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News from ARCC

For immediate release: April 8, 2005
Contact: Chris Marston,

Alexandria Republicans join call
to cut real estate tax rate dramatically,
cap city spending

At their monthly meeting last night, the Alexandria Republican City Committee (ARCC) passed a resolution joining the call by a growing number of civic and neighborhood groups for fiscal restraint and lower taxes in the City’s FY2006 budget. (See the full resolution.)

“Republicans have long been the party of lower taxes and responsible spending. It’s no surprise that the all-Democratic City Council needs reminding on whose money they’re spending,” said Chris Marston, chairman of the ARCC. “We’re proud to join with individual taxpayers and civic leaders around the City to call for a serious real estate tax reduction.”

Despite a dramatic 21.3 percent increase in the average assessed value of existing residential real estate, the City Manager proposed cutting the tax rate by only four cents. Mayor Euille and the six Democrats on Council, recognizing an obvious opportunity to gain political support, called for a six- to eight-cent cut. Alexandrians saw through the Democratic Party’s political opportunism and have called for a much more significant rate cut of 15-cents. A dramatically lower tax rate of around $0.84 per $100 of assessed value would still allow for a three percent increase in City spending.

“After five years of double-digit growth in real estate assessments, exceeding the growth of their personal income, Alexandrians deserve meaningful tax rate relief,” said Marston. “City spending has increased 9.1% between FY04 and FY05. Democrats on the City Council can certainly afford to slow down spending.”

As the all-Democratic City Council began to realize that their proposed reduction in the tax rate was too small, they began to explore what new taxes they could impose and what existing taxes they could raise. This effort to keep up profligate spending while providing some relief on the real estate tax rate will not fool Alexandrians. The Council is considering a $3 per month tax on cell phones and a 50-cent per ticket tax on movies and live entertainment.

“At the same time Republicans call for a dramatically lower real estate tax, we stand by our position that other taxes should not be raised. Democrats on City Council should keep their hands off our cell phones and their tax collectors away from our movie theaters,” said Marston.

Republicans hope the City Council will heed the call of Alexandrians and provide meaningful tax relief by exercising restraint in spending. If the Council fails to do so, Alexandrians will have a choice in the May 2006 elections.

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