Falls Church News-Press 3-21-2019

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The seventh annual installment of Falls Church Restaurant Week starts Monday and the News-Press kicks off the celebration with a special food and dining issue inside featuring all the week’s dining specials plus features on longtime Little City institutions, an expanding gluten-free business and the return of an iconic Falls Church frozen favorite.

F.C. Council Expected to Give ‘1st Reading’ OK for Shields’ Budget I� S���������

Reviews Plans for New Inspectors & Police Hire

BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

to the City will be higher than originally projected, the board voted to deploy the additional $200,000 coming as a result into reserves to hire new staff in the event enrollment numbers in the fall are higher than currently projected. Second, the School Board is

At its business meeting this coming Monday night, the Falls Church City Council is expected to vote a preliminary approval for the coming Fiscal Year 2020 budget with no substantial changes to what was recommended to it by City Manager Wyatt Shields last week. The big news is that budget includes no tax increases at any level, even as the City is expected to be issuing bonds for $120 million later this spring to construct a new high school. The proposed general fund operating budget is $99,251,876, up from $92,547,237 in the current fiscal year, including a $43,396,814 transfer to the City schools, only a slight increase over the $42,351,898 sum in the current year. With the preliminary OK on the budget will also come a preliminary OK on the tax rates, including the real estate tax rate that will remain at its present level of $1.355 per $100 of assessed valuation. The public will have two opportunities to comment on the whole thing prior to this Monday’s vote, first at the latest in the monthly series of Sunday town halls at 2 p.m. in the Community Center on Sunday, and then before the Council votes at its Monday night meeting which will convene at 7:30 p.m., also at the Community Center.

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SEE INSIDE, PAGES 13 – 24

W����’� H������ W��� S�� ��� M���� 31 With 2019 marking the beginning of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, a coalition of women leaders in Falls Church has organized a one-mile walk through the City’s downtown on Sunday, March 31. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 8

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The News-Press previews George Mason High School’s spring sports programs, already in the early portion of their schedule with most teams in their second week of the regular season. SEE SPORTS, PAGE 28

THE DAR AL HIJRAH mosque in the Seven Corners area of greater Falls Church was host to a standing-room-only vigil of support last Saturday for members of the Islamic faith in response to the mass killing at mosques in New Zealand last week. It was attended by persons of all faiths, including Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields, F.C. Vice Mayor Marybeth Connelly and Councilman Phil Duncan, among many others. (P����: C���� L����)

F.C. School Board Prepares to Move Central Offices in June

BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

INDEX

Editorial............... 6 Calendar ..... 30–31

Classified Ads ... 32 Letters...........6, P���� P���34 ���� S��� Comics, Sudoku News & Notes 10–11 D���� � T�� B���� T���& Comment ..... 12, 25 Crossword ........ 33 Business News . 27 Crime Report .... 34 Sports ............... 28 Critter Corner....34

With so much attention rightfully being paid to the imminent commencement of the $120 million construction of a brand new, state of the art George Mason High School, other important changes in the Falls Church City Public Schools that are bringing

savings to taxpayers are also in the works. They are considerable, and are in two areas. First, the School Board-approved budget for the coming fiscal year came, for the first time in more than a decade, within the two-percent growth guidance provided by the City Council last fall. And, with the news last month that new revenues


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