After a two-and-a-half hours of a public hearing, questions and comments, at City Hall tonight, Falls Church City Council members left with no clear final consensus on how they will vote when finally adopting the FY10 budget this coming Monday.

But there was evidence in their remarks that some key members want to see the School Board request fully met, and not cut $170,000 from it, as proposed to date. Councilman Dan Maller said that he did not see Falls Church facing an “emergency,” such that cutting the school budget below the level requested by the School Board was warranted, even though times are tough. Councilman David Snyder said he would support full funding of the School Board request,
and Councilman Dan Sze said he “identified himself” with Snyder’s remarks. The focus of the discussion shifted to ways in which, incrementally, funds could be amassed from a number of discrete areas of the City-side budget, including consultant fees and related areas, to retain two full time positions on the City-side without cutting the school budget to achieve that. The Council and the City staff now have 72 hours to resolve those issues before Monday’s vote. It was resolved that funds to maintain the New Year’s Eve and Halloween celebrations in the City would be provided.