Blog posts are the personal views of Letty Hardi and not official statements or records on behalf of the Falls Church City Council

Dear Friends,

The news has been heavy this week. I think we’ve all been struggling to find words about the horrific act of domestic violence that killed Dr Cerina Fairfax. Our hearts break for their children. It’s a good reminder that far more people have struggles behind closed doors than we know – let’s all be a little kinder and give each other grace. If you need resources:

Local Domestic Violence Hotline: 703-360-7273
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 988
Additional mental health resources

I’ve had two sets of “on the go” office hours in April as part of Fitness Challenge and am hearing from the community about a variety of topics – budget, housing, pedestrian safety, taxes, small businesses, and more. I’ve got a final set of walking office hours next Friday at 5 pm on the W&OD/West End Park with a guest – former Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson and now Executive Director of NoVA Parks who owns the W&OD. It’s like two mayors for the price of one! While Justin and I are both runners, these will be *walking* office hours – come walk and talk about the W&OD or other topics on your mind. And if you haven’t seen the secret tulip path off Crossman Park – go enjoy soon, you probably have another week before the tulips fade.

We still have several weeks to go with the budget process ahead of budget adoption on May 11 – you can share your thoughts via email, at our public meetings, at the budget town hall on April 30, or Ask the Council Office Hours on May 6. Read on about our votes on budget ceilings this week, a concern/question I’m fielding about property assessments, and what’s next for Virginia Village.

Take care,
Letty

What Happened This Week:

(1) First votes on FY27 Budget

We voted 7-0 to advertise a flat real estate tax rate, a 20 cent increase in personal property tax rate (aka the car tax), and small increases in stormwater, sewer, and solid waste fees. As I wrote about last week, these represent the ceiling rates ahead of our final vote on May 11 – we can go down from here but not up.

Letty’s Thoughts: As I expressed in my comments on Monday night, given that we are looking at strong revenues this year (7% increase in real estate taxes and 7% in local economy revenues) – IMO, we don’t have a revenue problem and we should not be looking at additional revenue levers this year. Our revenues are nearly double what our neighbors are seeing in their revenue projections. We very well may have revenue needs in future years and should “keep our powder dry.” We have some high expenses and that makes the budget feel tight. My hope is we can give tax relief and keep in mind what a sustainable rate of growth is for budgets (as we won’t have much new commercial revenue coming online the next few years while the real estate market is cooling).

(2) Real estate assessments

With some homeowners receiving double digit increases on their residential assessments this year, I know this is a top item of discussion in the community. This may be a helpful infographic from this year’s Budget Q&A document

Letty’s Thoughts: There is even talk about how to cap property tax increases, which I know comes from a place of concern where some are feeling financially stretched in an uncertain economic environment. I will caution that artificially capping property taxes has huge implications, much like rent control which is another “good on paper” but actually terrible public policy. It restricts funding for schools and public services, creates tax disparities between neighbors, and disincentives mobility which reduces housing supply and further drives up unaffordability. (Google Prop 13 in California, which is often cited as their original sin.) The City Council does not control real estate assessments – just the tax rate – so use your voice and vote on who you elect. I’ve personally chosen to keep making Falls Church a desirable place to live with good services, economic activity that diversifies our tax base, reasons to move and stay here beyond K-12 education, and add housing supply – and then lower taxes to partially offset those rising assessments when possible.

(3) Virginia Village

Among the many events going on last Saturday (aka Super Saturday) and this week have been the 3rd and 4th community meetings about Virginia Village, so this is top of mind. I’ve been at all 4 meetings and have been listening carefully about the need for more affordable housing and how to ensure redevelopment is respectful of abutting neighborhoods with building height transitions, green buffering, and screening. On Monday, we’ll discuss contracting a real estate firm to help us with the next steps for the 9 properties we own – to help coordinate the RFP creation, issuance, and selection process, and to advise the City on financial and other deal terms during contract negotiations with the top ranked development partner.

We know housing affordability is a concern and a need across the region. Virginia Village has been a multi year investment to preserve affordability in the near term with this longer term redevelopment opportunity we’re embarking on now. Here is the (ambitious) schedule envisioned right now:

• Spring 2026: Public review of planning concepts and release of a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify a development partner.
• Summer 2026: Proposal evaluation, interim agreement development, and continued planning review.
• Fall 2026: Finalization of zoning or planning updates and developer due diligence.
• Winter 2026–2027: Formal development application and entitlement review aligned with housing finance deadlines.
• Spring 2027: Financing determinations, final agreements, and property conveyance actions.

What’s Coming Up:

April 20 – City Council Work Session* (budget)

April 27 – City Council Meeting & Work Session* (budget)

May 4 – City Council Work Session* (budget mark up)

May 11 – City Council Meeting* (budget adoption)

*All Mondays (except 5th Mondays and holidays) at 7:30 pm. You can access the agenda and livestream here, including recordings of past meetings

Office Hours:

Letty’s Walking Office Hours – Friday, April 24 (5 pm, W&OD / West End Park)