According to the Washington Post Blog, the Alexandria City Manager proposed a 7-cent increase to Alexandria's property tax rate Tuesday to help fill a $44.million budget gap. The tax rate would increase to 97.3 cents per $100 of a property's assessed value if approved. Both residential and commercial property values fell, but the average homeowner would still pay $103 more in 2010, said city officials.  Alexandria is one of many counties grappling with how to handle major budget deficits in the wake of a slowing economy, a drop in real estate values and anticipated funding cuts on the state level.

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