[Archived] City Council Adopts $349.4 Million General Fund Budget For Fy 2002

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: May 8, 2001

CONTACT: Mark Jinks, Assistant City Manager, (703) 838 - 4300

CITY COUNCIL ADOPTS $349.4 MILLION GENERAL FUND BUDGET FOR FY 2002

The Alexandria City Council unanimously approved the City’s $349.4 million General Fund Budget for Fiscal Year 2002 and the $197.4 million six year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for FY 2002 to FY 2007 on Monday night. This approved budget represents an 8.9 percent increase over the current fiscal year and is $0.6 million less than the budget proposed by the City Manager.

"The approved budget is reflective of the needs of the City and is in tune with the priorities of City Council," according to Mayor Kerry J. Donley. "It targets the three key areas of local government: public education, public safety, and public health."

The operating budget includes an appropriation of $107.3 million to fully fund the Alexandria City Public School Board’s (ACPS) proposed budget for educational programs and services, and provides a three percent cost of living adjustment for School employees.

In the area of public safety, the budget provides funding for eight additional paramedics and an ambulance to form a fifth Emergency Medical Service Unit. Replacing the City’s Health Department Facility continues to be a major public health initiative and is funded in the approved CIP.

The approved budget provides significant new resources for both current and long-range land use planning; increases park maintenance funding; provides funding for traffic calming and pedestrian safety initiatives; increases the employer share of healthcare benefits for both active and retired City employees; provides competitive compensation to City employees, including a three percent cost of living adjustment; maintains City services; and keeps constant the current real property tax rate of $1.11 per $100 of assessed value.

The Mayor also noted that, "There is a decided commitment, in both the City Manager’s proposed budget and this approved budget, to the young people of Alexandria."

The City Council has committed (using either local or state provided funds) to improve the reimbursement rate for the City’s child day care fee program paid to family day care home child care providers. The budget includes $1 million in additional federal and state funds to expand the City’s child day care fee program to serve up to 150 additional children. In addition, the approved budget provides funds to support innovative activities that will promote and enhance positive youth development, including a feasibility study for a teen center; youth night programming for middle school students at the Chinquapin Recreation Center; increased programming for before and after school programming; and an enhanced Therapeutic Recreation Mainstream program.

The approved CIP includes $93.8 million to fully fund all of the capital projects proposed by the School Board, with the exception of $20.9 million proposed by the School Board for elementary school expansion, which will be addressed in future years depending on future elementary school enrollment. The approved $93.8 million funding level represents a $36.2 million, or 63 percent, increase over the prior CIP approved by City Council. In addition, funds are provided for the renovation and expansion of the Jerome "Buddie" Ford Nature Center and the remediation of significant structural problems at the Public Safety Center.

"This budget takes advantage of the good times, but there are uncertainties,"cautioned Mayor Donley, "and this budget takes these uncertainties into account."

Revenue projections based on three quarters of the fiscal year were not as high as City staff originally projected in the City Manager’s proposed budget. Overall, staff is now projecting a decrease of nearly $0.6 million compared to the revenue estimates outlined in the Proposed FY 2002 budget document. City Council’s approved budget reflects a conservative spending plan in view of the apparently slowing regional economy.

Subsequent to the adoption of the School Board’s budget, it became clear that decreases in the employer’s contribution rate to the Virginia Retirement System would occur. As a result, City Council identified savings in the School Board’s operating budget in the amount of $1.1 million, which compares to $2.3 million in VRS savings identified in the City Manager’s proposed operating budget. City Council used a significant portion of this savings to add $400,000 to the City’s Contingent Reserves to be used to address school enrollment, if enrollment exceeds the planned and budgeted number of students of 11,637.

City Manager Philip Sunderland thanked the Mayor, members of City Council, staff and the public. "Public input was very important in the development of this budget."

Operating Budget Highlights include:

The General Fund appropriation to the Alexandria City Public Schools of $107.3 million is an increase of 8.6 percent compared to last year;

More than $0.5 million to fund the new Emergency Medical Service unit consisting of eight paramedic personnel and an additional ambulance;

$0.3 million to continue the Domestic Violence Intervention Program, a grant funded program operated in the Police Department, whose grant expires this year; and

Funding for merit in-step increases, plus funding for a three percent general salary adjustment for City and Schools employees.

Capital Improvement Program Highlights include:

$1.25 million for the expansion of the Duncan Branch Library;

$0.5 million over six years to repair or replace 19 City-owned and operated group homes for residents with special needs;

$5.1 million over six years to improve and enhance pedestrian safety;

$2.4 million over six years for traffic calming measures;

$3.2 million to address contamination at the Potomac River Oronoco Street Outfall;

$2.4 million to evaluate and correct infiltration/inflow conditions in older parts of the City; and

$18.5 over a six-year period for Information Technology investments in order to improve services and to enhance e-government for City residents and businesses.

The City’s 2002 fiscal year will begin on July 1, 2001.

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