T H E E X A M I N ER10 SU N DAY, NOV E M BER 8 , 2009
LOCAL NEWS
By David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
With the U.S. and Virginia state
economies still limping along, the
Alexandria city council on Saturday
steeled itself for another lean budget
year.
City manager James K. Hartmann
summed it up rather bluntly.
"This next budget could quite pos-
sibly be the hardest budget any of us
have ever faced," he said at the coun-
cil's budget retreat.
The city's real estate tax revenue
is expected to take a big hit -- as is
the case with many jurisdictions.
Officials are projecting a roughly 8
percent decline in total real property
assessments, with a 5.7 percent drop
asa"bestcase"scenarioanda9.4per-
cent drop a "worst case."
Commercialpropertyassessments
areprojectedtodropfrombetween7.7
percent to 15.5 percent, with a "likely"
drop of about 13 percent. The city is
thus faced with likely service cuts
--cutsthatcouncilmanRobKrupicka
described as a "wake-up call."
With revenues projected to limp
alonginthenearfuture,hesaidpeople
in the community should assume that
the cuts the council makes now won't
be restored for years, thus creating
what he called a "new normal."
"Unemployment is going to be
impacting us all," said Mayor William
D. "Bill" Euille.
Euille noted that the city is prepar-
ingtoface"theworstoftheworst,"but
that it is in a bit better position than
neighboring jurisdictions like Arling-
ton, Fairfax and Loudoun counties.
Nearby, Arlington is anticipating
a 9.2 percent decline in real estate
revenues and a 14 percent decline in
commercial assessments.
"Closing a gap of this magnitude
willrequireastrategicbalancingoftax
and fee increases and noticeable ser-
vice reductions," said County Board
Chairman Barbara Favola in a recent
statement.
Increasingly bleak revenue projec-
tionsatthestatelevelmeanhelpfrom
the commonwealth is unlikely.
Alexandria should be assuming
"dramatic cuts" from the upcoming
General Assembly session, Krupicka
said. And vice mayor Kerry Donley
was skeptical about any potential
state-level tax hikes to shore up the
budget.
"Given the results of the election
earlierthisweek,therearen'tgoingto
be any tax increases, that's for sure,"
he said.
dsherfinski@washingtonexaminer.com
Another tough budget year
ahead for Alexandria council
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