CITY FOCUS:
City Council Approves FY2011 Budget
Real Estate Tax Increase Effect
Operating Budget Reductions

Read more

Falls Church Education Foundation Raises $70K for Schools

By STEPHANIE OPPENHEIMER
Falls Church Times Staff

April 28, 2010

The Falls Church Education Foundation (FCEF) raised some major cash for City schools at its Sixth Annual Dinner & Auction last Friday night, with 240 people in attendance at the Westin Arlington Gateway, raising more than $70,000. That’s about $3000 more than last year’s totals, Executive Director Donna Englander said.

Divvying up the proceeds among the schools wasn’t difficult in this age of budget cuts, and all four schools benefited nicely; Mount Daniel and Thomas Jefferson will receive four new SmartBoards, interactive white boards that help make learning a multi-sensory experience; Mary Ellen Henderson will receive $7200 for Challenge Day, a two-day program aimed at overcoming fear and hatred of the differences among students; and $700 in proceeds from audience participation in a Heads or Tails Game will be used to reimburse the FCEF for their outlay to the George Mason robotics team when the team traveled to the national competition in Atlanta, Ga.

Funds will also be used for FCEF’s teacher grants, which are apportioned out by a grant committee that is made up of four representatives from each of Falls Church City’s schools, the assistant superintendent, and a PTA representative.

“We utilize a competitive review process to help determine which grant requests we can fulfill,” explained Englander, “while our decisions this year about supporting SmartBoards, Challenge Day and the robotics team came down to recognizing what aspects of our schools’ programs and services really needed more help with funding. That’s one of the strengths about the Foundation … being able to nimbly step in and help where it’s needed most.”

“Our decision to support the purchase of more SmartBoards, for example, was the result of some very convincing legwork by people who really care,” Englander said. “Thomas Jefferson’s Technology Coordinator Steve Knight put together a fantastic video about the benefits of the interactive boards, and Elementary PTA President Terri Tornell had a very aggressive fundraising plan in place. With that background, the auctioneer worked his magic, and we raised enough to purchase four boards.”

Another highlight of the evening was a performance by jazz singer and composer Ericka Ovette, who was joined by the extraordinarily talented George Mason jazz ensemble.

Major corporate sponsors of the event were Acacia Federal Savings Bank, Moore Cadillac, and Pal-Tech.

Crime Report for April 20-26

Larceny – Theft from Motor Vehicle, 6763-R3 Wilson Blvd (Eden Center), April 21, between 10 and 10:30 PM, unknown suspect broke a car window and took a NorthFace jacket and backpack and a semi-automatic Glock 23 pistol and holster.

Larceny – Theft from Motor Vehicle, 6700 blk Wilson Blvd (Eden Center), April 21, while searching the area related to the above crime an officer discovered that an unknown suspect had broken the window of another vehicle.  After locating the owner in the Eden Center, it was determined that a Toshiba laptop with case had been taken.  

Destruction of Property, 100 blk W Annandale Rd, between 7:30 PM April 21 and 06:30 AM, April 22, unknown suspect sprayed a vehicle with white paint.

Destruction of Property, 138-R W Jefferson St, between April 22, 4:30 PM and 6:15 AM April 23, bulbs in a motion-activated security light were broken by an unknown suspect.

Graffiti/Damage to Property, 1104 W Broad St (Staples), on April 24 at 7:50 PM, unknown person(s) used a blue paint marker to deface a rear side door.

Urinating in Public, 6621 Wilson Blvd, on April 25, at 00:31 AM, a 27 yuear old Herndon man was arrested for urinating in public.

Mount Daniel Celebrates Earth Day with Family Discovery Series: Science in Nature

By STEPHANIE OPPENHEIMER
Falls Church Times Staff

April 28, 2010

Earth Day was a hit at our house. But that’s no surprise—my four-year old regularly holds up scraps of paper smaller than his little toe and asks, quite seriously, “Is this garbage or recycling?” And our seven-year old carefully marks every bird species we see at our feeder in a book about Virginia’s suburban birds. So we’re pretty excited about Mount Daniel Elementary’s “Family Discovery Series: Science in Nature” event, scheduled for Wednesday evening (April 28) from 6:30 to 8:00pm on the upper blacktop behind Mount Daniel (rain or shine).

There will be plenty of activities to help kids learn more about our world: From 6:35 to 7:30, families can circulate through several different activity centers, including Design & Fly, where participants can design their own butterfly species and learn everything they ever wanted to know about butterfly habitats; Magnify Your World, where kids can examine bugs, plants, feathers and rocks with a magnifying lens or microscope; Feathered Friends, which will feature a station for make-your-own pinecone bird feeders; and Nature Bingo, a new twist on an old favorite. Volunteers will also read favorite stories about nature throughout the hour.

At 7:30, guest speaker Mr. Alonso Abugattas, acting director at Long Branch Nature Center, will weave together the evening’s activities and discoveries with a presentation about our Natural Neighbors.

“I’m hoping to provide some ‘edutainment’ by bringing along some native critters for the kids to see and touch, and by telling stories about the animals to help kids understand them better,” said Abugattas. “I’ll bring some animals that the kids may see every day, as well as some that used to be common in our area but no longer are because we haven’t been very neighborly to them. In honor of Earth Day, my overall hope is that by giving people the opportunity to learn more about our natural neighbors, we’ll all do more to help protect them.”

Absentee Voting Now Open for Tuesday Election

In-person absentee voting is now open for the May 4 City Council and School Board elections.  Citizens who are registered to vote in Falls Church City may cast absentee ballots at City Hall in the Office of Voter Registration and Elections weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday May 1 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Absentee ballot applications are available for download at www.fallschurchva.gov/vote or at the Office of Voter Registration & Elections, 300 Park Ave. Room 101-E.

Applications for mail-in absentee ballots were due Tuesday, April 27^th at 5:00 p.m.

Additional information is available at 703-248-5085.

Council Passes Budget & Tax Rate Increase Unanimously

By GEORGE BROMLEY
Falls Church Times Staff

April 26, 2010

Tonight the Falls Church City Council unanimously approved the FY 2011 budget and a 17 cent increase in the property tax rate.  The vote marks the end of an long, arduous process that involved three public hearings, four town hall meetings, and 11 work sessions, plus numerous “Gang of 8″ meetings and discussions with City and School Board staff.

The $62.4 million dollar budget is $4.5 million dollars lower than that for FY 2010, a decrease of 6.8%.   City Manager Wyatt Shields had proposed a higher number in March, but the Council trimmed his request by $924,000 and cut 3 cents off the proposed tax rate.

The FY 2011 property tax rate will be $1.24 for every $100 of assessed value.  This rate, though higher than that in neighboring Arlington and Fairfax Counties, is somewhat lower than rates in other local jurisdictions.  However, as property values are higher in Falls Church, the typical tax bill is often higher as well.  Under the new budget, the average Falls Church home owner will face an increase of $798 or 12.3%.

Council members generally felt that the budget represented their best effort in what Mr. Shields described as “a very tough year financially.”  Councilman Dan Sze, who had earlier suggested a 10 cent tax increase, acknowledged that that was “not the sense of Council.”  Councilman Dave Snyder referred to the finished product as a “budget nobody loves”, but said he was optimistic about the future.  “If we pull together we’ll pass on to others the same quality of a city that we inherited.”

Vice Mayor Hal Lippman stated ”For the second year in a row the Council has delivered in every sense on what our citizens have hoped for and expected.  .  .  .  I can sleep well for the first time tonight.”

Councilman Nader Baroukh, who cast the only dissenting vote at first reading of the budget, felt that the process, though collegial, had not been ideal and that the Council should have devoted more attention to budget matters sooner, rather than focusing on issues such as the election date change.

Public comments prior to the vote, though few, were hardly sanguine.  Read more

WATER WAR: Fairfax Files Rebuttal to City’s Appeal

By GEORGE BROMLEY
Falls Church Times Staff

April 26, 2010

Today the Fairfax County Water Authority filed a brief in response to Falls Church’s appeal of the decision of the Fairfax Circuit Court that the City’s water rates are designed to generate surplus revenues and pose an illegal tax on County residents.  Judge R. Terrence Ney’s January 6 ruling also struck down a sentence in the City’s charter which allowed it to transfer surpluses from its water fund to its general fund as a “return on equity.”   

In arguing that the City’s petition to the Virginia Supreme Court should be denied, Fairfax Water contends that there was no “reversible error” and maintains that the appeal “is riddled with procedural error.”   Citing over two dozen cases, the rebuttal defends Judge Ney’s ruling that the City’s water system practices were “plainly unconstitutional.” 

The brief concludes in part that “It is extremely unusual for a city water system to have a customer base that is overwhelmingly comprised of non-city residents (92%).  Falls Church capitalized on that imbalance – and on its one-of-a-kind charter provision (13.07) – by charging an inflated water rate to all its customers, reaping huge profits that allowed it to drastically reduce the local tax burden on its own citizens.”

Falls Church’s appeal argues that the claim of a Charter violation was not properly before the court, because it was never pleaded and was first raised in the middle of the trial.  The City’s appeal also contends that the operation of its water utility is a proprietary, not a governmental, function and that Falls Church is not imposing a “tax” on non-resident water customers, because it does not require them to connect to its system.

Fairfax Water filed its amended five count complaint against the City in January 2009.  One count was subsequently dropped.  The matter under appeal was tried last September.  Judge Ney handed down his ruling against Falls Church on January 6.   Trial on three other counts was suspended in February and the parties later reached a settlement on those issues.  The City filed its position to appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court on  April 6.

That Court likely will grant a hearing on the two petitions this summer.  If the City’s petition is accepted, the full Court will hear arguments later this year.  Falls Church’s petition is posted on the City’s website.  Fairfax Water’s rebuttal brief is posted on the Authority’s website.

Outdoor Painting Festival Starts May 1

By GINA CACECI
Falls Church Times Staff

Falls Church Arts is sponsoring “Scenes in the City,” the first annual Plein Air Festival that invites artists to paint outdoors in Falls Church City throughout May and to submit their best artwork for judging and exhibition in June.

The Plein Air Festival is open to all artists and cash prizes will be awarded.  Between May 1 and May 28, artists will paint outdoor scenes in The Little City on canvas, paper or any other material supports that have been “stamped” by Falls Church Arts.  Each “supports stamp” is $5 and is the price of entry for artists to participate in the Plein Air Festival.

Artwork supports can be stamped at a number of locations throughout Falls Church during May including:

• The Falls Church Arts tent at the Farmers’ Market (City Hall Parking Lot, 300 Park Avenue) from 9 am to noon on Saturdays May 1, 8, 15 and 22
• ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Avenue, from 3 to 6 pm on Sunday, May 2 and from 6 to 8 pm on FIRSTfriday, May 7
• Stifel & Capra: Art & Ornament for Your Wonderful Life, 260 West Broad Street, May 1 – 28 during regular business hours Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, noon to 5 pm

Artists can paint as many scenes as they want and can enter up to two of their stamped works for judging and for exhibition from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday, May 29 outside of City Hall (corner of Little Falls Street and Park Avenue).  An award ceremony will be held at 3 pm that same day outside City Hall.

A selection of the works entered into the “Scenes in the City Plein Air Festival” will be on display inside City Hall on the G-level, Monday through Friday, from June 1 through June 11.

For a lot more details and an entry form, see www.FallsChurchArts.org

« Previous Page — Next Page »