Falls Church City Council members are considering a potentially hefty increase to their own salaries.
The Council voted 6-1 last week to set a public hearing on increasing members’ salaries from $11,000 per year to $16,000. The mayor’s salary would increase from $11,500 to $17,000.
State law allows for maximum salaries of $21,000 and $22,000, respectively, for cities with populations between 15,000 and 20,000. Falls Church currently sits at the low end of that range.
A public hearing is now scheduled for June 16. After the meeting, Council members could adopt the new pay rate, set lower figures or opt for no increase at all.
“This sets our ceiling. It can always come down,” Mayor Letty Hardi said of last Tuesday’s vote.
Council members have been considering the proposal since last October, and vetted it at length during a work session last month.
At the May 27 meeting, Council member Laura Downs made the motion for the potential pay bump. Her colleague Marybeth Connelly said a modest increase is reasonable.
Given current economic conditions impacting the community, “it makes a lot of sense” not to adopt the maximum allowed rate, she said.
Connelly was among several members who contend that having no increase would place a burden on those wanting to serve in the future.
“The work that the City Council does is hard. It takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of dedication,” she said.
But Council member Dave Snyder said he opposed any increase, given what could be a prolonged era of fiscal unease in the region.
“I can’t in good conscience vote for an increase in City Council salaries under these conditions,” he said.
State law requires a vote on increasing salaries of local governing bodies in advance of the election of a majority of their members. This year, four of seven Council seats are on the November ballot.
Any increase would take effect July 1, 2026.
At the meeting, Council member Erin Flynn floated the idea of a community referendum on increasing salaries.
“It’s not binding, but it does take the temperature,” she said.
Calling the idea “interesting,” Council member Debora Schantz-Hiscott wondered if enough information would be available to the electorate.
“I don’t know if the average person would have any idea of the time and effort” that city leaders put in, she said.
Connelly said holding a public referendum could prove both expensive and divisive, and opposed it.
“We can ask for public comments … but I think this is a decision Council should make,” she said.
