A suggestion was strongly rejected Monday night that the City of Falls Church budget planning for the coming fiscal year provide for the option of raising the tax rate in the event the burden on the City to subsidize Metro is greater than initially thought (see our story on the Metro funding elsewhere in today’s issue).

Mayor Letty Hardi, attending the meeting remotely from Cleveland, Ohio, made it very clear that the Council should not deviate from City Manager Wyatt Shields’ recommended FY25 budget that lowers the real estate tax rate by a penny to $1.22 per $100 of assessed valuation.

That view received unanimous support when the Council voted unanimously on three “first reading” budget measures Monday. Now, the Council by law cannot raise the tax rate further without a major disruption of its procedures. It can lower it, however, and Council members Caroline Lian and Marybeth Connelly both suggested a two cent rate cut may be in order, instead of just a penny.

Hardi noted that with an eight percent revenue growth in the last year, the Council can find a way to make more program cuts if needed to keep the goal of a tax cut for citizens this year, and even if it means the City is the only jurisdiction in the region to do so, which seems likely.

In this context, City Manager Wyatt Shields admitted that in past years the City “has been a bit too careful in its projections of revenue growth,” resulting in large year-end surpluses. He said his current budget recommendations are now “more aggressive,” though they “run the risk that revenues will not come in to cover them.”

But Shields reported a number of new developments occurring in the City including the design for a new mural on the currently-blank side of the parking garage that faces the City. Hoffman Associates have solicited entries for the work that will be shared with the City’s Arts and Humanities Council before coming to the City Council for its “seal of approval.”

He said that work is beginning on crossings over the W&OD Trail in the City at Great Falls, Little Falls and Spring Streets with a fourth at West Street to commence later. The interruption of vehicular traffic that may occur will be temporary, he said.

Shields acknowledged the designation of the Aurora House’s Rachel Kendall as the City’s Employee of the Year.

In a work session on the City’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) the issue of $30 million for a new building on the Property Yard was discussed at length, even though work on it is not planned to begin for three years.

Shields said that a “more efficient use” of the valuable six acres at the west end of the City is being sought, and that the entire six acres may not be needed by the Department of Public Works, which would open some remaining land for a public private development partnership.

Councilmember Lian noted that the City’s homeless shelter and recycling centers are also on the land and noted that the City may not be getting a lot for a $30 million expenditure.

Caitlin Sobsey made the City Planning Department’s presentation of the CIP for the coming fiscal year. She noted that there are 22 projects included in work for the coming year, and 31 for the five years beyond that.

The recommendation is for three new full time positions to “unclog the CIP” backlog with a budget of $191 million up from last year’s $153 million.

Hardi noted that even with the plan to draw down City reserves to fund it, “We are still very healthy from a fiscal perspective.”

But Hardi said she was “disappointed” that with the necessary new hires to handle the City’s aggressive economic growth, the newly renovated City Hall is already running out of space, as staff was reporting. The Gage House annex to City Hall is also jammed to capacity, she noted.

Hardi urged her colleagues to focus priorities more on sidewalk and street light improvements, noting that the plan to delay improvements on Noland Street is unsatisfactory and may be more of a priority than expanding the concession stand on the Meridian High School sports fields.

She also questioned the use of $800,000 for improvements to the Kaiser parking garage, even though the garage is opened at nights for public parking adjacent numerous restaurant and entertainment destinations in that immediate area.

Work is also commencing on the roundabout slated for the intersection of Annandale and S. Maple and improvements at the Annandale intersections with S. Washington and Hillwood Avenues.

Councilmember Marybeth Connelly said that more attention needs to be paid to the City’s role at the Vietnamese retail center at the Eden Center.