By Brian Trompeter
Vienna Town Council members on May 15 unanimously adopted the town’s fiscal 2024 budget, plus a reduced real-estate tax rate for this year and higher rates for water and sewer service.
The $50.01 million budget includes a $31.54 million general fund, $5.47 million for debt service, nearly $12.25 million for water-and-sewer expenditures and $752,000 for the stormwater fund.
The new tax rate of 19.5 cents per $100 assessed value is 1 cent lower than the one adopted in 2022, in response to significantly higher real-estate assessments.
“We have worked hard to get a 1-cent tax cut,” said Finance Director Marion Serfass.
The Council also formally adopted higher water-and-sewer rates, which will take effect July 1 at the start of fiscal year 2024 and result in residential bills that will be an estimated $81.40 (9.3 percent) higher per year.
The rates, which are 10 percent higher for both water and sewer service, are needed to offset inflation and higher costs for wholesale water, sewage treatment and pipe replacement, town officials said.
“This is commensurate with what’s happening in the region,” Serfass said. “We need to repair our infrastructure, and that goes into the rate, too.”
Residential and commercial customers will pay water fees of $6.40 per 1,000 gallons for the first 9,000 gallons, $7 for between 9,001 and 18,000 gallons, and $8 for 18,001 or more gallons.
For sewer service, commercial and residential users will pay $10.20 per 1,000 gallons for the first 9,000 gallons, $11.10 for 9,001 to 18,000 gallons and $12.80 for 18,001 or more gallons.
Fixed service charges for residential customers will rise 6.7 percent from $32 to $35 per month in order to bring the fees in line with industry standards, officials said. Fees for commercial customers, which are based on meter size, also will go up 6.7 percent.
Water-availability and meter-purchase fees will rise between 2 and 3 percent to stay in line with Fairfax County’s charges.
Town Council Approves Sidewalk Project for Moore Avenue, Oak Street, S.W.: The Vienna Town Council on May 15 continued its momentum toward approving more sidewalk projects by awarding a $194,754 contract to Arthur Construction Co. Inc. to build walkways along Moore Avenue and Oak Street, S.W.
The contract’s price includes 15 percent extra for contingencies and increased quantities of building materials. Both projects will be built on the odd-numbered (west) sides of their respective streets.
• The new sidewalk on Oak Street, S.W., which will cost $107,754, will extend from Birch Street, S.W., to Center Street, S.
The Oak Street project will include an estimated 454 square yards of concrete sidewalk, 167 square yards of concrete driveway entrance, 17 square yards of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant curb ramps, 400 linear feet of curb and gutter and 91 tons of asphalt paving, plus other miscellaneous items.
• The sidewalk on Moore Avenue, S.W., will cost $85,000 and go between Cottage and Desale streets, S.W. The initiative began a small project to connect Cottage Street to Desale Street by constructing a missing link of sidewalk in front of 117 Moore Ave. , S.W., and 121 Moore Ave., S.W.
The project’s original $75,000 cost did not necessitate the Council’s approval for a purchase order. After construction began this April, property owners at 115, 113, 111, and 109 Moore Ave., S.W., requested that the town continue the sidewalk across their frontages.
Instead of waiting until the construction contractor returns to Moore Avenue later this year to build a sidewalk from Desale Street, S.W., to Center Street, S., the property owners requested that the work be done in April before the work crew left the area. The Vienna Department of Public Works told the contractor to perform the additional work, which now has been completed and includes retaining walls and driveway reconstruction.
Town officials will finance the Moore Avenue, S.W., project entirely using funds from the Maud Ferris Robinson Charitable Trust. Robinson, a former Town Council member who died in March 2019, bequeathed the town $7 million for sidewalk initiatives.
Because the Oak Street project involves curb-and-gutter replacement and repaving of half the street’s width, the town will use $82,754 from the Robinson Trust and $25,000 in prior bond funds.
Council Backs Proclamation for National Gun Violence Awareness Day: In anticipation of National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, Mayor Pro Tempore Ed Somers at the Vienna Town Council’s May 15 meeting read a proclamation detailing the day’s history and intent.
“I’ve worked on this issue for 30 years,” Somers said. “I’ve gotten incredibly frustrated at various times in my life, having this be my singular issue for some time . . . It’s a marathon. It’s not a sprint. I truly believe that with people who are dedicated to this issue that change is possible.”
There are nearly 17,000 firearm homicides in the United States each year and Americans are 26 times more likely to be killed with guns than people in other developed countries, the proclamation read. Gun Violence Awareness Day is intended to encourage responsible firearm ownership and keep such weapons out of the wrong hands, it read.
Supporters on that day will wear orange clothing – the same color hunters don to protect themselves – in honor of Hadiya Pendelton, who was shot and killed on a Chicago playground in January 2013, just a week after marching in President Obama’s second inaugural parade.
