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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My question to both Alexandria mayoral candidates as well as council candidates is:

How are we going to pay for all things Alexandria? The list keeps growing and growing. Residential taxes and fees alone can't possibly pay for the current "to do" list without risking driving residents out of Alexandria. We are a city at risk if we don't get real about our fiscal situation.

Silverburg at least seems a fiscal conservative (necessary as we residents have a right to not be taxed beyond our ability). Justin Wilson embraces taxes. Will the newly elected council be able to think individually? Safety, public education, young through old resident well being. Maybe we could fill more Alexandria jobs with people already living in Alexandria. Lots of expertise here by our retired residents.
[/quote]

Well the answer literally is to build this metro station and the development it would bring.  [b]What Arlington has over us is a commercial tax base.[/b]  That's what we need to find a way to create, because you can't solve this problem on the backs of residential taxpayers and restaurants anymore.[/quote]

And Arlington Public Schools which academically are way above ACPS.

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Because they have the commercial tax base to fund their schools. From the 1970s on, Arlington invested in commercial development and smart growth along their metro corridor. The result is a huge commercial tax base that pays for great public infrastructure - schools, parks, etc. Alexandria took the opposite approach - shunned all development around metro. The result is no meaningful commercial tax base and little to no investment in public infrastructure for decades. Now Alexandria has to play catch up with crumbling infrastructure, high demands for schools because of all the residential, and no way to pay for anything other than to raise residential taxes. The only way to solve that problem is to develop around the metro corridor to attract businesses to the city. Grow the commercial tax base and you relieve the pressure on residents while being able to serve them better. Or, we can do what the current mayor wants to do: nothing.[/quote]

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