Where Are Alexandria’s Parking Stickers? Tax Bills Arrive Without Answers

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alexandria residents opening their 2026 personal property tax bills are finding something missing: the residential parking permit stickers that traditionally accompanied them.

What they are not finding is an explanation.

Alexandria resident Barbara Beach raised the alarm after receiving her bill without a permit or instructions about when—or how—she would receive one.

“No parking permit was enclosed,” Beach wrote in a public social media post urging fellow residents to contact City Council.

After researching the matter herself, Beach found a city webpage directing residents to obtain parking permit stickers in person at the West End Finance Office, located inside the Redella S. “Del” Pepper Community Resource Center at 4850 Mark Center Drive.

That office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“For $55, the City should mail it upon receipt of my payment rather than make me drive to Mark Center, trudge from the parking to the finance office, and spend both time and gas,” Beach wrote. “Why can’t it be mailed as it has always been done?”

But a review by The Zebra found that the city’s published instructions are not clear—and may be contributing to the confusion.

The city’s Residential Parking Permit Program Facts⁠ page states that a resident can obtain a bumper sticker at the West End Finance Office after presenting proof of residency and registering the vehicle for personal property tax.

However, the city’s separate Personal Property Tax webpage⁠ says residential parking permits are now mailed separately from car tax bills because of a change in vendors. That page says residents receive their permits in advance, while the applicable fee remains on the personal property tax bill.

The information on that page still refers to the 2025 tax year, despite being updated in April 2026.

The city’s Aug. 28 announcement that 2026 personal property tax bills had been mailed⁠ does not mention residential parking permits or explain whether stickers will arrive in a separate mailing this year.

That omission has left residents wondering whether another envelope is coming—or whether they must make a weekday trip across the city to receive something for which they have already been billed.

“The bill doesn’t say anything about having to pick up the sticker at Mark Center,” resident Vineeta Anand commented on Beach’s post. “This is absurd. How did you find out?”

Elizabeth Lucchesi responded with a pointed reference to Alexandria’s continuing debates over transportation and bicycle lanes.

“What about the environment?” she wrote. “Barbara P Beach, you better bike there.”

Not every vehicle owner in Alexandria needs a residential parking permit. The permits apply only to eligible residents living within designated residential permit parking districts. In Districts 12 and 12A, the city uses automated license plate readers instead of requiring vehicles to display a bumper sticker.

Current annual permit fees are $55 for the first vehicle, $75 for a second vehicle and $250 for each additional vehicle.

Beach’s reference to approximately 120,000 vehicles appears to encompass the city’s broader vehicle-tax population, rather than the smaller number of cars requiring residential parking stickers. Still, even those residents who do need permits have not been clearly told what to do.

The central question remains unanswered: Will Alexandria mail the 2026 residential parking permits separately, as it did last year, or must residents now collect them in person at Mark Center?

Until the city clarifies its policy, residents should not assume that an in-person trip is required. They can contact the Finance Department at 703-746-4800 or [email protected].

The Zebra is seeking clarification from the city and will update this story when additional information becomes available.