At the start of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 budget development process, the City faced the same challenging, fiscal outlook it has had since 2008: the cost of providing the same City services, at the same level, exceeds projected revenues for the upcoming fiscal year. City Manager Rashad M. Young developed a new framework on which to build the budget, and used the City’s performance management system, Results Alexandria, to focus the City’s budgeting philosophy: aligning long term outcomes and core City services residents want.
On February 25, Young proposed a $634.8 million General Fund Operating Budget for FY 2015. This included a $190.6 transfer to schools, which is a 2.62% increase over FY 2014. The proposed budget also includes a FY 2015 $92.5 capital budget, and invests $1.46 billion over 10 years in our Capital Improvement Program. The proposed budget also reflects the City’s investment in people, funding full merit increases for employees who earn them through performance.
Rather than beginning the process by determining what departments spent in FY 2014 and making minor adjustments to achieve a budget solution, for the FY 2015 Proposed Budget, City staff examined the outcomes defined in the City Manager’s Performance Plan and the City’s Strategic Plan, and focused financial resources accordingly.
The FY 2015 Proposed Budget is organized around four Focus Areas, each with a distinct mission and long-term outcomes that illustrate what success looks like in our community: 1) Accountable, Effective & Well-Managed Government; 2) Healthy & Thriving Residents; 3) Livable, Green & Prospering City; and 4) Safe, Secure & Just Community. (The departments, and their respective programs, that comprise each Focus Area are found in the “Results Alexandria” section of the FY 2015 Proposed Budget, which can be found at alexandriava.gov/Budget.)
“Our new budget philosophy focuses us on where money is spent and goes back to the basic question: what is government supposed to provide?” said Young. “The result is a more balanced, sustainable proposed budget that pushes resources towards services that advance the outcomes we seek, while reducing, or in some cases eliminating, funding for programs that are duplicative, less effective, or of a lower priority.”
City Council will hold nine work sessions throughout March and April to review the proposed budget with City staff, one special budget public hearing on March 10, and a tax rate public hearing on April 12, where residents may provide comment. All sessions are open to the public and will be recorded and posted online. In addition, there will be a public budget presentation on March 17 at Beatley Central Library. The public may submit comments online, or speak at the public hearings.
Details about the proposed budget, public budget presentation and public meetings, and online comments are located at alexandriava.gov/Budget.
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