FY 25 Budget Q&A #091: Please provide a summary of the City Council’s final decisions for budget adoption.

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Question: Please provide a summary of the City Council’s final decisions for budget adoption. (Morgan Routt)

Response:

City of Alexandria, Virginia

MEMORANDUM

DATE:              APRIL 25, 2024

TO:                  THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL

THROUGH:    JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER

FROM:             MORGAN ROUTT, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

SUBJECT:       FINAL DECISIONS OF THE FY 2025 BUDGET ADD/DELETE

 

This memorandum summarizes the consensus achieved by City Council at the Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Add/Delete Work Session for changes to be included in the final approved FY 2025 operating budget and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to be adopted on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

In accordance with Council Resolution 3198: Establishing the Process to be Used for FY 2025 Budget Adoption, “If Council reaches a consensus during the preliminary add/delete work session, the final add/delete work session will become optional.”

As City Council achieved consensus at the Wednesday, April 24 work session, the final add/delete work session scheduled for Monday, April 29, 2024 work session is cancelled, and City Council will adopt the following changes, as well as the technical adjustments included in Budget Question #78, to the FY 2025 proposed operating budget and CIP on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

 

OPERATING BUDGET

The following items are added to the City Manager’s proposed FY 2025 General Fund operating budget:

  • A $4,700,000 million increase in capital projects funding for the George Mason and Cora Kelly projects in the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) CIP (Budget Question 17, 53)
  • A $4,000,000 million increase in the ACPS operating budget appropriation. While the ultimate allocation of the funding is the purview of the School Board, it is the intent of this increase to provide funds to help support parity in the Market Rate Adjustments provided to ACPS employees with adjustments proposed for non-collectively bargained City employees. (Budget Questions 17, 62)
  • $42,000 to continue funding for senior services outreach (Budget Question 34)
  • $165,000 for youth safety and resilience (Budget Question 62)
  • $500,000 in one-time additional support for Visit Alexandria’s regional and national marketing of (Budget Question 58)
  • $40,000 for a City Clerk’s Office part-time position (Budget Question 85)
  • $200,000 in additional funding for food security (Budget Question 51)
  • $98,000 for shuttle service support for the Del Pepper West End Service Center (Budget Question 6)
  • $180,000 for DASH Bus Line 104 to restore service that was reduced in the proposed budget (Budget Question 33)
  • $1,027,999 to expand the graduated tax relief program (Budget Question 8, scenario 1)
  • $50,000 in one-time funding for City Clerk’s Office records management (Budget Question 90)
  • $24,484 in City funding for one part-time Library community outreach position and the authorization of one State-funded community outreach position (Budget Question 52)
  • A $519,977 increase in cash capital funding to reduce borrowing in the CIP and the impact of debt service on future operating budgets.

In addition, City Council assigned funding to the Contingent Reserve for staff to prepare and present recommendations on the following items:

  • Funding for mental health staffing stabilization ($900,000, Budget Question 10), one-time targeted retention bonuses ($1,750,000, Budget Question 18), and cyclical employee pay adjustments ($1,000,000, Budget Question 62) were placed into contingency for the Manager to develop data-driven recommendations for employee compensation increases and present to Council along with the factors considered to develop the recommendations before City Council recess in July. Criteria to be considered will include high turnover rates and significant vacancy rates. The focus should not be limited to, but should include DCHS, the Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Emergency and Customer Communications (DECC), and the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office. Mental health staffing stabilization was originally proposed to be $3,000,000 from FY 2024 DCHS vacancy savings and was reduced by staff to $900,000 with City Council concurrence based on the amount of savings expected to be realized by DCHS with the understanding that mental health service provider and other urgent employee compensation needs would be met as soon as possible through the combination of funding sources added to Contingent Reserves.
  • $550,000 in one-time funding for staff to work on the best application of funding to bridge the completion of the ARISE pilot program and the FY 2025 budget to allow for evaluation of a permanent program during the FY 2026 budget process. (Budget Question 20)
  • $150,000 for the City Manager and Sheriff’s Office to address the need for an additional deputy position focused outside the jail and/or extending a hiring bonus program for those deputies working in the jail position (Budget Questions 45,57,77)
  • $150,000 in one-time funding for staff to develop and present to Council a proposal to hold an Economic Sustainability Summit like the one held in 2007 (Budget Question 67)
  • $5,000 for staff to develop and present to Council a proposal for a Boards, Commissions, and Committees stipend program for young Alexandrians. The proposal should address such questions as who would be eligible and why; how access, equity, and volunteerism would be considered; and how it would be implemented (Budget Question 5)

 

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (CIP)

The following items are added to the City Manager’s proposed FY 2025-FY 2034 CIP.

  • $65,000,000 for George Mason and Cora Kelly design and construction funded by the $4,700,000 increase in capital projects funding in the operating budget. (Budget Question 17, 53)
  • $3,000,000 in one-time funding for affordable housing funding to be allocated by staff to provide funding to approved but not funded projects in the affordable housing pipeline (Budget Question 27).
  • A modification in the project description of the CIP item related to public safety technology to be clear that authorization is only to equipment for license plate readers and cameras.

 

UNFUNDED ITEMS

The following items met the requirements for consideration in add/delete but will not be included for funding in the final adopted budget.

  • $80,000 in contingency funding for an E-Bike pilot program was withdrawn due to the Governor’s veto of enabling legislation (Budget Question 75)
  • The E-bike pilot program funding was used to help eliminate a $98,000 reduction in General Services funding that had been proposed to fund the Del Pepper West End Service Center shuttle (Budget Question 9)
  • $250,000 in one-time funding to support the Metro Stage project did not receive the four-vote majority support required for funding (Budget Question 84)


Attachments:

Attachment 1:  Add/Delete Proposals 

 

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