WASHINGTON – There has been a bit of a surprise for Alexandria residents: A utility tax hike passed by the city council in June has not been collected for the last two months.
The tax increase was in the budget, but it was not implemented because the city council failed to vote on it a second time or hold a public hearing.
It did not show up on July or August bills.
City Manager Rashad Young says someone on his staff made a mistake.
“I can tell you that at the city of Alexandria it’s something we don’t want to repeat,” Young says about the error.
The tax increase in electric and gas service would have added $1.1 million to the city treasury for the full year.
The mistake means the city will have an estimated $275,000 less to work with this fiscal year.
But taxpayers should not get too excited about the mistake. Rashad says they intend to correct in time to add the increased tax by Oct. 1.
The increase amounts to about 60 cents a month for the average homeowner.
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