The Falls Church City Council reaffirmed its commitment, first made in August, to the 174-unit new affordable housing complex planned for the City’s downtown Monday. It voted a preliminary approval for fee and tax exemptions and a $2 million subsidy by 4-1 margins in two votes Monday. A second and final round of votes is due in early December, in time for the Falls Church Housing Corporation to apply for tax credits from the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) worth $12 to $16 million to build the project, known as the City Center South Apartments.
But despite the willingness of the Council majority to fund the project despite the troubled economy might not be enough to ensure it actually happens. “It’s still all only on paper,” said Carol Jackson, executive director of the Housing Corporation, who worked arduously to piece together a complicated four-way agreement to make it happen. In particular, two major hurdles remain beyond the Council’s second vote in December. The first is whether or not the tax credits are approved by the VHDA next spring. The second will be the state of the credit markets next year, as City Manager Wyatt Shields cautioned Monday. While the interest rate on municipal bonds could rise to
six percent, that would not be as prohibitive as rates the Housing Corporation might have to pay for its loans could be, he told the News-Press yesterday. The enthusiasm exhibited by the four Council members who voted to push ahead with the project, however, had not waned since the first vote in August. Mayor Robin Gardner, Vice Mayor Hal Lippman, Dan Maller and Lawrence Webb all spoke strongly in favor, while Nader Baroukh, as he did in August, voted against. Council members Dan Sze and David Snyder were not present. Shields reiterated to the Council points made the week earlier (and reported in the News-Press) of a projected 2.5 percent net decline in assessed real estate values, a five percent decline in sales and business license taxes, and a projected 15 percent decline in state funds. That will leave the City $1.3
Against the backdrop of the Virginia Railway Express’s station at Backlick Road yesterday, Sharon Bulova, who is also the current vice chair of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, announced her candidacy for board chair, ending months of speculation that the Democratic supervisor intended to replace outgoing chair, Congressmanelect Gerry Connolly. During the morning press conference, Bulova reaffirmed her commitment to continuing the “outstanding leadership” of
Continued on Page 4
Continued on Page 5