The City of Falls Church spent 240% more than it budgeted for this fiscal year on outside legal services.
The city, which had budgeted $125,000 in Fiscal Year 2025 for outside legal support, actually ended up spending $425,000.
Outside representation was needed “to provide subject-matter expertise as well as handle the overflow of legal work,” City Manager Wyatt Shields said in a memo to Council members.
The legal assistance supported litigation over zoning and family services matters, as well as document reviews and drafting, he said.
The city attorney’s office has two staff members: City Attorney Sally Gillette, who was appointed in 2023, and an executive assistant. In his FY 2026 budget proposal, Shields said the cost of outside counsel “compares favorably” to hiring a second full-time attorney for the office.
As part of a shuffling of funds as FY 2025 approaches its close, the Falls Church City Council advertised end-of-year budget adjustments last month. They will vote on these after a June 16 public hearing.
Library plans Labor Day weekend closure
Falls Church library officials plan to use the Sunday before Labor Day as they did the Sunday before Memorial Day — for a deep cleaning.
Members of the Falls Church Library Board have signed off on a staff proposal that, for 2025 at least, will have Mary Riley Styles Public Library closed on Sunday, Aug. 31 as well as for Labor Day Monday, Sept. 1.
The extra day will provide the opportunity to clean carpets and furniture and perform needed maintenance.
Having two full days without patrons or most staff inside will allow cleaned items to dry. Doing the work on a holiday weekend will have less impact on library patrons, staff said.
“Holiday weekends experience lower traffic than non-holiday weekends,” city library director Megan Dotzler said at the Library Board’s May 21 meeting.
Memorial Day and Labor Day are the only holidays that will be impacted going forward, Dotzler said. Staff scheduled to work those pre-holiday Sundays will be repositioned to work on another day during the same pay period.
While fixed for 2025, the decision could be revisited for future years, said Dotzler, who was hired as library director last fall.
“I’m happy to consider other alternatives,” she said.
An alternative put on the table was to close for an entire week once per year for a deep clean, but that was rejected as being more disruptive.
On weeks without holidays, the library typically is open seven days: Mondays through Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
