By a 6-0-1 vote (Councilman Nader Baroukh abstaining) tonight, the Falls Church City Council adopted a resolution approving of City Manager Wyatt Shields’ plan to cut $5.6 million out of the City’s current fiscal year budget of $66 million, as outlined by Shields in recent weeks.
After a lengthy discussion, the Council changed the resolution’s language from “accepting” the changes to a more affirmative “approving.” The plan involves freezing $4.1 million in capital expenditures and $1.5 in operating cuts, and is achieved with no layoffs or salary reductions of existing City or school employees. The Council also unanimously adoped a resolution introduced by Baroukh calling for a long-range approach to future budgeting involving a five-year projection.