City Council Work Session
Discussed
- 1aFY27 Budget Presentation by Schools · Superintendent Dustin Wright presented the FY27 Schools budget, covering city schools overview, school services agreement, city membership, tuition and FCPS updates, and the schools' budget. No Council action was taken.watch 2:08
Discussed for 49m · also names Employee Compensation ×5, School Services Agreement ×4, FY 2027 Budget ×2, AVID program, Budget Process, FY 2026 Budget · read the transcript
- FY27 Schools BudgetThe FY27 Schools Budget was presented to City Council for informational purposes; no action was taken at this meeting.
- 1bDiscussion on General Fund Questions and Discussion · City Manager Daniel Alexander opened the floor for Council questions and discussion on general fund topics. No Council action was taken.watch 52:18
Discussed for 45m · also names Budget Open House, Fire Station, Green Building Policy, Strategic Plan, Urban Forest Master Plan · read the transcript
- General FundThe General Fund was discussed in an open Q&A format; no formal action was taken.
- 1cDiscussion on Historical Real Estate Tax Rates for the City · CFO J.C. Martinez presented 25 years of historical real estate tax rate data. Council directed staff to present at the next work session a graph comparing budget actual/expenditure growth rates to assessment growth rates. No formal Council action was taken.watch 98:17
Discussed for 26m · also names Stormwater Utility · read the transcript
- Historical Real Estate Tax RatesA 25-year historical review of city real estate tax rates was presented; Council requested a follow-up graph comparing city budget growth to assessment growth for the next work session.
- 1dDiscussion on Setting the Max Real Estate Tax Rate (Action Item for March 10, 2026) · City Manager Daniel Alexander discussed options of maintaining the proposed rate or increasing it slightly as a buffer. Finance staff noted readiness to answer questions and provide historical information. No Council action was taken; formal action is scheduled for March 10, 2026.watch 125:23
Discussed for 19m · also names Meals Tax ×3 · read the transcript
- Maximum Real Estate Tax RateDiscussion on setting the FY27 maximum real estate tax rate was held as an informational work session item; formal action is deferred to the March 10, 2026 Council meeting.
- 1eFollow-up on City Council Retreat and Next Steps · City Manager Daniel Alexander reported on outcomes of the January 10, 2026 Council Retreat. Council affirmed consensus on a city-wide, community-focused, multi-year strategic plan; agreed to a two-tier performance management framework (strategic outcomes scorecard and internal service-area scorecards); and discussed the scope of an efficiency study covering organizational structure, staffing, contracts, cost recovery, facilities, and staff-driven innovation. No formal Council action was taken.watch 145:07
Discussed for 34m · also names Strategic Plan ×8, Budget Process ×3, City of Fairfax 2035 Comprehensive Plan ×2 · read the transcript
- City Council Retreat Strategic PlanCouncil affirmed that the next strategic plan should be city-wide, community-focused, with a multi-year (approximately four-year) horizon and flexibility for annual updates.
- Performance Management FrameworkCouncil agreed to implement a two-tier performance framework: a Council-facing strategic outcomes scorecard and detailed internal service-area scorecards to support operational management and budget decisions.
- Efficiency StudyCouncil discussed the scope of an efficiency study to include organizational structure, staffing levels, long-standing contracts, cost recovery, facilities utilization, telework impacts, infrastructure responsibilities, and staff-driven innovation incentives.
Named in discussion
Tracked topics the transcript names that no agenda item is filed under. Their own pages and wikis do not yet record this meeting; the passages below are the only trace.
“…that that is enough to support what we're desiring from the outcome, then maybe a strategic plan in which we can, over time, build it up so that our residents that are here and looking forward to using that potential resource could at least see that it's…”
- Employee Compensation5 passages, 4m
“…I think it's been between 87% and 88% of their overall budget is all related to employee compensation and employee benefits. So those increases that you're seeing are very much tied to the cost to support the employees. They're not, you know, in my…”
“…IS UP HERE WITH ME AND ONE SUPERINTENDENT AND THEN A GREAT CENTRAL OFFICE STAFF. OUR SCHOOL SERVICES AGREEMENT, WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1962 AND THEN REVISED IN 1978 AND HAS BEEN IN PLACE SINCE THEN, IS WHAT GUIDES THIS PARTNERSHIP AND WILL FRAME A LOT OF…”
“…AND THE CITY OF FAIRFACTS. WE'RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT. IN TERMS OF TIMELINE IN THE BUDGET PROCESS, WE, ON THE SCHOOL SIDE, WE WENT THROUGH A PROPOSED AND ADVERTISED BUDGET IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. OR PUBLIC HEARINGS ON BOTH OF THOSE. AND NOW WE'RE IN THIS…”
“…capture the significant change terms that as I understand it includes budget CIP and comprehensive plans. So the result of our strategic planning here would be updating thinking and characterization that's involved in those things based on what we do here.…”
- Meals Tax3 passages, 1m
“…we've presented to you. We included other rate percentage increases. We included a meals tax increase. And so it not only gives you flexibility in terms of capacity for enhancements, thinking about what might happen as part of the legislative process, but…”
“…the projects that i've been involved with Whether it was the gun range or the the fire station. We build on route 50, you know, we didn't need to do that Possibly in the future. We'll have to look at that more carefully”
“…for the tax rate discussion later, but obviously we had the discussion back with the Urban Forest Master Plan about the climate and energy manager. That's something that council wants to proceed with. So factoring in this additional position, obviously we…”