The Falls Church City Council has approved a pay increase and health-care coverage for themselves and their successors.
The raise will go into effect a year from now, while Council members will become eligible for the city’s health insurance plan next month.
A proposal to replace two single-family homes in Falls Church with 12 townhouses is facing pushback from local officials and planning staff.
Developer Madison Homes is seeking to rezone a 0.5-acre site on the 100 block of S. Lee Street to allow for the project, which would involve demolishing one home built in the 1920s and another built in the 1970s.
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.
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.
Additional enforcement options for automated speed cameras could be on the Falls Church City Council’s wish list for the 2026 General Assembly.
“We have talked about this and talked about this,” City Council member Laura Downs said of expanding the speed-camera program.
Falls Church City Council members seem split on how much to raise their salaries, now that they have state permission to approve a potentially hefty boost in pay.
Council members currently earn $11,500 per year, and the mayor earns $12,000. Virginia law now permits a maximum salary of $21,000 for Council members and $22,000 for the mayor of a city the size of Falls Church.
Motorists using W. Broad Street (Route 7) eastbound through Falls Church will find road construction ongoing through at least early June.
Work will impact the 1000 block of W. Broad between the West End Plaza shopping center and the intersection with West Street.
In a cost-saving move, Falls Church leaders on Monday (May 12) voted to reconfigure how the city oversees its economic-development, planning, zoning and permitting operations.
In adopting the fiscal 2026 budget, City Council members eliminated the position of Community Planning and Economic Development Services director.
In just a few months, Falls Church leaders are hoping to reach a final decision on whether to shift how they fund city trash collection.
City Council members on Monday directed City Manager Wyatt Shields to set up a task force on the issue and come back to Council members by Aug. 4 with recommendations.
Falls Church property owners are probably getting a tax cut, though it’s not as high as initially proposed.
City Council has tentatively settled on a rate of $1.20 per $100 assessed valuation, down from $1.21 in the current fiscal year.
The Falls Church City Council marked the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon last week with a celebration of the city’s Vietnamese-American community.
“Thank you for being part of Falls Church,” Mayor Letty Hardi said at Monday’s Council meeting, attended by several dozen community representatives.
Falls Church leaders are seeking a compromise on a new ambulance fees agreement with Arlington County.
In addition to increasing the amount that the City of Falls Church pays for fire and ambulance services, the proposed agreement would cap the amount of revenue that the city can receive from ambulance transport fees at $295,000 annually.
