Alexandria Closes Fiscal Year 2011 with $9.8 Million Surplus

The Alexandria City Council entered its first legislative session of Fiscal Year 2012 Tuesday night with the news it closed FY2011 with an operating surplus of $9.8 million.

Acting City Manager Bruce Johnson said the “unexpected” surplus came from $5.57 million in expenditure savings and about $4.26 million in higher than expected revenue.

City Council is considering recommendations from Johnson on how to use the surplus, including setting aside $6.7 million to protect against economic uncertainty facing the city.

Johnson suggested the remaining $3.1 million of the surplus could be split up for a variety of purposes, including paying off emergency response costs from recent events, setting money aside for future emergency costs, providing additional training and equipment for first responders and increasing emergency management planning and training.