GEORGE, Pay Equity Hot Topics at 2nd Budget Town Hall
Reflecting rising public concern, dozens of citizens and four members of the City Council attended City Manager Wyatt Shields’ Saturday morning briefing on Falls Church’s financial crisis.
Mr. Shields, whose proposed budget calls for an increase in the tax rate, fielded numerous pointed questions from the audience. Much of the discussion focused on the GEORGE bus service, which the city manager recommends eliminating, and the pay freeze for city workers, which does not extend to school employees. Mayor Robin Gardner acknowledged these are the two biggest issues facing the Council in its deliberations over the FY 2010 budget.
Concern was expressed that if GEORGE were discontinued the City would not receive a substantial transit subsidy of as much as $350,000, in effect negating much of the potential savings. The Monday, April 13, Council session will feature a public hearing on GEORGE.
Most City government workers face a pay freeze under the proposed budget, and 4 full-time and 3 part-time positions have been targetted for elimination. However, the budget submitted by the School Board grants all school employees a modest increase in salary.
Under the City charter the Council does not have a line-item veto over the school budget, so it cannot veto only the pay increases. Its only option would to approve less than 100% of the school budget as presented and so force the Board to make more specific cuts.
The School Board believes it is essential to keep teacher salaries in line with those offered by neighboring systems. Councilman Dan Maller stated that teacher pay here currently is about 10 percent below Arlington, but comparable to salaries offered in Fairfax County.
Citizens also expressed concerns over the $21 million lawsuit filed against the City by Fairfax County over the water system. If the Court finds against Falls Church, taxpayers would face considerably higher water rates and possibly a tax increase.
Details on the case are sketchy and the officials attending the town hall were understandably hesitant to discuss pending litigation. However, in response to a citizen’s suggestion, the Mayor hinted that the City may schedule a public meeting on the issue.
The City has provided numerous documents on-line relating to the operating budget and the Capital Improvements Program. Included is an interesting Northern Virginia Transportation Commission report on GEORGE which states the net cost to the City is $3 per ride, rather than the oft-quoted $8. The latest version of the report is available here.
Mr. Shields’ presentation was short on long term analysis, however. Slides posted on the City website provide no updated information on the city’s projected budget gap beyond fiscal year 2011. In November, Chief Financial Officer John Tuohy projected a rising budget gap, reaching $17 million by 2014. At last week’s Council session the gap number was projected at $14 million, following short term budget balancing efforts. Making up the $14 million gap through real estate taxes alone would require a $0.38 increase above the currently-proposed $1.07 per $100 of assessed value, or an increase of $1,900 per year on a home assessed at $500,000.
Mr. Shields’ slides from his town hall presentations of March 28 and April 4 are available here.
By George Bromley
April 5, 2009
How does the City go about estimating property values 4-5 years in the future? It seems like that’s a critical part of any long term budget planning. I assume whatever estimates they made 4-5 years ago didn’t predict the current situation.
I think the parity issue is a biggie. Current city employees are facing a pay freeze and position reductions and the school employees may get a raise…. something’s not quite right here.
Does anyone know if the teaching profession, on a national or regional level, has been hit hard with lay offs and reductions? If they are, perhaps a job is all that’s needed to attract teachers to Falls Church?
I know the school board had some public meetings recently (that I think were poorly attended by the public), does anyone know if they have any more public meetings scheduled before the budgets are final? The City Council seems to be getting a lot of heat for this issue of the schools staff getting raises while the City staff doesn’t – but it also seems to be out of the direct control of the CC. Concerned folks should be hitting up the School Board (which is elected like the CC) for an explanation for why they think they need to raise salaries.