April 26 — May 2, 2018
FA LLS CHUR C H, V I R G I NI A • WW W. FC NP. C OM • FR EE
FOU N D E D 1991 • VOL. XXVIII NO. 10
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Representatives of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority outlined a massive mixed-use development project for its 24 acres by the West Falls Church Metro station this week. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 8
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F.C. Schools Win 3% COLA in Final Council 7-0 Vote for FY2019 Budget 2.5 Cent Tax Rate Hike is Far Below Earlier Estimates
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
The News-Press talks to the people helping make Falls Church the healthiest community in America and explores The Little City’s wellness fair taking place next week.
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
City’s relevant financial data, will hit the Big Apple on Sunday night in advance of their three meetings. Shields told the News-Press that he’s hopeful the top rankings the City has enjoyed for years from Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and the Fitch group, will remain in force. Still, after Monday’s meetings, it will be some time before that will be confirmed, or not. It is not known what macroeconomic factors may impact the decision, such as projected inflation rates or early warning signs of the onset of a new recession.
Who among all those who squeezed into Monday night’s Falls Church City Council meeting expected the Council to vote unanimously, 7-0, for a Fiscal Year 2019 budget of $93 million that would include the full School Board transfer request of a 2.8 increase, permitting a 3 percent cost-of-living salary increase for all school and City employees? Given the rhetoric and impassioned arguments of recent weeks on the Council, it seemed as likely a majority would have voted to chop that School request down to a 2 percent growth number. But after hearing more compelling arguments by teachers, school and PTA leaders, and the general public, at the opening of Monday’s meeting — and not one person arguing the other way — members of the Council, one by one, made generally lengthy comments about the budget, focusing both on the good and the not so good, and began aligning their allegiances with the School Board request. The strongest protests to the School Board component came, predictably, from those most vocal in their concerns all along, Council members Phil Duncan and Letty Hardi. But while Duncan’s comments held ground on the need to cut the School request, Hardi’s lengthy commentary followed and abruptly concluded with her announcement that she would vote for the School request. So, when the roll call was taken, it appeared that Duncan might be the only dissenting vote, but he voted “yea” to make it 7-0.
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At the national level, earnings of public-school teachers have fallen behind inflation since the mid-1990s, and have fallen even more behind the earnings of comparable workers. SEE PAGE 19
‘S����� B���� M������ C�., S��� U��������� The winning streak is alive and well for George Mason High School boys soccer as the team downed Madison County High School 8-0 last Tuesday night. SEE SPORTS, PAGE 22
INDEX Editorial.................6 Letters...................6 Business News ...10 News & Notes12–13 Comment ........ 19-21
Calendar .......26–27 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner......30
A PORTION OF THE standing-room-only crowd that jammed into the F.C. City Council meeting Monday night. All were there to show support for the School Board’s budget request as the Council mulled its �inal vote on the FY19 budget. (P����: N���-P����)
F.C. Delegation Heads to Wall Street Monday for Interest Rate Presentation BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
The City of Falls Church’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget adopted this week includes a projected big 42.7 percent increase in its debt service line item to begin to cover the cost of borrowing $170 million over time for a new high school and renovations at City Hall and the public library and more. So, the next challenge facing the City will be to get Wall Street to cooperate to help keep the interest rate on all this borrowing at a minimum. That effort began through the budgeting process leading up to
the budget adoption vote this week, with City Manager Wyatt Shields and Chief Financial Officer Kiran Bawa making sure that embedded components were in the budget to comfortably meet unassigned fund balance policy goals and define a path forward keeping the City’s total debt within policy guidance, as well. The next step in this is for the City’s heavyweights to step aboard an Amtrak train and head to Wall Street to meet with representatives of three credit rating agencies. Those meetings are scheduled for next Monday, and the Falls Church team of Shields, Bawa and Mayor David Tarter, armed with all the