Mayor Relents, Schools Avoid Cuts, GEORGE Lives by Half

By Stan Fendley and George Bromley

The Falls Church City Council abruptly changed course last night, deciding against additional cuts to the City Schools budget for fiscal year 2010.  Suggested only days earlier by Mayor Robin Gardner as a way to save City government positions, the proposal to cut an additional $170,000 from the schools was removed from the budget prior to Council consideration.

Last week the City School Board was unable to find savings above the $375,000 it had already trimmed for next year.  A number of teachers protested the proposal by standing in the Council chambers as a representative delivered a strong statement in opposition.  Citizens’ letters, summarized by the Council Clerk before the budget vote, overwhelmingly opposed further school cuts.

The GEORGE commuter bus service will continue for 2010, but at half its current level.  City Manager Wyatt Shields originally recommended eliminating GEORGE completely, but the program was saved, at least for one year, when the Council agreed to a proposal by Councilman Dan Maller to draw down $150,000 from the City’s share of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission trust fund.  Another $150,000 will come from rider fares, state subsidies, and proffers from real estate developers.

Asked about his efforts to find other budget cuts, Shields reported he was unable to recommend any.  He had reviewed all outside contracts, he said, and none could be eliminated without creating problems.  The City’s streetsweeping contract, for example, was necessary to keep sand and salt from accumulating in the water runoff system in winter.  Shields said he had even looked at closing the library one day a week but opted against it because it was essentially an employee pay cut, which was what he was trying to mitigate.

All seven Council members voted for the budget, which was a notable change from last week, when a number of members voiced the need to “support the schools.”

In approving the budget the Council authorized a four cent increase in the tax rate to $1.07 per $100 of assessed value.   The rate had been advertised up to $1.09.

Prior to the vote Councilman Dan Sze informally proposed reviewing and perhaps cancelling pending consulting contracts in order to free-up additional funds.  However, Mr Shields stated that such contracts had already been signed, and City Attorney John Foster expressed serious concerns about the “defensability” of cancelling any of them.

Following the vote, Mr Joel Block, president of the Falls Church City Educators, said, “[W]e are extremely grateful that the City Council has provided us with sufficient funding to give us the opportunity to maintain the high quality of our schools and to keep our schools competitive with neighboring school districts.”  (Mr  Block’s full statement appears below.)

Councilmen Maller, David Snyder, and Nader Baroukh all called for better long-term planning for future years.

Mr Maller complimented Economic Development Authority member Ira Kaylin for doing a “great community service” in calling for a long-term budget and projections based on differing assumptions.  “Our best assumptions have proven optimistic,” Maller said.   He also called for the creation of  what he termed a Fiscal Affairs Board, composed of citizens, City staff, and School Board staff, to oversee long-term financial planning.

Mr Baroukh followed, saying “The time for long-term planning has come,” and noting he was alarmed by the outlook for the schools fund, which will be drawn down extremely low in 2010.

Mr Snyder, who in March had called the proposed budget “dead wrong,” was in a much more conciliatory mood last night, stating that the budget now is reflective of City values, in part due to input received from citizens during the course of the development process.

Vice Mayor Hal Lippman praised the Council’s spirit of collegiality that had developed over the last several weeks.  However, observing that we are in extraordinary times, he also expressed some regret that many in the community still seemed inclined to continue with business as usual.

Mayor Gardner stated she would like to see a change in the budget process so that City staff “would not be last in line” in working how the budget is presented.  She also recommended some re-evaluation of consolidating City and School Board staff duties.

A joint citizen and City staff task force will be set up to determine how to best manage the GEORGE service.  Any major decisions, such as an increase in the fare, must be made by July 1.

The City’s press release provides the following additional details: 

• Elimination of these General Government positions: Human Resources Specialist, Urban Environmental Inspector, (both part time) and City Manager’s Office Assistant, Emergency Management Specialist and Housing Development Specialist.  The hours will be reduced for the Food Service Provider position at the Senior Center .  A vacant police officer position is eliminated but is expected to be funded with a federal grant.
   
• A full year’s operation of the red light camera system with estimated revenues from fines offsetting costs.
   
• New fees for services including street closures for block parties, false alarm fee, land development fees and elimination of a discount for restaurants that pay the meals tax early.  Mulch delivery will remain free for City residents.
   
• No changes in Library or Community Center hours.
   
• Preservation of climate initiative, storm water and rent relief programs.
   
• A significantly scaled back 2010 Capital Improvements Program relies on federal and state funds to accomplish transportation and pedestrian improvements, traffic calming, and stream restoration projects.  A proposed Library expansion and improvements to City Hall is scheduled for FY2011, and proposed School Improvements are proposed for FY2013.
      
• Significant Capital Improvements in the Water Fund include the on-going water main replacement program and pump station improvements.

Joel Block, President, Falls Church City Educators Association and Chairperson, Professional Educators Advisory Committee, made the following statement:

“FCCEA and PEAC appreciate all of the hard work the school board did to create an incredibly lean budget while constantly focusing on keeping the Falls Church City Public Schools competitive.  We feel it was unfortunate that there were so many comparisons between the city government employees and the school employees because we believe our school system should always be compared with surrounding school systems while the government employees/projects should be compared with neighboring governments.

“However, we are extremely grateful that the city council has provided us with sufficient funding to give us the opportunity to maintain the high quality of our schools and to keep our schools competitive with neighboring school districts.”

OPINION: Watching City Council Make Sausage Ain’t Pretty

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School Board To Mayor: Alas, We Have Not A Penny

By George Southern and Stan Fendley

City Council went on a scavenger hunt last night, looking for a spare $170,000 it thought might be hidden away in the School Board’s almost $37 million budget.

To paraphrase: “Show me your penny,” said Councilman Dan Maller. “Alas, we have not any,” replied School Board Chairman Ron Peppe, backstopped by assistant finance superintendent Hunter Kimble.

The search for spare change was an effort to preserve two jobs at City Hall targeted for elimination — “the most painful decision I’ve ever made,” said City Manager Wyatt Shields.

Tell us about pain, responded Peppe: Last year the schools cut 15 people. This year we’ve already cut $1 million from the budget. The only way to cut any further is to increase class size or reduce salaries.

The drama heightened with the Falls Church Educators Association, as members stood in solidarity while President Joel Block delivered an emotional rebuttal of the concept of “equity” between school employees and City employees.

If you want to talk about equity, said Block, why do City employees pay less health care costs than school employees? Why is it equitable to penalize 400 school employees to raise money for two positions on the government side that the city manager didn’t even have in his budget?

Mayor Robin Gardner acknowledged that Block’s speech was “very passionate,” but wanted him to know that the school jobs lost last year “did not go unnoticed.” Then she made a true confession: “It was my suggestion about the $170,000. The School Board represents the teachers and school staff. That’s their job. The City Council fights for the City staff. That’s our job. I know that $170,000 was a big amount to ask, but I didn’t think it was astronomical or out of line.”

The positions Gardner wants to restore aren’t exactly known. Councilman Nader Baroukh tried to find out, but City Manager Shields was reluctant to say in public.  Three full-time jobs are proposed for elimination — a housing specialist, a police department information technology specialist, and Shields’ own administrative assistant.  Unclear is which positions would be restored, or if some mix of all three would become part-time jobs.

Councilman Dan Maller seemed sure there must be a little leeway in the School budget. Flush with success in his effort to fund the GEORGE bus with extra money from the state trust fund, Maller tried to “do a GEORGE” on the School budget. He noted that the Schools’ “fund balance” has “been building up over years.” Finance guru Kimble acknowledged that the fund balance was $890,000 this year and would be $1.1 million next year.

That sounds like a surplus, Maller suggested.

Nope — the fund balance is our operating balance, Peppe shot back.

Vice Mayor Hal Lippman confessed that he didn’t understand the fund balance, either.

[Note: In an effort to explain the school fund balance issue, chief financial officer John Tuohy wrote an April 24 memo -- click to read.]

With less than four days left before Council approves the City budget April 27, it’s unclear if Gardner will push ahead with the school cut proposal.

Councilman Dave Snyder said he would not support the proposed school cut, nor would he support a tax increase above the four-cent hike already planned.  Snyder instead urged finding additional funding by limiting payments to consultants. 

Councilman Maller said that he did not see Falls Church as being in a real economic emergency, and that absent such an emergency he would be reluctant to cut the school budget. 

Vice Mayor Lippman and Councilman Lawrence Webb appeared to support Gardner’s proposal, with Lippman stating that the current situation constitutes the “most significant economic times since the Great Depression,” and Webb intoning that city government employees “are just as important as the teachers.” 

Councilman Baroukh did not tip his hand, but said he was “looking for facts.” He asked City Manager Shields why he originally proposed eliminating the positions, rather than saving money through furloughs or benefit cuts. Shields replied that reducing benefits packages is complicated and creates uncertainty, and imposing furloughs is really a pay cut with time off. “I need to know how you plan to use the money,” Baroukh emphasized.

Councilman Dan Sze stated his support for the schools, but did not clarify his position on Gardner’s proposal.  However, during the public comment period, after Sze heard resident Justin Castillo’s opposition to cutting the School budget, Sze surprised the gathering by calling Castillo back to the podium for cross-examination.

“I’ll use you as a proxy for the empassioned speeches we’ve heard tonight, some of which I thought verged on being rude,” Sze said, as he proceeded to quiz Castillo. “Do you know what the national unemployment rate is?” Yes, Castillo replied — 8 percent. Sze further asked whether Castillo expected the economy to improve soon, and whether he was happy with the City’s services. 

“I was surprised to be questioned,” Castillo said afterward.

Other citizens speaking included Ed Salzberg, a 30-year resident who said he “hates to see us losing the quality of life” that he termed the “Mayberry aspect” of Falls Church.

Phyllis Kravinsky noted as a City school teacher, who also has taught in Arlington, that she fears her colleagues are being attracted by the higher salaries offered in Arlington. “Teachers listen” to the signals coming from City Council, she said.

Deepak Dobhal said that when he came to the United States he researched schools in the area and decided Falls Church schools were the best.  For many seeking a place to live, he said, the important factor “is not Town Hall, it’s schools. We all would lose if our kids lose.”

FCC-TV will re-air its broadcast of the meeting at the following dates and times:

Friday April 24 at Noon
Saturday, April 25th at 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, April 26th at 5:00 p.m.
Monday, April  27th at 9:30 a.m.

FCC-TV airs on Cox Channel 12, RCN Channel 2 and Verizon Channel 35.

OPINION: I’m Not a Numbers Gal, but Budget Time’s Up

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Budget Part 3: The Citizens Speak (Still about GEORGE)

Carol DeLong, four-term Mayor in the 1980s, made an interesting point at the April 13 City Council budget hearing: “Time was, all you would hear at a budget hearing was about schools. Now all you’re hearing about is GEORGE (the City’s commuter bus service).

DeLong was right: nobody even mentioned schools — the pearl of great price, the City’s sacred treasure. Maybe that’s because the proposed budget is enough for “modest” pay raises for school staff.

Not so for the rest of the City’s employees, who get a pay freeze. Tennille Parker, employee spokesman, reminded Council of that, just for the record.

After that, it was all about GEORGE.

No, wait, first Councilman Dave Snyder spoke to “review my record on economic development.” Someone had been disparaging Snyder as “against” everything, so Snyder listed what he is “for” and what he is “against.” (See his FCT comment here.) “I wanted to make these points for the record so we can move on to other matters,” Snyder explained.

As noted, there was only one other matter, and it consumed the next two hours. Not surprisingly, regular riders turned out in defense of GEORGE, which the City proposed to discontinue. They had lots of ideas as well as criticism for the City.

Two speakers said they moved to the City specifically because GEORGE gives them easy access to the Metro. “I moved here six months ago,” said Sabina Rashpaul. “If GEORGE had not been available, I would have looked elsewhere.”

“Regular rider” Jay Majors said “I would be driving to West Falls Church without GEORGE, increasing traffic in the City.”

Carl Cucuci said GEORGE is “an amenity for the City that contributes to the quality of life.”

Richard Hipolit said it’s appropriate for government to subsidize public transportation. “I live in Poplar Forest — without GEORGE I’d be driving to the Metro.” He added his experience was that “when gas shot up, ridership increased drastically.”

“In the future,” said Elizabeth Fenton of South Virginia Avenue, “we’ll need the bus.”

The most poignant comment came from the Gibb family — father and daughter ride GEORGE together, she to school, he to work. “I don’t have that time with my daughter if GEORGE is gone,” Gibb said.

A Hillwood Avenue resident was “frustrated by the debate over facts and ridership at this late stage. I hope in the future there is more coordination with other agencies. It’s disturbing that you have to make a decision without all the facts on the table,” said Patrick Bracken.

Only one lone citizen ventured out on the rainy evening to dissent: “What are the compelling reasons to have GEORGE? I don’t see why we need our own intra-city bus service,” argued Charles Gonzales of West Broad.

And then there was Barry Buschow, the “pampered commuter” of Madison Lane: “This is the future for Falls Church, proposed back in 1987,” Buschow began, launching into a history of the City’s decades-long effort to establish a bus service. But a minute later the buzzer sounded, indicating his time was up. “That can’t be three minutes,” Bushow snapped at the timekeeper, Falls Church City Clerk Kathleen Buschow. “Sorry,” his wife apologized, to the amusement of the audience. (Read Buschow’s position here.)

Northern Virginia Transportation Commission Director Richard Taube told Council that “you’re on the right track,” but should consider:

– Marketing and promotion;

– Learning more about customers;

– Restructuring METRO to put more emphasis on GEORGE;

– Lowering rather than raising fares (or, lower off-peak fare and raise peak fare).

When it was all over, citizens for GEORGE appeared to be in alliance with a majority of Council, overcoming the initial direction of the Mayor and Vice Mayor, who suppported the City Manager’s plan to end GEORGE completely.

Budget Hearing Part 2: Everybody (?) Loves GEORGE

Everybody loves GEORGE — except Mayor Robin Gardner and Vice Mayor Hal Lippman. That was the sense coming out of the April 13 City Council budget hearing on ending the City’s commuter bus service.

 Of the other five Council members, even those who came to bury GEORGE left with praise:

 Councilman Dan Sze: I was under the assumption we could make a clean break [from GEORGE]. Now I’m conflicted. I support finding a way to buy time until we know what our bus service needs to be.

Councilman Lawrence Webb:  I was a proponent of de-funding GEORGE. Tonight makes me think there may be other options.

Three other Council members had always hoped to somehow keep GEORGE running.

Councilman Dave Snyder: The $8 [City cost] per fare is an “urban myth.” For every dollar the City invests [in GEORGE] it gets 50 cents from the state. Compare that to schools, where we get 10 cents on our dollar.

Councilman Nader Baroukh: It’s been claimed that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep GEORGE operating at its current level. That’s not true. But killing GEORGE would be a mistake. I like the idea of having [Arlington's ART bus] service the City. But there are lots of missing pieces to the puzzle, and we have only two weeks to figure it out.

Councilman Dan Maller:  I’m disappointed at [the City Manager's] range of options. What is the minimum level the City can operate the bus? Shame on us for running a relatively inefficient system — it does not compare favorably with other systems. . . . I believe we could draw from the [state] trust fund to support a transitional plan. [Congressman Jim] Moran will go above and beyond what we ask for. But so far, we haven’t asked the people who gave us the bus to help us keep it.

The Mayor and her deputy did not seem convinced.

Mayor Gardner: GEORGE could make the tax rate rise from $1.07 to $1.08 or $1.09. Not that I don’t like public transit, but I’m confused why we need GEORGE when we also have MetroBus. It’s curious — people who live a block away will take GEORGE over MetroBus. Why? Is it the 50 cent fare? Fewer riders?

She did, however, concede that Maller had “a great idea on how to bring service down and not add tax.”

Vice Mayor Hal Lippman: I have trouble with “business as usual.” And I’m not satisfied that GEORGE is “a need, not a want.”

Next: Part 3: The “common man” speaks on GEORGE.

Faced with New Info, Council Balks at Killing GEORGE Bus

A funny thing happened on the way to the City’s April 13 budget forum.

The “black box” containing City transit finance records spilled open, revealing over $2 million in City transit subsidies and obligations that, inexplicably, do not appear in the City’s budget.

On Monday night, the City Council assembled to hear City Manager Wyatt Shields’ case for killing off the inefficient and frequently nearly empty GEORGE feeder bus service.

The City administration had provided the means via town hall meetings and exhibits demonstrating a slam-dunk case for terminating GEORGE: for every rider paying a 50-cent fare, city taxpayers chipped in an additional $8. Total cost: $600,000.

With property taxes already proposed to increase 4 to 6 cents, keeping GEORGE running would add another 1.5 cents to the rate. Clearly a non-starter.

Last night, however, Shields presented new slides showing that half of the $600,000 cost for GEORGE is paid by state subsidies — funds that do not appear in the City budget. The “$8 per ride” language disappeared.

The subsidy information comes from an evaluation by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, in charge of administering government transit subsidies.

On May 1, City Councilman Dan Maller becomes the City’s representative on the NVTC, taking over from Councilman Dave Snyder. Snyder had already cited the NVTC evaluation and had it posted on the City’s website.

Early on, Maller let it be known that he would like to save at least some remnant of GEORGE. On Monday he took a big step toward that by asking NVTC Director Richard Taube to appear at the budget hearing, and alerting the City that Taube was coming.

Taube was prepared, if necessary, to shoot the City’s transit budget full of holes, as he had already done in his March 12 evaluation paper.

It wasn’t necessary. City Manager Wyatt Shields shredded his own figures and provided a fresh, bigger picture that might end up providing a case for salvaging GEORGE in some manner.

The new figures show that currently the City has a $2.1 million obligation to fund Metrobus/Metrorail, a fact absent from the current budget.

Also absent from the budget are revenues of $1.25 million in state transit subsidies, $600,000 sales tax receipts from gasoline sold in the City, and an additional $250,000 state subsidy for GEORGE.

The current (FY 2009)  City budget shows the $600,000 expense for GEORGE but not the $250,000 state subsidy.

Next year, if GEORGE were continued, the subsidy likely would rise to $300,000, according to Shields.

Maller was one of several council members not happy to get this information at such a late date.

At the conclusion of the hearing Maller, noting  that “we need transparency,” asked City Attorney John Foster whether “one of the most significant liabilities the City has” should be in the budget.

Yes, Foster replied — “My preference is that it be in the budget.”

The City Council will determine the fate of GEORGE on April 27 when it adopts the FY 2010 budget.

This is Part I of the Falls Church Times report of the April 13 City budget hearing. A summary of views on GEORGE by City residents and Council members will appear in Part II.

City Needs Long-Term Budget, Better Information

The Saturday April 4, Town Hall meeting concerning the FY2010 budget raised a number of issues requiring attention. Specifically:

Need for Long Term Projections

It is not clear how the City Council, let alone citizens of Falls Church, can make intelligent and informed decisions on a year by year basis, when the financial consequences of those decisions are not presented.

It is essential that a ten-year projection be presented in a standard format that allows for uniform year-to-year comparisons.

Such long-term projections are not intended to precisely predict the future, but rather as a crucial decision support mechanism providing a context for detecting trends and magnitudes.

The Tysons Corner development proposal used 40-year estimates. Corporate financial planning routinely requires 25-year projections. The 5-year numbers of Falls Church City’s Capital Investment Program are of little value in understanding future operating expenditure “drivers” (e.g. schools) or revenue “drivers” (e.g. real estate tax revenues), and it is these factors that most affect the tax rate.

For Falls Church City Council and citizens, longer-term projections would permit a focused discussion on the future requirements of the City. We could then begin taking actions prior to the advent of the all too predictable budget crises we face.

The City’s FY 2010 budget presentation focuses mostly on the past and little on the future. Why not update the budget gap analysis prepared in November 2008 by the chief financial officer and extend it further into the future?

As mentioned in Saturday’s town hall budget meeting, the “low hanging fruit” of short-term expenditure reductions will be picked this year. Indeed, some 2010 cuts will go beyond low hanging fruit, creating a variance between City staff and teachers and disagreement between users and non-users of the GEORGE bus service.

Next year’s budget discussion will be more painful and contentious.  To balance the budget next year and beyond, the City Council and City Manager must address the structural imbalance between projected expenditures and revenues.

Affordable Housing

Without any future budget projections there is no indication as to when the $2 million loan to the Falls Church Housing Corporation and approximately $750,000 in direct and indirect project costs are expected to impact the budget. Will the $2 million short-term loan to the potential FCHC partner be repaid to the City in  FY2010? If not, when does the City expect the loan to be repaid and to what City account will it be designated?

The City has already indicated that the affordable housing project could increase the real estate tax rate by approximately three cents. We are entitled to know the status of the project, as well as the expenditure reductions or tax increases required to accommodate the project. These issues have been raised before. Now answers are required. Read more

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