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Budget Process & Citywide Budget Issues by Focus Area Teams
 

Accountable, Effective and Well Managed Government

• City Council
  • Recreation Fees  
    • What specific fee areas can be increased by City Council for the FY 2015 Budget and still be within the cost recovery policy adopted by City Council?  
  • Residential Refuse Fee
    • The notes on the residential refuse fee indicate that some of the expanded recycling activities approved by Council in FY 2014 are budgeted to continue into FY 2015. Which activities are continuing, and which activities are not continuing? What would be the required increase in the residential refuse fee to continue all of the expanded recycling activities funded in FY 2014 into FY 2015?   
• General Services
  • The proposed budget includes $127,850 for General Services from the General Fund for "additional supplies and materials". Why is this not a CIP expenditure?  
  • The proposed budget includes 2 new positions for General Services to address facilities maintenance in City Hall and Detention Center. Were alternative sourcing models considered for these services, i.e., professional services agreements? 
  • What is the risk if one or both of these positions are not funded?  
  • Can you let me know the cost savings to automate the Market Square and Union Street parking lots? What would be the amount of revenue that could be brought in if we stopped the free parking on the Saturdays for the Farmer's Market? Or made it half price instead of the full parking price?  
• Human Resources
  • Career Ladders  
  • What other compensation options are there and what are their costs?  
  • The proposed budget includes $441,437 of additional resources for Employee Relations & Talent Management within Human Resources. There appears to be a reallocation of FTEs, and the reduction of 1 FTE, as well as new training dollars, and conference expenditures. Can you please break-down specifically how the $441,437 is being allocated?  
  • The proposed budget includes $50,000 to explore/study a new Benefits Platform. Can this cost be capitalized as part of a new CIP Project for the new Benefits Platform? 
  • What would be the service level implications if the HR Investigator was converted to a part-time position instead of a full-time position? Also, what would be the impact of not funding the HR investigator position at all? Is there data or examples that can support funding of a full-time position?  
• Information Technology Services
  • The proposed budget includes the addition of 1.95 FTE for IT Project Management, including the addition of a new Project Manager and 3 months of Project Management support to support 4 additional projects, yet shows only a 3% expected increase in on-time delivery, a 4% increase in delivery of scope, and no improvement in meeting project budget. Can you help me understand the IT Project Management work-load and how these positions will augment those efforts?   
  • Network Operating Center "NOC" Justification  
• Management and Budget
  • Budget Development
    • Adjustment Compendium 
    • Reduction Proposals Not Taken  
    • What would it cost to provide a living wage adjustment in the FY 2015 budget?  
    • The City Manager mentioned on Wednesday, at the Safe, Secure, & Just Focus Area Work Session, that the Fire department is growing faster than the entire government. Can you provide me with a listing of the rate of growth for City departments?  
    • Can you make a list of all the positions that remained vacant for the entirety of FY14 and the cost associated with each? 
    • Service Enhancements Considered and Not Funded in the FY 2015 Proposed Budget 
    • Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee Review of the FY 2015 Proposed Budget  
    • Final Actions of the FY 2015 Approved Budget  
       

Healthy and Thriving Residents 

• Community and Human Services
  • DCHS Wellness Center
    • Budget Memo 2 indicates that the Manager considered the reduction of $70,288 for a Caseworker Position in DCHS at the Wellness Center. What are the service delivery implications of a reduction of this position? 
    • Budget Memo 2 indicates that the Manager considered the reduction of $72,455 for a Job Coach in DCHS. What are the service delivery implications of a reduction of this position?  
  • Joblink
    • Can we restore a position in job link (worth $68k)? What would that get us from a service perspective?  
    • Regarding the reduction to Job Link, could we switch to a non-profit model or elicit the services of faith-based communities to provide these services? Are there other delivery models that could be considered, i.e. transitioning these services to another department?  
• Health
  • I'm not sure I understand some of these performance measures for Communicable Disease Prevention & Control. The second, third and fifth are fine volume measures, but the first, second, fourth and sixth strike me as strange measures for performance. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to have a metric around the number of HIV tests performed, the number of STI tests performed, the number of TB screenings performed?  
• Other Health Activities
  • INOVA
    • The proposed budget includes $1,011,150 of funding for Inova Alexandria Hospital referencing the cooperative agreement to provide health care services. Can you please detail what services this funding provides? What agreements are in place, or will be negotiated to align this funding to those services?  
• Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA)
  • What are the options for speeding up the Cost Recovery Model for Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities (RPCA)? 
  • RPCA Service Delivery Improvements and the Out of School Program  
     

Livable, Green and Prospering City

• Economic Development
  • AEDP
    • Veteran's Program
      • What are the details of the Veterans' Program that AEDP proposed? 
  • ACVA
    • Request for an Overview of ACVA Marketing Efforts in FY 2015  
• Historic Alexandria
  • The proposed budget reclassifies an existing Museum Director position into a Deputy Director position to "support increased retail and special event revenues." What additional revenues will this reclassification provide? Are those revenues included in the proposed FY 2015 budget?  
• Planning & Zoning
  •  Planning and Zoning Positions
    • The proposed budget includes $48,476 to convert a part-time administrative support position to full-time to staff the Planning Services and Information Counter. What associated fees could be increased to fund this position and how much would they need to be raised in order to make this change cost-neutral to the General Fund?  
    • What is the service impact if the Urban Planner I position remains unfunded or is delayed?  
• Transit Subsidies
  • DASH
    • What would be the cost savings of keeping the Old Town Trolley and DASH at current operating hours and route (both of them are pursuing expansion)?  
    • Would it be possible to implement a DASH Discount for seniors, and if so, would it would be eligible for TIP expenditures?  
  • WMATA
    • FY 2015 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Operating and Capital Budgets  
  • Transportation & Environmental Services 
    • What would the savings be if staff received training for the maintenance of transitway facilities instead of a new Laborer position in T&ES?  
    • Are the BMP positions that were detailed in Question 18 (Budget Memo 6) fully funded by the General Fund? If not, how do they break down? Can you get me the General Fund impact for each position?  
    • Is it possible to halt our order of additional bike stations due to the issue at Bike Share's parent company, and what effect would that have on the proposed budget? If there is money that is now unaccounted for in the TIP, what could it be spent on? 
       

Safe, Secure and Just Community

• Court Services Unit
  • Section 17.1-281(C) of the Code of Virginia provides the ability of a local governing body to assess a fee of up to $3 per case to address non-compliance with current safety or security guidelines in the Courthouse. Do we have such non-compliance? Do we have funds currently budgeted to address these issues in the Operating Budget or CIP? If so, can this fee potentially offset those planned expenditures?”   
• Fire
  • Can you please provide information on the Fire Department’s radio project included as part of the Proposed FY 2015 Capital Improvement Program (CIP)?  
  • With the elimination of the Fire Department PIO position, do we have the potential to leverage public information capacity within other public safety agencies to provide consolidated public safety communications and public information?  
  • Budget Memo 2 indicates that the Manager considered the reduction of $42,005 for a Part-Time recruiter position within the Fire Department. What are the service delivery implications of a reduction of this position? What options are there for consolidating these recruitment activities within the Human Resources Department?  
  • Relocation of Fire Engine 204 to Fire Station 210 
  • Can you provide us with a budget memo with the financial and public safety analysis of the following alternatives to the Manager's proposed changes affecting Fire Station 204 & 210? 
       •   Retaining Engine 204 at Fire Station 204, but moving the Roving Medic Unit to 210--becoming Medic 21 0 (as proposed)?
       •   Retaining Engine 204 at Fire Station 204, but moving the Roving Medic Unit and Truck 204 to 210--becoming Medic 210 (as proposed) and Truck 210?
       •   Several residents also suggested the concept of "sharing" Engine 204 between two stations (with allocation based on peak usage times). Is that feasible? 
       •   What about the idea of utilizing the Alexandria Volunteer Fire Department (AVFD) to staff an unfunded Engine company?  
  • As it relates to the Engine 204 discussion, can you provide a breakdown of population density comparing the east side to the west side of the City currently and the projected density in the future?  
• Law Library
  • Can staff please provide alternative funding/service models for the Alexandria Law Library?  
• Other Criminal and Justice Services 
  • Juvenile Detention Home
    • Response to the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Commission  
• Police
  • Do we know where the COPS reduction will come from?  
  • What is the separate cost of the reclassification (Sergeant to Lieutenant) within Crime Scene Investigations? Why is the reclassification necessary?  
  • What is the possibility of expanding the red light program even farther- what are some other locations that could be used? What is the cost and revenue benefit? I noticed that the red light camera at Duke St. and W. Taylor run is no longer on-would that one qualify for our expansion?  
  • The attached (Public Safety Work Group Police Career Ladder FY 2015 Proposals Summary) was circulated to the Work Group by HR, as analysis of a few proposals for addressing the Starting Pay concerns within Police. Can I get some analysis of these numbers as it relates to FY 2015? Alternatively, it there a possibility of utilizing Career Ladder money allocated to Police to address this issue? What would it look like?  
• Sheriff
  • Please let us know what the two inmate work crews have been able to accomplish so far this FY and what the 3 crews did in FY 2013. Remind us of the cost (one FTE?) to support an additional crew. Were there any considerations in striking the second crew?  
     

Budget Process & Citywide Budget Issues by Remaining Topics

• Add/Delete
  • Expenditure Adjustments for Add/Delete 
  • Preliminary Add/Delete List  
  • Response to Council Questions from the 4/21/14 Preliminary Add/Delete Work Session 
  • Strawman for Final Add/Delete Work Session  
  • Strawman Post Final Add/Delete Work Session  
• Business Tax Reform Task Force
  • Business Tax Reform Task Force Final Report  
• Budget Development
• City Hall
  • What is the cost of the City Hall third floor renovation?  
  • What are the service level implications if we do not increase security at City Hall? 
• Civic Engagement
  • Why is the Civic Engagement/Public Communications position proposed to be in Transportation & Environmental Services? What is the intended scope of work for this proposed position?  
  • The proposed budget includes $60,000 for Civic Engagement and the "What's Next" initiative. What types of consultants and training are intended from this expenditure? What are the risks if it is not funded?  
• Computer Aided Dispatch System  
  • The proposed budget includes 5.0 FTE for support of the new Computer Aided Dispatch system. Can you please provide a detailing of the scope of work for each of these positions, alternative sourcing models for the work required, as well as options for phasing these positions in more gradually?  
• Contingent Reserves
  • Status of Contingent Reserves  
• Domestic Violence Family Services Specialist  
  • Domestic Violence Family Services Specialist  
• Early Childhood Money
  • The proposed budget allocates the remaining $400K of early childhood money and creates an additional FTE, yet shows a 131 child reduction in those found eligible for services. 
       •    Why is the number of children decreasing? 
       •    What does an additional FTE provide? 
       •    What is the current picture of the early childhood spending, including fee subsidy, Head Start, etc.? 
       •    What is the current status of the waiting list for services? 
• Parking
  • What would be the necessary increase in parking garage fees to offset the $26,398 in credit card service fees? 
  • Can you please provide an updated version of Budget Memo Number 75 from FY 2011? (https:llwww.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFilesIBM75FiscaIImpactMayParkMustPark.pdf)  
  • What would be the amount of additional revenue if we made paid parking go until l0pm instead of the proposed 9pm?  
  • Can funds be captured from developers and businesses when waivers are granted from providing the number of parking spaces required by the development code?  
• Pension
  • Can you please confirm the current amount in the proposed budget for Pension Contributions? To date, are we fully funded? Also, what would be the impact of reducing/deferring any portion of this contribution?  
• Retiree Life and Health
  • Retire Life Insurance 
  • Retiree Life and Health Insurance  
  • How does the City administer its ($260/month maximum) health insurance reimbursement program for its retirees? 
  • Can the City consider phasing out its support of retiree life insurance premiums over a longer timeframe, as opposed to eliminating it all at once in FY 2015?  
  • Footnote number 4 on the City's OPEB liability indicates that the estimate does not include the removal of retiree life insurance for new hires (an FY 2010 change). When will the City's OPEB liability be re-estimated to include the impact of this policy change? 
• Self-Insurance Reserves
  • Can you please confirm the current amount in the proposed budget for the Self Insurance/Risk Program, and provide an update for the last 5 years as to actual utilization? What would be the impact of reducing any portion of this set-aside?  
• Senior Health
  • Slide 15 of the April 2, 2014 budget work session on Accountable, Effective and Well-Managed Government shows that nearly 75 percent of Real Estate Elderly and Disabled Tax Relief program participants spend 20 percent or less of their income on real estate taxes and just over 25 percent of participants spend more than 20 percent of their income on real estate taxes. What would it cost if we increased the eligibility requirements as proposed in the FY 2015 budget for those who spend 20 percent or less on their real estate taxes and maintained the current eligibility requirements for those who spend more than 20 percent on their real estate taxes? 
  • Recommended Changes for the Elderly and Disabled Tax Relief and Rent Relief Programs  
  • The proposed budget includes $300,000 for expansion of the Senior Rent Relief program. The performance measures indicate an increase of 42 people receiving Rent Relief overall. Are all 42 of those people receiving the Senior Rent Relief expansion? How many eligible applicants applied in FY 2013 & FY 2014? What was the waiting list for services? Are there requirements for residency duration? What percent of the eligible population do we believe we will serve? What partnership opportunities exist with this program? 
  • Please provide some options for adding time restrictions on when a lease must be acquired in order to qualify for the Senior Rent Relief program. What are the legal ramifications, if any, for making this adjustment?