Alexandria’s City Budget and Services: Challenges Under COVID

By Ricardo Alfaro

Alexandria, VA – The City is preparing its Fiscal Year 2022 budget, a process made more difficult by the falling tax revenue and increased service demands related to COVID. This issue will be covered at the February 22 Agenda Alexandria program.

According to Program Moderator Frank Fannon, “The ripple effects of COVID could last longer than expected. Will the city budget raise residential and commercial property tax rates? And what about our local businesses? “

In this environment, how are priorities identified? How much debt do we need to repay? Which non-discretionary initiatives can be paused, reduced, or eliminated? And what about the school system budget? Discover if the City of Alexandria has ever before, when facing such a fiscal crisis, cut the budget instead of raising taxes. We will discuss these vital issues and more!

Panelists include:

· Bill Rossello, Administrator of the Facebook site “Bring Integrity Back to Alexandria! End Seminary Road Diet and Other Bad Ideas.”

· Janet Blair Fleetwood, Secretary of the Budget & Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee, serves as the mayor’s representative on BFAAC.

· Rob Krupicka is a former City Council and State Senate member, and he is a small business owner.

ICYMI: AlexRenew Adopts Updated Budget to Reflect COVID-19 Impact