city's economy, a major redevelopment financing proposal, a new policing framework and the first formal step toward adopting next year's budget. A closed executive session begins at 6:15 p.m., with the regular meeting set for 7 p.m. at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center, 4850 Mark Center Drive.
Here's what to watch.
The City Manager's oral reports
Four briefings anchor the night, none of them requiring a binding vote.
Power plant financing (item 26-1008). City Manager James Parajon will present a term sheet for a proposed $135 million tax increment financing package to help redevelop the former Potomac River Generating Station, the latest step toward a deal that would convert the shuttered Old Town North coal plant into a mixed-use waterfront neighborhood. The item includes the term sheet and a community-feedback document, and precedes the council's scheduled June 13 action on the financing and the project's first development permits.
Ryan Belmore
Police Department update (item 26-1012). Police Chief Tarrick McGuire will seek council guidance on a new Public Safety Plan organized around five pillars, building on the department's reported year-over-year crime decline. The council's role is advisory only.
Ryan Belmore
State of the Economy (item 26-1034). City staff will brief the council on the local economy. The item carried no advance materials on the published docket, so the substance will come in the presentation itself — a briefing worth attention given its bearing on the budget and the power plant financing case, both of which lean on projected revenue growth.
Sails on the Potomac (item 26-1026). An update on the city's plans to commemorate America's 250th anniversary.
The budget moves to first reading
The night's most consequential fiscal business sits in the consent docket. The council is set to take up on first reading the ordinance appropriating funds for the FY2027 city government (item 26-1021) — the measure that legally enacts the budget the council already adopted April 29. The ordinance carries a total appropriation of about $1.95 billion, or $1.43 billion once $524 million in internal interfund transfers is stripped out to avoid double-counting. First reading is an introductory step; final passage is scheduled for the council's June 13 public hearing.
The detailed tables attached to the ordinance lay out where the money goes. The General Fund accounts for roughly $979 million. Alexandria City Public Schools receive about $400.8 million in total, including a $286.6 million direct transfer from the General Fund, and the capital improvement program is funded at $244.6 million. Among city departments, the largest General Fund appropriations are Community and Human Services ($118.6 million), Police ($77.9 million), Fire ($73.7 million) and Transportation and Environmental Services ($64.3 million). The budget counts on about $117.8 million in proceeds from a future bond sale.
One timing wrinkle: the schools figure reflects the approved budget, but the School Board does not formally adopt its final budget until June 11, and any changes it makes would come back to the council for appropriation in the fall.
Two related fiscal items ride alongside the appropriation. An ordinance would authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds to finance city and school capital projects and refund certain outstanding bonds (item 26-0979) — the borrowing the capital budget relies on — and a supplemental appropriations ordinance would adjust the current FY2026 budget (item 26-1020). The council will also receive the monthly financial report for the period ending April 30 (item 26-1019) and a third-quarter capital projects status report (item 26-1000).
Also on the agenda
The council opens with a proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month (item 26-0837).
Among other consent items, the council will consider a resolution supporting SMART SCALE grant applications to the Virginia Department of Transportation for FY2033–2034 projects (item 26-1028), an ordinance moving and renaming the Blessed Sacrament voting precinct to North Quaker at Christ the King Anglican Church (item 26-1024), and several right-of-way encroachment ordinances for properties on Wythe Street and North Washington Street.
A series of board and commission appointments rounds out the docket, including contested seats on the Commission for Women, the Human Rights Commission, the Traffic and Parking Board and others.
How to participate
The meeting is carried on government Channel 70, streamed on the city website and accessible via Zoom (registration required to speak). Written comments for the record can be emailed to the City Clerk at CouncilComment@alexandriava.gov. The full docket and materials are posted at alexandriava.gov/council.
