Updates in this issue: Mentoring Needs; City Budget; Snow; FIOS & Google; Transportation; and US Census Hiring Needs
Dear Friends,
The first two months of this year have been quite a ride. From the economy to the snow, we are seeing one of the most intense winters in a long time. It’s times like these, though, that bring us all together as a community, and I see that happening everywhere I go. People have been amazingly supportive of each other through a lot of hardship.
After years of work to streamline city departments, to audit and improve program efficiency and to hold the average property tax bill flat for the last three years, or down if you account for inflation, it was gratifying to see Alexandria recognized as one of the lowest taxed jurisdictions in our region in our Monthly Financial Report. This is the result of years of work to re-build the city budget, to audit city departments and to create results-oriented program metrics for city programs. As we enter another very challenging budget year, this foundation will help us navigate our way to a final budget for 2010-2011.
The City Manager unveiled his budget proposal last month. (The budget section of the city web site has the details, including a schedule of meetings and public hearings.) Last year I met with hundreds of residents in small gatherings to talk about the budget. If you’d like to sit down with me and neighbors to go through the budget, just let us know. Send an e-mail to my aide, Elizabeth.jones@alexandriava.gov, to schedule a time.
As I recently wrote on my blog: David Broder is right — this economy is different than past downturns. Any budget decision made by government now has to take into consideration that reality. We have been aware of all of this for the last few budgets in Alexandria and have been working accordingly. We know that programs and services that are cut won’t come back and we have avoided one-year budget gimmicks to balance the budget. Unfortunately, our state is poised to use a number of one-time tricks this year and those will only make it worse for the next budget. The severity of the economic times means we have to understand that what gets cut will not be reinstated. Given that most of our local city budget is education, public safety and basic community infrastructure, we have to be even more mindful of the impact of cutting public safety, or schools, or not fixing sewers and roads to the point of harming overall quality of life. An erosion in the desirability of living in the city will further weaken property values and harm our long term economic prospects. We started cutting city programs four years ago in a very methodological way for this reason. As we go through this year’s budget, we must remain very mindful of the long-term economic picture. Governments have to re-set what normal revenue and expenses are. That isn’t easy to do, but it is what everybody should be doing.
Stay warm and please contact me anytime.
Rob
Your Help Can Make a Huge Difference
Looking for a way to make a difference this year? Adult male mentors are needed for at-risk, middle-school age boys in Alexandria, VA. The commitment is one night a week for one year. Through lasting, meaningful mentoring relationships, the program aims to prevent youth from engaging in risky behaviors such as gang involvement, violence, and substance abuse. As a joint activity, the men and boys work together to learn movie-making and film-editing skills from an Apple specialist, and throughout the year will create public service announcements as well as a short documentary. To see last year’s videos, visit our website at www.alexandriava.gov/imoviementors.
There is an URGENT need for mentors to start right away! If you are interested in learning more, please contact Karen Berry at mentoring@alexandriava.gov or at 703.746.4506. We are having an orientation on March 9th for those who are interested in learning more.
DRAFT City Budget Unveiled
This year’s proposed city budget has something for everybody to love and hate. At an increase of 7 cents (average of about $108 per year per household), the proposed tax rate is higher than many would like. But there is no average home. So while 30 percent of households (most of them with homes at the less expensive end of the market) will see a decrease in taxes, others will see an increase. We have to look closely at everything: Proposed program cuts, like those to community policing positions and human services; proposals to phase out community pools; and many other cuts all require close scrutiny. Potential state budget cuts and the dramatic financial distress of WMATA also have to be considered this year. We can’t let our regional metro system collapse — the proposed cuts to service and proposed fee increases would dramatically re-shape commuting in our region. In this economy, I am very mindful that we have to look at any program and service cuts as permanent. Revenue forecasts are for slow or no revenue growth for the next few years, so we can’t expect to grow fast enough to replace eliminated programs.
Budget: Capital Projects
The proposed budget for capital investments is very constrained. For example, it plans for a phase-out of some city pools, like the one in Warwick Village, and includes scaled back plans for other city infrastructure. I want to see if we can come up with creative ideas to keep our pools open for the long term, rather than accept that some pools will close in the next few years. The budget tries to maintain adequate service and maintenance for our sewers, storm water systems and some other basic infrastructure and includes some new and increased fees to do so. A new storm water fee would cost about $48 annually per household to build and maintain flood prevention and water systems and to help us comply with Chesapeake Bay requirements. There is also a proposal to increase the sewer fee (bills from $1.00 per 1,000 Gallons to $1.25 per 1,000 gallons) to keep up with sewer system maintenance. The storm-water fee is designed so that properties that creates more storm water run-off in the city pay more than those that don’t. Another approach would be to raise the property tax rate to cover this basic infrastructure. It would help me to hear which approach you would prefer. In addition, the budget includes less money for sidewalk repair, cross walks and traffic management programs.
I’m pleased to see money in the proposed capital budget to help build two new schools in response to rapid increases in student population; this does not meet all of our school capacity needs, but it is a good start. I’m pleased to see the budget has a plan to address our deteriorating fire departments, though it will take longer than I would like; many of our fire stations are in very bad shape and limited coverage on the west end of the city does lessen service capacity.
Budget: Education
For our public education system, the proposed budget lowers average per pupil costs significantly, but does maintain a commitment to quality schools. This is important for our city’s economic recovery because property values are very closely associated with school quality and also with attracting business to a city. It will be harder to recover from the economic downturn if we walk away from a commitment to education quality. (For those of you not familiar with the intricacies of the schools’ budgeting process: The School Board develops its own budget each year based on what it expects to receive from federal, state and city coffers. City Council votes on the dollar amount it will allocate to schools each year.)
Budget: City Services
The city budget proposes to eliminate 67 staff positions. (We eliminated 119 last year.) It also keeps a freeze on a wide range of positions – staff is working with about 10 percent fewer people than a few years ago. But the budget does add new Emergency Medical Service positions so we can keep up with demand for these important emergency services to protect the safety of our community. We have been seeing reduced response times and have had to use Fairfax and Arlington EMS more than we should due to our constrained city capacity. The city also plans to install electronic kiosks in City Hall to reduce costs associated with routine city functions, like paying bills and the processing of parking passes. These will be phased in over a few years, but once in place will save staff resources while also providing a good quality service.
I’m happy to see a proposal to move to larger recycling bins with lids for the city. This will require a slight increase in the refuse fee, but has the potential to increase recycling rates by 20-30% and also to cut down on the trash blowing around neighborhoods on trash pick-up days.
Proposals to cut community policing positions have generated a number of questions from the community and the Council. We have asked the Police Chief to give us more information about this and I, for one, am looking for a way to replace at least some of these proposed cuts. The community policing program has produced huge benefits for our community and moving away from it has the potential to create significant challenges.
One of the largest changes in the budget is a new emergency communications department that comes from consolidating the fire and police 911 systems into one system. This change is meant to save money over time and improve service, but the consolidation process will take time and will require new communications and other equipment over time and is something the Council will have to follow closely.
The proposed budget eliminates much of our funding for affordable housing projects which will mean developer partnerships will become the primary source for these projects. It eliminates funding for some human service resources. With significant state cuts also predicted in these areas, we will rely on much fewer resources to support a wide range of community programs. The waiting lists for all basic health and prevention programs are all growing quickly and the staff working on them are being stretched very thin — as one example I know of a doctor working for the city that has to literally run between appointments and answer the phone while doing so because the administrative position was cut from the budget and because the line of patients is getting larger and larger. One bright note: Great staff work in the Human Services department is saving us $1.2. million a year in mandated costs — the staff has worked hard to more efficiently manage our comprehensive services act program requirements and deserve a lot of credit for their success in lowering costs without harming services.
Budget: Transportation
The proposed budget does not keep up with the replacement needs of our city bus service; if this problem is not addressed, the quality of service will quickly deteriorate. In response to this and other needs, the City Manager has proposed a 3 cent commercial tax to help pay for expanded transportation services in the city and to help the city coordinate our transportation efforts with Arlington. Arlington and Fairfax have a similar tax, but at much higher rate of 12.5 cents. Improved transportation infrastructure is critical to our quality of life and our future economic success. We need to look at this proposal carefully because Alexandria has a large number of small businesses, and I want to understand how this affects them and our overall economy. Whether it’s this proposal or something else, we need to find a way to meet our regional and local obligations to transportation infrastructure. Arlington and Fairfax, with their add-on tax, have resources to help support regional transit projects. Prince William County is considering a 12.5 cent tax this year for similar reasons. To work with our regional partners on transportation issues, we have to create a method to provide our share of the funds or we won’t be able to address local transportation needs or participate in regional transportation solutions.
Over the next three months we’ll be going over the draft budget line by line and proposing changes based on what we find. I encourage you to follow the budget online and at our many meetings. And I also encourage you to share your thoughts on the city web site. As a great example of government transparency, all citizens are encouraged to post your thoughts and questions about the city budget on the city web site.
Snow Update
Thank you to everybody who pulled out their shovels, helped neighbors, dug out strangers and otherwise showed amazing patience during this epic series of storms. Like every other regional government, the city has expended enormous resources to get us through this last month — close to $10 million dollars. With the round-the-clock staff work, extra salt and hired private crews, this was a huge effort. More than two feet of snow had to be cleared from roads, sidewalks and thousands of intersections, requiring staff to shovel, trucks to move the snow and other trucks to take it away.
The effort was crucial to our community, particularly from a safety perspective. During the storms, fires in Arlandria and on Bashford lane could have easily spread wider through their neighborhoods. Because of the city’s work to clear roads and fire hydrants, our fire department was able to respond quickly. If that work had not been done, these fires would have been much worse.
I am starting to evaluate what we can learn from our response to the storms, and how we can improve in the future. I know myself and many parents would like to see schools open faster after snowfall. I’ve heard a number of complaints that some people didn’t clear their sidewalks as quickly as others. While city staff, residents and business owners in many areas of the city did a good job with sidewalk snow removal, not every area was well attended. I’d appreciate any thoughts you have about ways to improve sidewalk snow removal efforts as well as the overall city response.
FIOS & Google Update
I regularly get questions about when Alexandria will get FIOS, the fiber optic lines that allow for even faster broadband Internet access to homes. Last spring, the Council approved a franchise with Verizon that would allow it to start installing FIOS infrastructure around the city. The next step of that process was to approve a formal franchise agreement with Verizon for the new service. Unfortunately, corporate decisions by Verizon have stopped their roll-out of FIOS around the country, including Alexandria. In January, at my request, we sent another letter to Verizon explaining our desire to have them come to the city; we need real competition for these services here. I am eager to see Verizon start investing in this technology in Alexandria, but at this point, we have no word from them as to if or when this will happen.
On a related note, at my request the Council will consider on Tuesday whether to apply to participate in Google’s high speed internet access project. Alexandria is a technically sophisticated city. We lead the nation in online charitable giving. If any community was a prospect for a program like this, its us. With our history and our great citizens, I am hopeful we can put together a proposal that can win! You can read about this on the city docket here: Fiber Optic Trial for Communities
Big Grants To Our Region with Transit, East and West End and More
The City recently won a very competitive federal stimulus grant that provides $8.5 million dollars to help build the new mass transit system that will connect Crystal City to Potomac Yard and the Braddock Road Metro. This grant comes at a critical time in Potomac Yard development and city budget challenges. It will help us create new jobs in the area when the project is underway and it will help improve the transportation options and convenience for residents in Alexandria. This joint effort with Arlington has been in the planning stage for years and we are now starting to move into the building phase. The grant will help us build out this important transit way that will help us move more people, faster and more conveniently.
We also recently won a competitive grant of $670,000 for planning of new facilities to assist priority transit service in the Beauregard-Van Dorn Corridor. The west end, as we all know, has significant transportation needs. This grant will help us implement our transportation master plan calls for new mass transit improvements on the west end.
To help us put additional focus into west end transportation needs, I recently asked that the city include a request to Congressman Moran to help us coordinate transit planning between Alexandria’s western section with Fairfax and Arlington’s similar efforts. We are in the early stages of this work, but it’s important that we get moving on this as the transportation issues demand our attention. Many of our transportation problems require regional cooperation. Congressman Moran is supporting this request and is working with the city to help us better coordinate our efforts with those of Fairfax and Arlington.
The US Census is HIRING
1500 census takers (inside the beltway) will be hired this spring to help collect census data.
The U.S. Census will pay $20/hour for part time temporary workers to walk door to door in their neighborhood collecting data. All applicants must take a multiple-choice exam. More information is available online: http://2010.census.gov/2010censusjobs/
