Expiring affordability commitments and a large site where leaders could potentially expand affordable housing are presenting questions for Falls Church policymakers.
“There’s a policy decision: What are the choices before us?” Mayor Letty Hardi said at a Feb. 18 meeting to set the timetable for discussion of key upcoming issues.
A tax rate increase, the closure of the Cherrydale Library and the elimination of a popular youth gymnastics program are key components of the new budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.
The $1.69 billion spending plan, released at a County Board meeting on Saturday, is down a fraction of a percent from the adopted fiscal year 2026 plan. The almost unprecedented year-over-year decrease reflects ongoing concerns about declining revenue from commercial office buildings, hotel stays and the federal government.
This weekend’s County Board meeting is expected to include a presentation on the county manager’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year and several other notable items.
Additional slated topics include a vote on the future of Arlington’s parking rates, an upgrade to the elevators at the Arlington County Justice Center and more vendors at the Lubber Run Farmers Market. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21.
Arlington’s economic development efforts may need to do more with less over the coming year.
“This is a budget [year] that is very lean. There’s going to be a lot of discussion about that,” acting Arlington Economic Development (AED) director Kate Ange said at the Feb. 10 Economic Development Commission meeting.
Falls Church officials are not, to date, seeing police officers move to neighboring communities for more money.
“Not yet,” Police Chief Shahram Fard told City Council members on Jan. 12.
Matt de Ferranti is the new chair of Arlington County Board for 2026, while Maureen Coffey is the new vice-chair.
De Ferranti, who was first elected in 2018 and who previously held the chairmanship in 2021, used his remarks last night (Monday) to tout a local government that can be responsive to community needs and fight for local values while being prudent with taxpayer funds.
Arlington County’s tax revenue was millions of dollars short of what was expected in the first months of this fiscal year, resulting in cutbacks on some expenditures.
County revenue from real estate taxes and taxes on public consumption — like sales, meals and lodging taxes — was $13 million behind projections during the first four months of the fiscal year that began July 1, County Manager Mark Schwartz said in a County Board briefing yesterday (Tuesday).
Falls Church homeowners may or may not see a dip in real estate taxes next year as property assessments continue to rise.
At a Dec. 3 planning session of City Council members, there was general consensus around the desire to lower the current tax rate to offset expected higher home-assessment values. But doing so was left as a goal, rather than made a requirement, as city staff begins developing the fiscal year 2027 budget.
Falls Church city and school leaders head into planning for the fiscal year 2027 budget with many unknowns to contend with.
David So, the city government’s new budget director, sketched out a number of budget scenarios at a Monday (Dec. 1) work session between members of the City Council and School Board. Depending on the scenario, his projections leave a budget gap of between $2.7 million and $5.4 million that will have to be addressed before a final budget is adopted next May.
Falls Church leaders have begun talks on a possible tax surcharge on commercial property to fund transportation improvements.
If it’s enacted, owners of non-residential parcels in the city could pay an additional rate of up to 12.5 cents per $100 assessed value each year, similar to surcharges in neighboring Arlington and Fairfax counties.
Some of the city of Falls Church’s budget surplus could fund outreach to Vietnamese-American communities and celebrations of the United States’ 250th birthday.
An additional $35,000 would extend a current pilot outreach program by another six months, while $50,000 would fund patriotic events and activities next year and $12,600 would support pay raises for the city’s Planning Commission.
A decline in year-over-year student enrollment at Arlington Public Schools has resulted in staffing adjustments at some schools.
The official APS 2025-26 student count of 27,589 is down 311 students — or 1.1% — from a year before, Superintendent Francisco Durán reported to School Board on Thursday.
