CHAPTER 323

AN ACT to provide a charter for the city of Falls Church, and
to repeal Chapter 878 of the Acts of Assembly of 1946
entitled “‘An Act to provide a new charter for the Town of
Falls Church in the county of Fairfax’’, as amended.

[ H 689 J
Approved April 4, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

CHAPTER I
INCORPORATION AND BOUNDARIES

§ 1.01. Incorporation.—The inhabitants of the territory
comprised within the limits of the City of Falls Church as the
same now are or may hereafter be established by law, shall con-
tinue to be a body politic and corporate under the name of the
City of Falls Church and as such shall have perpetual succession,
may sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with and may
have a corporate seal which it may alter, renew or amend at
its pleasure.

§ 1.02. Boundaries.—The corporate limits of Falls Church,
as heretofore established, are hereby reestablished as follows:
So much of the territories in the County of Fairfax, together
with all the improvements and appurtenances thereunto belong-
ing, as is contained in the following boundaries, to-wit: ‘“Begin-
ning at a large planted stone on the estate of the late J. C.
DePutron, at the original Western corner of the District of
Columbia, which is also at the corner of Fairfax and Arlington
Counties and at the corner of the Town of Falls Church; thence
North 73°50’ West 4850 feet to a point; thence South 25°45’
West 4014 feet to a point in the center of West Street; thence
South 21° East 3185 feet to a point in the center line of Fairfax
Street; thence with said center line North 67°15’ East 41814
feet; North 89°00’ East 911 feet; North 87°50’ East 1650 feet
to a point; thence North 56°45’ East 146 feet to a point in middle
of said street; thence South 77° East 1539 feet to a point near
the colored Methodist Episcopal Church; thence South 62° East
5604 feet to a point in the North line of Georgetown Road;
thence with said North line North 41°20’ East 21414 feet; thence
North 87°30’ East 567 feet; North 62° East 372 feet; North 88°
East 371 feet; South 82°30’ East 33814 feet to a point; thence
North 4°15’ East to the boundary between Fairfax and Arling-
ton Counties; thence with said boundary in a Northwesterly
direction to the point of beginning” containing all that portion
of the Town of Falls Church remaining after the separation of
that portion lying in Arlington County.

CHAP 2
POWERS

§ 2.01. General Grant of Powers.—The city shall have
and may exercise all powers which are now or may hereafter
be conferred upon or delegated to cities under the constitution
and laws of the Commonwealth and all other powers pertinent
to the conduct of a city government, the exercise of which is
not expressly prohibited by the said constitution and laws and
which in the opinion of the council are necessary or desirable
to promote the general welfare of the city and the safety, health,
peace, good order, comfort, convenience and morals of its in-
habitants, as fully and completely as though such powers were
specifically enumerated in this charter, and no enumeration of
particular powers in this charter shall be held to be exclusive
but shall be held to be in addition to this general grant of
powers.

§ 2.02. Financial Powers. — In addition to the powers
granted by other sections of this charter, the city shall have
the power:

(a) To raise annually by taxes and assessments in the
city such sums of money as the council shall deem necessary
to pay the debts and defray the expenses of the city, in such
manner as the council shall deem expedient provided that such
taxes and assessments are not prohibited by the laws of the
Commonwealth. In addition to, but not as a limitation upon, this
general grant of power the city shall have power to levy and col-
lect ad valorem taxes on real estate and tangible personal prop-
erty and machinery and tools; to levy and collect taxes for ad-
mission to or other charge for any public amusement, entertain-
ment, performance, exhibition, sport or athletic event in the
city, which taxes may be added to and collected with the price
of such admission or other charge; unless prohibited by general
law to require licenses, prohibit the conduct of any business,
profession, vocation or calling without such a license, require
taxes to be paid on such licenses in respect of all businesses, pro-
fessions, vocations and callings which cannot, in the opinion of
the council, be reached by the ad valorem system; and to require
licenses of owners of vehicles of all kinds for the privilege of
using the streets, alleys and other public places in the city,
require taxes to be paid on such licenses and prohibit the use of
streets, alleys.and other public places in the city without such
license.

(b) To borrow money for the purposes and in the manner
provided by Chapter 7 of this charter.

(c) To make appropriations, subject to the limitations im-
posed by this charter, for the support of the city government
and any other purposes authorized by this charter and not pro-
hibited by the laws of the Commonwealth.

(d) To appropriate, without being bound by other pro-
visions of this charter, in an amount of not more than five per
cent of the receipts of the preceding fiscal year for the purpose
of meeting a public emergency threatening the lives, health or
property of the inhabitants of the city, provided that any such
appropriation shall require the affirmative votes of a majority
of the entire Council and that the ordinance making such ap-
propriation shall contain a clear statement of the nature and
extent of the emergency.

(e) To accept or refuse gifts, donations, bequests or grants
from any source for any purpose related to the powers and
duties of the city government, and to act as trustee for any
appropriate purpose.

(f) To provide, or aid in the support of, public libraries
and public schools.

(g) To grant financial aid to military units organized in
the city in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth, and
to charitable or benevolent institutions and corporations, in-
cluding those established for scientific, literary or musical pur-
poses or the encouragement of agriculture and the mechanical
arts, whose functions further the public purposes of the city.

(h) To establish a system of pensions for injured, retired
or superannuated city officers and employees, members of the
police and fire departments, teachers and other employees of
the school board, judges, clerks, deputy clerks, bailiffs and other
employees of the municipal courts, and to establish a fund or
funds for the payment of such pensions by making appropria-
tions out of the treasury of the city, by levying a special tax for
the benefit of such fund or funds, by requiring contributions
payable from time to time from such officers or employees, or
by any combination of these methods or by any other method
not prohibited by law, provided that the total annual payments
into such fund or funds shall be sufficient on sound actuarial
principles to provide for the pensions to be paid therefrom,
and provided further that the benefits accrued or accruing to
any person under such system shall not be subject to execution,
levy, attachment, garnishment or any other process whatsoever
nor shall any assignment of such benefits be enforceable in any
court.

(j) To provide for the control and management of the
fiscal affairs of the city, and prescribe and require the adoption
and keeping of such books, records, accounts and systems of
accounting by the departments, boards, commissions, courts or
other agencies of the city government provided for by this char-
ter or otherwise by law as may be necessary to give full and
true accounts of the affairs, resources and revenues of the city
and the handling, use and disposal thereof.

§ 2.08. Powers Relating to Public Works, Utilities and
Properties.—In addition to the powers granted by other sections
of this charter the city shall have power:

(a) To lay out, open, extend, widen, narrow, establish or
change the grade of, close, construct, pave, curb, gutter, adorn
with shade trees, otherwise improve, maintain, repair, clean
and light, streets, including limited access or express highways,
alleys, bridges, viaducts, subways and underpasses, and make
and improve walkways upon streets and improve and pave
alleys within the city; and the city shall have the same power
and authority over any street, alley or other public place ceded
or conveyed to the city or dedicated or devoted to public use as
over other streets, alleys and other public places.

(b) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
within and without the city, public parks, parkways, playfields
and playgrounds, and to lay out, equip and improve them with
all suitable devices, buildings and other structures.

(c) To collect and dispose of garbage and other refuse
and to acquire, construct, maintain and operate, within and
without the city, incinerators, dumps or other facilities for such
purposes.

(d) To acquire, construct, maintain and operate, within
and without the city, sewers, drains, culverts and sewage dis-
posal works.

(e) To assess to the extent permitted by law the cost of
making and improving walkways on then existing streets, im-
proving or paving existing alleys, or constructing sewers, cul-
verts and drains, upon the owners of land abutting thereon or
on the street or alley in which such sewer, culvert or drain is
laid, provided that the amount of such assessment shall not
exceed the peculiar benefit resulting to the landowner from
the improvement, provided further, that in lieu of any such
assessment for the construction of a sewer, culvert or drain,
the city may assess and collect an annual sewer tax as com-
pensation for the use thereof, and may provide for the com-
mutation thereof upon such terms and conditions as the coun-
cil may provide by ordinance, but such assessment shall not be
in excess of the peculiar benefit resulting therefrom to such
abutting landowners; and provided further, that the city may
acquire by condemnation or otherwise any interest or right of
any owner of abutting property in the use of any sewer, cul-
vert or drain, and thereafter charge such landowner for the
use of such sewer, culvert or drain. The city may order such
improvements to be made and the cost thereof apportioned in
pursuance of an agreement between the city and the abutting
landowners.

(f) To acquire, construct, maintain and equip all buildings
and other structures necessary or useful in carrying out the
powers and duties of the city.

(g) To sell, lease or dispose of, except as otherwise pro-
vided in this charter and in the constitution and laws of the
Commonwealth, land, buildings and other property of the city,
real and personal.

(h) To control and regulate the use and management of
all property of the city, real and personal, and specifically to
rent or lease under such regulations as the school board shall
deem expedient, school buildings, lands, grounds and equipment
to persons or organizations for such health, educational, civic
or recreational purposes as the school board shall deem prudent
and beneficial to the community.

(i) To acquire, construct and maintain or authorize the
construction and maintenance of bridges, viaducts or under-
passes over or under any stream, creek or ravine when any
portion of such bridge, viaduct or underpass is within the city
limits, and to require compensation for their use by public
utility, transmission or transportation companies, except as the
right to require such compensation is affected by any contract
heretofore or hereafter made with the company concerned.

(j) To authorize by ordinance, in accordance with the
constitution and laws of the Commonwealth, the use of the
streets for the operation of public transportation systems under
such conditions and regulations as may be prescribed by such
ordinance or by any future ordinance, or to acquire by agree-
ment or condemnation any such transportation system and oper-
ate the same.

(k) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
places for the parking or storage of vehicles by the public,
which shall include but shall not be limited to parking lots,
garages, buildings and other land, structures, equipment and
facilities, when in the opinion of the council they are neces-
sary to relieve congestion in the use of streets and to reduce
hazards incident to such use provide for their management
and control by a department of the city government or by
a board, commission or agency specially established by ordi-
nance for the purpose; authorize or permit others to use, operate
or maintain such places or any portions thereof, pursuant to
lease or agreement, upon such terms and conditions as the
council may determine by ordinance; and charge or authorize
the charging of compensation for the parking or storage of
vehicles or other services at or in such places.

(1) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
airports and all the appurtenances thereof; provide for their
management and control by a department of the city government
or by a board, commission or agency specially established by
ordinance for the purpose; charge or authorize the charging of
compensation for the use of any such airport or any of its appur-
tenances; lease any appurtenance of any such airport or any con-
cession incidental thereto or, in the discretion of the council,
lease any such airport and its appurtenance with the right to all
concessions thereon to, or enter into a contract for the manage-
ment and operation of the same with any person, firm or corpo-
ration on such terms and conditions as the council may determine
by ordinance.

(m) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
stadia, arenas, swimming pools and other sport or recreation
facilities; provide for their management and control by a depart-
ment of the city government or by a board, commission or
agency specially established by ordinance for the purpose;
charge or authorize the charging of compensation for the use of
or admission to such stadia, arenas, swimming pools and other
sport facilities, including charges for any services incidental
thereto; lease, subject to such regulations as may be established
by ordinance, any such stadium, arena, swimming pool or other
sport or recreation facility or any concession incidental thereto,
or enter into a contract with any person, firm or corporation for
the management and operation of any such stadium, arena,
swimming pool or other sport or recreation facility, including
the right to all concessions incident to the subject of such con-
tract, on such terms and conditions as the council may determine
by ordinance.

(n) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate,
within and without the city, water works, sanitary sewers and
sewage disposal plants, gas plants and electric plants, with the
pipe and transmission lines incident thereto, to be managed and
controlled as provided in Chapter 13 of this charter, for the
purpose of supplying water, sanitary sewers, gas and electricity
within and without the city, and to charge and collect compen-
sation therefor, and to provide penalties for the unauthorized
use thereof. The Council may require the charges made for
any and all of such facilities to be paid at such time, in such
manner, and subject to such penalties as it may prescribe. The
charges for the use of the sanitary sewers may be based upon
the amount of water used, or the number of water taps or out-
lets serving any premises, or the connections, if any, with such
sanitary sewers, or such other basis as the Council of the City
may deem just, or any combination thereof.

2.04. Power to Make Regulations for the Preservatior
of the Safety, Health, Peace, Good Order, Comfort, Convenience,
Morals, and Welfare of the City and Its Inhabitants.

In addition to the powers granted by other sections of this
charter, the city shall have power to adopt ordinances, not in
conflict with this charter or prohibited by the general laws of
the Commonwealth, for the preservation of the safety, health,
peace, good order, comfort, convenience, morals and welfare of
its inhabitants, and among such powers, but not in limitation
thereof, the city shall have power:

(a) To provide for the prevention of vice, immorality,
vagrancy and drunkenness; prevention and quelling of riots,
disturbances and disorderly assemblages; suppression of houses
of ill-fame and gambling places; prevention of lewd and dis-
orderly conduct or exhibitions; and prevention of conduct in
the streets dangerous to the public.

(b) To regulate the construction, maintenance and repair
of buildings and other structures and the plumbing, electrical,
heating, elevator, escalator, boiler, unfired pressure vessel, and
air conditioning installations therein, for the purpose of pre-
venting fire and other dangers to life and health.

(c) To provide for the protection of the city’s property,
real and personal, the prevention of the pollution of the city’s
water supply, and the regulation of the use of parks, play-
grounds, playfields, recreational facilities, airports and other
public property, whether located within or without the city.
For the purpose of enforcing such regulations all city property,
wherever located, shall be under the police jurisdiction of the
city. Any member of the police force of the city or employee
thereof appointed as a special policeman shall have power to
make arrests for violation of any ordinance, rule or regulation
adopted pursuant to this section and the civil and police court
shall have jurisdiction in all cases arising thereunder.

(d) To grant or authorize the issuance of permits under
such terms and conditions as the council may impose for the use
of streets, alleys and other public places of the city by rail-
roads, street railways, buses, taxicabs and other vehicles for
hire, prescribe the location in, under or over, and grant permits
for the use of, streets, alleys and other public places for the main-
tenance and operation of tracks, poles, wires, cables, pipes, con-
duits, bridges, subways, vaults, areas and cellars, require tracks,
poles, wires, cables, pipes, conduits and bridges to be altered,
removed or relocated either permanently or temporarily ; charge
and collect compensation for the privileges so granted, and pro-
hibit such use of the streets, alleys and other public places of the
city, and no such use shall be made of the streets, alleys or other
public places of the city without the consent of the council.

(e) To prevent any obstruction of or encroachment over,
under or in any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place;
provide penalties for maintaining any such obstruction or en-
croachment, remove the same and charge the cost thereof to
the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of the property
so obstructing or encroaching, and collect the sum charged in
any manner provided by law for the collection of taxes, require
the owner or owners or the occupant or occupants of the prop-
erty so obstructing or encroaching to remove the same; pending
such removal charge the owner or owners of the property so
obstructing or encroaching compensation for the use of such
portion of the street, alley, sidewalk, or other public place ob-
structed or encroached upon the equivalent of what would be
the tax upon the land so occupied if it were owned by the owner
or owners of the property so obstructing or encroaching and,
if such removal shall not be made within the time ordered, im-
pose penalties for each and every day that such obstruction or
encroachment is allowed to continue thereafter, authorize en-
croachments upon streets, alleys, sidewalks or other public
places, subject to such terms and conditions as the council may
prescribe, but such authorization shall not relieve the owner or
owners, occupant or occupants of the property encroaching, of
any liability for negligence on account of such encroachment,
and recover possession of any street, alley, sidewalk or other
public place or any other property of the city by suit or action
in ejectment.

(f) To prescribe the route and grade of any railroad laid
in the city, regulate the operation of locomotives and cars, and
exclude such locomotives and cars from the city, provided no
contract between the city and the corporation operating such
locomotives or cars is violated by such action.

(z) To regulate the operation of motor vehicles and exer-
cise control over traffic in the streets of the city and provide
penalties for the violation of such regulations, provided that
ordinances or administrative regulations adopted by virtue of
this subsection shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of
the motor vehicle code of Virginia. All fines imposed for the
violation of such ordinances and regulations shall be paid into
the city treasury.
(h) To regulate in the interest of public health, the pro-
duction, preparation, distribution, sale and possession of milk,
other beverages and foods for human consumption, and the
places in which they are produced, prepared, distributed, sold,
served or stored; regulate the construction, installation, main-
tenance and condition of all water and sewer pipes, connections,
toilets, water closets and plumbing fixtures of all kinds; regu-
late the construction and use of septic tanks and dry closets,
where sewers are not available, and the sanitation of swimming
pools and lakes, provide for the removal of night soil, and charge
and collect compensation for the removal thereof; compel the
use of sewers, the connection of abutting premises therewith,
and the installation in such premises of suitable sanitary facili-
ties; regulate or prohibit connections to and use of sewers; pro-
vide for the quarantine of any person afflicted with a contagious
or infectious disease, and for the removal of such person to a
hospital or ward specially designated for contagious or infec-
tious diseases; inspect and prescribe reasonable rules and regu-
lations, in the interest of public health, with respect to private
hospitals, sanatoria, convalescent homes, clinics and other pri-
vate institutions, homes and facilities for the care of the sick,
of children, the aged and the destitute, and make and enforce
all regulations necessary to preserve and promote public health
and sanitation and protect the inhabitants of the city from con-
tagious, infectious or other diseases.

(1) To regulate cemeteries and burials therein, prescribe
the records to be kept by the owners of such cemeteries; and pro-
hibit all burials except in a public burying ground.

(j) To regulate or prohibit the exercise of any dangerous,
offensive or unhealthful business, trade or employment, and the
transportation of any offensive or dangerous substance.

(k) To regulate the light, ventilation, sanitation and use
and occupancy of buildings heretofore or hereafter constructed,
altered, remodelled or improved, and the sanitation of the prem-
ises surrounding the same.

(1) To regulate the emission of smoke, dust and other at-
mospheric pollution, the construction, installation and mainte-
nance of fuel-burning equipment, and the methods of firing and
stoking furnaces and boilers.

(m) To compel the removal of weeds from private prop-
erty, the covering or removal of offensive, unwholesome, unsani-
tary or unhealthy substances allowed to accumulate in or on any
place or premises; the filling in to the street level of the portion
of any lot adjacent to a street where the difference in level be-
tween the lot and the street constitutes a danger to life and
limb; the raising or draining of grounds subject to be covered
by stagnant water; the razing or repair of all unsafe, dangerous
or unsanitary public or private buildings, walls or structures
which constitute a menace to the health and safety of the occu-
pants thereof or the public, to prevent controllable noises, and to
compel the abatement or removal of any and all other nuisances
whatsoever. If after such reasonable notice as the council may
prescribe by ordinance the owner or owners, occupant or occu-
pants of the property or premises affected by the provisions of
this subsection shall fail to abate or obviate the condition or
nuisance, the city may do so and charge and collect the cost
thereof from the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of the
property affected in any manner provided by law for the collec-
tion of taxes.

(n) To regulate or prohibit the manufacture, storage,
transportation, possession and use of explosive or inflammable
substances and the use and exhibition of fireworks and discharge
of firearms, and other weapons.

(o) To regulate or prohibit the making of fires in the
streets, alleys and other public places in the city and to regulate
the making of fires on private property.

(p) To regulate or prohibit the running at large and the
keeping of animals and fowl and provide for the impounding
and confiscation of any such animal or fowl found at large or
kept in violation of such regulations.

(q) To prevent cruelty to and the abuse of animals.

(r) To regulate the sale of goods, wares or merchandise at
auction; regulate the conduct of and prescribe the number of
pawnshops and dealers in secondhand goods, wares and mer-
chandise; regulate or prohibit the peddling or hawking of any
article for sale on the streets of the city; prevent fraud or deceit
in the sale of goods, wares and merchandise; require the weigh-
ing, measuring, gauging and inspection of goods, wares and mer-
chandise offered for sale; require weights and measures to be
sealed and subject to inspection; and provide for the appoint-
ment of a sealer and one or more weighmasters who shall per-
form such duties and functions as may be prescribed by ordi-
nance.

§ 2.05. Miscellaneous Powers.—The city shall also have
power:

(a) To establish, maintain and operate public employment
bureaus and public markets.

(b) To establish, maintain and operate, within and with-
out the city, public hospitals, sanatoria, convalescent homes,
clinics and other public institutions, homes and facilities for the
care of the sick, of children, the aged and the destitute.

(c) To provide care for the poor and have all the powers
and duties conferred and imposed on cities by the laws of the
Commonwealth relating to public assistance.
(d) To establish, own, maintain and operate, within and
without the city, cemeteries for the interment of the dead, fix
the price at which graves and lots therein shall be sold, make
contracts for their perpetual care and establish the rates to be
charged for the digging of graves, construction of vaults and
other services.

(e) To establish, maintain and operate, within or without
the city, a jail for the confinement of prisoners, ordered or sen-
tenced to be confined therein, and a jail farm; and compel able-
bodied prisoners confined in the jail to work on such farm, with
the approval of the official trying such cases.

(f) To establish, impose and enforce the collection of
water, light, gas, and sewage rates, and rates and charges for
other services, products, or conveniences operated or furnished
by the city; and the council may prescribe a different rate to be
paid for such services and conveniences rendered to users or
customers without the corporate limits of the city.

Enforcement of Regulations.—When by the pro-
visions of this charter or the constitution and general laws of
the Commonwealth, the city is authorized to pass ordinances on
any subject, the council may provide suitable penalties for the vio-
lation of any such ordinances, including ordinances effective out-
side the city as provided in this charter. No such penalty shall
exceed a fine of $1,000.00 or imprisonment for twelve months
or both. Upon conviction for violation of any ordinance, the
court trying the case may require bond of the person so con-
victed with proper security in the penalty of not more than
$2,000.00, conditioned to keep the peace and be of good behavior
and especially for the period of not more than one year not to
violate the ordinance for the breach of which he has been con-
victed. From any fine or imprisonment imposed an appeal shall
lie as in cases of misdemeanor. Whenever any fine or penalty
shall be imposed but not paid the court trying the case may,
unless an appeal be forthwith taken, order the person convicted
to be imprisoned in the city jail for one day for each three
dollars thereof and may issue a writ of fieri facias directed to
the sergeant of the city for the collection of the amount due,
returnable within sixty days from its issuance. The city is
hereby expressly authorized and empowered to institute and
maintain a suit or suits to restrain by injunction the violation
of any ordinance legally adopted by it, notwithstanding such
ordinance may provide penalties for its violation.

§ 2.07. Licenses and Permits.—Whenever in the judgment
of the council it is advisable in the exercise of any of the powers
of the city or in the enforcement of any ordinance or regulation,
it may provide for the issuance of licenses or permits in con-
nection therewith, establish the amount of the fee to be charged
the licensee or permittee and require from the licensee or per-
mittee a bond and an insurance policy of such character and in
such amount and upon such terms as it may determine.

CHAP 3
ELECTIONS

§ 3.01. Election of Councilmen.—On the second Tuesday
in June 1951 and on the second Tuesday in June in every second
year thereafter there shall be held a general city election at
which shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city at large
seven members of the council for terms of two years from the
first day of September following their election.

§ 3.02. Nomination of Candidates for Council._—Candi-
dates for the office of councilmen may be nominated by petition
or under general law. There shall be printed on the ballots used
in the election of councilmen the names of all candidates who
have been so nominated. The requirements for nomination by
petition shall be:

(a) Any qualified voter of the city may be nominated by
filing, not less than sixty days before such election, with the
clerk of the circuit court of the County of Fairfax a petition
signed by not less than twenty-five qualified voters of the city;
each signature to such petition shall be witnessed by a person
whose affidavit to that effect is attached thereto, together with
the notice of candidacy required by the general laws of the
Commonwealth relating to elections.

(b) The petition shall state the name and address of the
residence of the person whose name is presented thereby as a
candidate, and the street address of the residence of the persons
signing the same.

The requirements for nomination under general law shall
be as therein prescribed.

§ 3.03. Conduct of General Municipal Election.—The bal-
lots used in the election of councilmen shall be without any dis-
tinguishing mark or symbol. Each qualified voter shall be
entitled to cast one vote for each of aS many as seven persons
and no more. In counting the vote, any ballot found to have
been voted for more than seven persons shall be void but no
ballot shall be void for having been voted for a less number.
The seven candidates receiving the highest number of votes cast
jn such election shall be declared elected. The general laws of
the Commonwealth relating to the conduct of elections, so far
as pertinent, shall apply to the conduct of the general municipal
election.

§ 3.04. Vacancies in Office of Councilman.—Vacancies in
the office of councilman, from whatever cause arising, shall be
filled for the unexpired portion of the term by majority vote of
the remaining members of the council.

3.05. Election of Other City Officers.—All other city
officers required by the laws of the Commonwealth to be elected
by the qualified voters of the city shall be elected on the first
Tuesday following the first Monday in November preceding the
expiration of the terms of office of their respective predecessors,
for such terms as are prescribed by law. All such elective officers
shall be nominated and elected as provided in the general laws
of the Commonwealth. A vacancy in the office of commissioner
of revenue, city treasurer, or city sergeant shall be filled by the
council by majority vote of all its members for the interim
period until a successor is elected at the next general election
and takes office, as is provided in the Code of Virginia. The
officers so elected or appointed shall qualify in the mode pre-
scribed by law and shall continue in office until their successors
are elected and qualified.

CHAP 4
COUNCIL

§ 4.01. Composition.—The council shall consist of seven
members elected as provided in Chapter 3. They shall receive in
full compensation for their services the sum of twenty-five dol-
lars per month and shall not be entitled to any other allowance
of any kind except that the mayor or vice-mayor when acting
as mayor, subject to the approval of the council, may be allowed
his actual expenses incurred in representing the city. No mem-
ber of the council shall during the term for which he was elected
and one year thereafter be appointed to any office of profit under
the government of the city.

§ 4.02. Powers.—All powers vested in the city shall be
exercised by the council except as otherwise provided in this
charter. In addition to the foregoing, the council shall have the
following powers:

(a) To provide for the organization, conduct and operation
of all departments, bureaus, divisions, boards, commissions,
offices and agencies of the city.

(b) To create, alter or abolish departments, bureaus, divi-
sions, boards, commissions, offices and agencies other than those
specifically established by chapters 10, 11, 17 and 19, and
§§ 16.06 and 20.02 of this charter.

(c) Upon recommendation of the city manager, to assign
and reassign to departments, all bureaus, divisions, offices, agen-
cles, departments and functions thereof except the city school

oard.
(d) To provide for the number, titles, qualifications, powers,
duties and compensation of all officers and employees of the
city, subject in the case of members of the classified service to
the provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter.

(e) To provide for the form of oaths and the amount and
condition of surety bonds to be required of certain officers and
employees of the city.

§ 4.038. Mayor.—On the first Tuesday in September 19651,
and on the first day of September of every second year there-
after, or if such day shall fall on Sunday then on the following
Monday, the newly elected council, having taken the oath of
office as hereinafter provided, shall proceed to choose by major-
ity vote of all the members thereof one of their number to be
mayor and one to be vice-mayor for the ensuing two years. The
mayor shall preside over the meetings of the council and shall
have the same right to vote and speak therein as other mem-
bers. He shall be recognized as the head of the city government
for all ceremonial purposes, the purposes of military law and
the service of civil process. The vice-mayor shall in the absence
or disability of the mayor, perform the duties of mayor, and if
a vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor shall become mayor
for the unexpired portion of the term. In the absence or dis-
ability of both the mayor and vice-mayor, the council shall, by
majority vote of those present, choose one of their number to
perform the duties of mayor.

§ 4.04. City Clerk.—The council shall appoint a city clerk
for an indefinite term. He shall be the clerk of the council, shall
keep the journal of its proceedings and shall record all ordi-
nances in a book kept for the purpose. He shall be the custodian
of the corporate seal of the city and shall be the officer author-
ized to use and authenticate it. He shall be the registrar of
voters of the city and clerk of all elections held under this char-
ter. He shall be clerk of the civil and police court unless other-
wise provided by the council. All records in his office shall be
public records and open to inspection at any time during regular
business hours. He shall receive compensation to be fixed by
the council and all fees received by him shall be paid into the
city treasury. He shall appoint and remove, subject to the pro-
visions of Chapter 9 of this charter, an assistant city clerk,
who shall be authorized to act as city clerk in the absense or dis-
ability of the city clerk, and all deputies and other employees in
his office, and shall have such other powers and duties as may
be prescribed by this charter or by ordinance.

§ 4.05. Induction of Members.—tThe first meeting of a
newly elected council shall take place in the council chamber in
the city hall at eight o’clock P. M. on the first day of September
following their election, or if such day shall fall on Sunday, then
on the following Monday. It shall be called to order by the city
clerk who shall administer the oath of office to the duly elected
members. In the absence of the city clerk the meeting may be
called to order and the oath administered by any judicial officer
having jurisdiction in the city. The council shall be the judge of
the election and qualifications of its members. The first business
of the council shall be the election of a mayor and vice-mayor
and the adoption of rules of procedure. Until this business has
been completed the council shall not adjourn for a period longer
than forty-eight hours.

§ 4.06. Rules of Procedure.—The council shall have power,
subject to the provisions of this charter, to adopt its own rules
of procedure. Such rules shall provide for the time and place
of holding regular meetings of the council which shall be not
less frequently than once in each month. They shall also pro-
vide for the calling of special meetings by the mayor, the city
manager or any two members of the council, and shall prescribe
the method of giving notice thereof, provided that the notice of
each special meeting shall contain a statement of the specific
item or items of business to be transacted and no other business
shall be transacted at such meeting except by the unanimous
consent of all the members of the council.

§ 4.07. Voting.—No ordinance, resolution, motion or vote
shall be adopted by the council except at a meeting open to the
public. All voting except on procedural motions shall be by roll
call and the ayes and noes shall be recorded in the journal. No
member of the council shall participate in the vote on any ordi-
nance, resolution, motion or vote in which he, or any person,
firm or corporation for which he is attorney, officer, director,
employee or agent, has a financial interest other than as a minor-
ity stockholder of a corporation or as a citizen of the city.

§ 4.08. Ordinances, When Required.—In addition to such
acts of the council which are required by the constitution or
general laws of the Commonwealth or by this charter to be by
ordinance, every act of the council creating, altering or abolish-
ing any department, or creating, altering, assigning or abolish-
ing any bureau, division, office, agency or employment, fixing
the compensation of any officer or employee of the city, making
an appropriation, authorizing the borrowing of money, levying
a tax, establishing any rule or regulation for the violation of
which a fine or penalty is imposed, or placing any burden upon
or limiting the use of private property, shall be by ordinance.

§ 4.09. Form of Ordinances.—Every ordinance except the
annual appropriation ordinances and an ordinance codifying
ordinances shall be confined to a single subject which shall be
clearly expressed in its title. All ordinances shall be introduced
in typewritten or printed form or a combination of both. All
proposed ordinances, except codifications or revisions, which re-
peal or amend existing ordinances shall set forth in full the sec-
tion or subsection to be repealed or amended and, if it is to be
amended, shall indicate matter to be omitted by enclosing the
same in brackets and new matter by underscoring or, if more
convenient, shall be accompanied by a clear and complete writ-
ten statement of matter omitted or repealed, and the reasons
therefor. When printed or published prior to enactment, the
same indications of omitted and new matter shall be used ex-
cept that strikeout type may be substituted for brackets and
italics for underscoring. The enacting clause of all ordinances
shall be: “The City of Falls Church hereby ordains.” Unless
another date is specified therein and except as otherwise pro-
vided in this charter, an ordinance shall take eth on the tenth
day following its passage.

§ 4.10. Procedure for Passing Ordinances.—An ordinance
may be introduced by any member or committee of the council
or by the city manager at any regular meeting of the council or
at any special meeting when the subject thereof has been in-
cluded in the notice for such special meeting or been approved
by a majority vote of all elected members of the council. Upon
introduction it shall receive its first reading and a time, not
less than seven days after such introduction, and place shall be
set at which the council or a committee thereof will hold a public
hearing on such ordinance, other than an emergency ordinance,
provided that the council may reject any ordinance on first read-
ing without a hearing thereon by vote of a majority of the elected
members. The hearing may be held separately or in connection
with a regular or special meeting of the council and may be ad-
journed from time to time. It shall be the duty of the city
clerk to cause to be published in a newspaper of general circula-
tion in the city, not later than at least two days prior to the
hearing on the ordinance, a notice containing the time and
place of the hearing and the title of the proposed ordinance. It
shall also be his duty, within three working days after the intro-
duction of an ordinance, to cause its full text to be printed or
otherwise reproduced, as the council may by resolution direct,
in sufficient numbers to supply copies to those who individually
request them, or, if the council shall so order, to cause the same
to be published as a paid advertisement in a newspaper of gen-
eral circulation in the city. It shall further be his duty to place
a copy of the ordinance in a file provided each member of the
council for this purpose. A proposed ordinance, unless it be an
emergency ordinance, shall be read a second time and may be
finally passed at the meeting of the council following the intro-
duction of the ordinance and after the conclusion of the public
hearing thereon. If on its second reading an ordinance, other
than an emergency ordinance, be amended as to its substance
it shall not be passed until it shall be reprinted, reproduced or
published as amended and a hearing shall be set and advertised
and all proceedings had as in the case of a newly introduced
ordinance.

§ 4.11. Emergency Ordinances.—An emergency ordinance
may be read a second time and passed with or without amend-
ment at any regular or special meeting subsequent to the meet-
ing at which the ordinance was introduced. An emergency ordi-
nance must contain a specific statement of the emergency claimed
and affirmative votes of a majority of the entire council shall
be necessary for its adoption.

§ 4.12. Submission of Propositions to the Qualified Voters
of the City.—The council shall have authority, by resolution, to
submit to the qualified voters of the city for an advisory refer-
endum thereon any proposed ordinance or amendment to the
city charter, not less than thirty nor more than sixty days after
the passage of such resolution. The election shall be conducted
and the result thereof ascertained and determined in the man-
ner provided by § 24-141 of the Code of Virginia. If a petition
requesting the submission of an amendment to this charter, set
forth in such petition, signed by qualified voters equal in number
to ten per cent of the largest number of votes cast in any gen-
eral or primary election held in the city during the five years
immediately preceding and verified as hereinafter provided, is
filed with the city clerk he shall forthwith certify that fact to
the council. The signatures to such petition shall be witnessed by
a person whose affidavit to that effect is attached thereto. Upon
the certification of such petition the council shall order an elec-
tion to be held not less than thirty nor more than sixty days after
such certification, in which such proposed amendment shall be
submitted to the qualified voters of the city for their approval
or disapproval. Such election shall be conducted and the results
thereof ascertained and determined in the manner provided by
law for the conduct of general elections and by the regular elec-
tion officials of the city. If a majority of those voting thereon at
such election approve the proposed amendment, such result shall
be communicated by the city clerk to the two houses of the gen-
eral assembly and to the representatives of the city therein with
the same effect as if the council had adopted a resolution request-
ing the general assembly to adopt the amendment.

§ 4.13. Record and Publication of Ordinances. — Every
ordinance after passage shall be given a serial number and shall
be recorded by the clerk in a properly indexed book kept for that
purpose. Within one year after the first Tuesday in September
1951, there shall be. prepared under the direction of the city
attorney, who is hereby authorized to employ such assistance
as he deems necessary for the purpose, a codification or revision
of all ordinances in force. Such codification shall be passed by
the council as a single ordinance and without prior publication.
Upon its passage, it shall be published in bound or loose-leaf
form. This codification, to be known and cited officially as the
city code, shall be furnished to city officers and shall be sold to
the public at a price to be fixed by the council. A similar codifica-
tion shall be prepared, passed, published and distributed, as
above provided, at least every five years. It shall be the duty
of the city clerk to cause all ordinances adopted to be printed or
reproduced as promptly as possible after their adoption in sub-
stantially the same style and format as the codification or revi-
sion of ordinances and sold at such prices as the council may
establish.

§ 4.14. Appointments.—The council in making appoint-
ments shall act only by the affirmative votes of a majority of
the members elected to the council.

§ 4.15. Removal of Councilmen and Members of Boards
and Commissions Appointed by the Council for Specified Terms.
—Any member of the council or any member of a board or com-
mission appointed by the council for a specified term may be
removed in accordance with the general law.

§ 4.16. Power of Investigation.—The council shall have
power to investigate any or all of the departments, boards, com-
missions, offices and agencies of the city government, including
the school board, and any officer or employee of the city. The
council, or any of its committees, when authorized by the coun-
cil, the city manager, the heads of all departments, all boards
and commissions appointed by the council, collector of city taxes,
license inspector, and auditor of municipal accounts, in any in-
vestigation or hearing held by them, within their respective
powers and duties, may order the attendance of any person as
a witness and the production by any person of all relevant books
and papers. Any person refusing or failing to obey such order
may be summoned by the civil and police justice to appear be-
fore him and upon failure to give a satisfactory excuse to said
judge may be fined not exceeding the sum of one hundred dol-
lars or imprisoned not exceeding thirty days or both. Witnesses
may be sworn by the officer presiding at such investigation and
shall be liable to prosecution for perjury for any false testimony
given at such investigation.

CHAP 5
CITY MANAGER

§ 5.01. Appointment and Qualifications.—There shall be a
city manager who shall be the executive officer of the city
and shall be responsible to the council for the proper admin-
istration of the city government. He shall be appointed by the
council for an indefinite term. He shall be chosen solely on the
basis of his executive and administrative qualifications, with
special reference to his actual experience in or knowledge of ac-
cepted practice in respect to the duties of his office. At the
time of his appointment, he need not be a resident of the city
or the Commonwealth, but during his tenure of office he shall
reside, if practicable, within the city.

5.02. Power of Appointment and Removal.—tThe city
manager shall appoint for an indefinite term and remove, sub-
ject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter and except
as otherwise provided in this charter, the heads of all depart-
ments and all other officers and employees of the city, provided
that where the council is given power by this charter to estab-
lish a board or commission for any purpose, the council may
provide for the appointment of the members of such board or
commission by the city manager or by the council, and for the
appointment by such board or commission of its employees, and
may specify which, if any, of such employees shall not be in-
cluded in the classified service. The city manager shall have
power to remove any officer or employee appointed by him or
his subordinates, provided that the officer or employee shall
have been served with a written notice of the intention of the
city manager to remove him, containing a clear statement of the
grounds for such removal and of the time and place, not less
than ten days after the service of such notice, at which he shall
be given an opportunity to be heard. After such hearing, which
shall be public at the option of such officer or employee, the
action of the city manager shall be final. Pending final action,
the city manager may suspend from duty for not more than
sixty days any such officer or employee.

§ 5.03. Council Not to Interfere in Appointments or Re-
movals.—Neither the council nor any of its members shall direct
the appointment of any person to or his removal from any office
or employment by the city manager or by any of his subordinates
except as specifically provided in this charter. Except for the
purpose of inquiry, the council and its members shall deal with
the administrative services solely through the city manager,
and neither the council nor any member thereof shall give or-
ders either publicly or privately to any subordinate of the city
manager.

§ 5.04. Temporary Transfer of. Personnel Between De-
partments.—The city manager shall have power, whenever the
interests of the city require, irrespective of any other provisions
of this charter, to assign employees of any department, bureau,
ottice or agency, the head of which is appointed by the city
manager, to the temporary performance of duties in another
department, bureau, office or agency.

§ 5.05. Duties.—It shall be the duty of the city manager

(a) attend all meetings of the council with the right to
coal but not to vote; (b) keep the council advised of the
financial condition and ‘the future needs of the city and of all
matters pertaining to its proper administration, and make such
recommendations as may seem to him desirable; (c) prepare
and submit the annual budget to the council as provided in
Chapter 6 of this charter and be responsible for its administra-
tion after its adoption; (d) prepare in suitable form for publi-
cation and submit to the council not later than its first meeting
in September of each year a concise, comprehensive report of
the financial transactions and administrative activities of the
city government during the fiscal year ending on the preceding
thirtieth day of June and cause to be printed such number of
copies thereof as the council shall direct; (e) present adequate
financial and activity reports at each regular meeting of the
council; and (f) perform such other duties as may be prescribed
by this charter or required of him in accordance therewith by
the council or which may be required of the chief executive
officer of a city by the general laws of the Commonwealth other
than the duties conferred on the mayor by this charter.

§ 5.06. Relations with Boards, Commissions and Agencies.
—The city manager shall have the right to attend and partici-
pate in the proceedings of, but not to vote in, the meetings of all
boards, commissions or agencies created by this charter or by
ordinance, except the school board, the personnel board, the
board of zoning appeals, and any other board or commission
the council may designate.

§ 5.07. Acting City Manager.—The council shall desig-
nate by ordinance the head of one of the departments to act as
city manager in case of the absence, incapacity, death or resig-
nation of the city manager, until his return to duty or the ap-
pointment of his successor.

CHAP 6
BUDGETS

86.01. Fiscal and Tax Years.—The fiscal year of the city
shall begin on the first day of July and shall end on the thir-
tieth day of June of the succeeding year. The tax year for
taxes levied on real estate, tangible personal property, ma-
chinery and tools shall begin on the first day of January and
end on the thirty-first day of December following, and the tax
year for all other taxes shall be fixed by the council by ordi-
nance. The rates of all taxes and levies, except on new sources
of tax revenue, shall be fixed at the time of adoption of the
general fund budget.

§ 6.02. Submission of Budgets—On a day to be fixed
by the council, but in no case later than the first day of May
in each year, the city manager shall submit to the council:
(a) separate current expense budgets for the general operation
of the city government, hereinafter referred to as the general
fund budget, including the total budget for the support of pub-
lic schools as filed with him by the school board, and for each
utility as defined in Chapter 13 of this charter; (b) a budget
message and the budget message of the school board; and (c) a
capital budget.. .

§ 6.038. Preparation of Budgets.—It shall be the duty of
the head of each department, each board or commission and each
other office or agency supported in whole or in part by the city,
including the commissioner of revenue and the city sergeant,
to file with the city manager or with the director of finance
designated by him, at such time as the city manager may pre-
scribe, estimates of revenue and expenditure for that depart-
ment, board, commission, office or agency for the ensuing fiscal
year. Such estimates shall be submitted on the forms furnished
by the director of finance and it shall be the duty of the head of
each such department, judge, board, commission, office or agency
to supply all.the information which the city manager may re-
quire to be submitted thereon. The director of finance shall
assemble and compile these estimates and supply such additional
information relating to the financial transactions of the city
as may be necessary or valuable to the city manager in the
preparation of the budgets. The city manager shall hold such
hearings as he may deem advisable and with the assistance of
the director of finance shall review the estimates and other
data pertinent to the preparation of the budgets and make such
revisions in such estimates as he may deem proper, subject
to the laws of the Commonwealth relating to obligatory ex-
penditures for any purpose. The school board shall furnish a
copy of its budget to the city manager.

§ 6.04. Scope of the General Fund Budget.—In respect
of each utility there shall be included in the general fund bud-
get estimates only the net amounts estimated to be received from
or to be appropriated to such utility in the general fund bud-
get as provided in § 6.13. In respect to the public schools there
shall be included only the total amount to be appropriated by
the city for their support. The general fund budget shall be
prepared in accordance with accepted principles of municipal
accounting and budgetary procedures and techniques and shall
contain: (a) an estimate of such portion of the general fund
cash surplus, if any, at the end of the current fiscal year as it
is proposed to use for meeting expenditures in the general fund
budget; (b) an estimate of the receipts from current ad valorem
taxes on real estate and tangible personal property during the
ensuing fiscal year, assuming that the proportion of the levy
collected be no greater than the average proportion of the levy
collected in the last three completed tax years; (c) an estimate
of receipts from all other sources of revenue; (d) a statement
to be furnished by the director of finance of the debt service
requirements for the ensuing year; (e) an estimate of the general
fund cash deficit, if any, at the end of the current fiscal year and
of any other obligations required by this charter to be budgeted
for the ensuing fiscal year; (f) an estimate of expenditures for
all other purposes to be met from the general fund in the en-
suing fiscal year. All the estimates shall be in detail showing
receipts by sources and expenditures by operating units, char-
acter and object, so arranged as to show receipts and expendi-
tures as estimated for the current fiscal year and actual receipts
and expenditures for the last preceding fiscal year in comparison
with estimated receipts and recommended expenditures for the
ensuing fiscal year. |

§ 6.05. A Balanced Budget.—In no event shall the ex-
penditures recommended by the city manager in the general
fund budget exceed the receipts estimated, taking into account
the estimated cash surplus or deficit at the end of the current
fiscal year, as provided in the preceding section, unless the
city manager shall recommend an increase in the rate of ad
valorem taxes on real estate and tangible personal property or
other new or increased taxes or licenses within the power of the
city to levy and collect in the ensuing fiscal year the receipts
from which, estimated on the basis of the average experience
with the same or similar taxes during the three tax years last
past, will make up the difference. If estimated receipts exceed
estimated expenditures the city manager may recommend revi-
sions in the tax and license ordinances of the city in order to
bring the general fund budget into balance.

§ 6.06. The Budget Message.—The budget message shall
contain the recommendations of the city manager concerning
the fiscal policy of the city, a description of the important fea-
tures of the budget plan, an explanation of all salient changes
in each budget submitted, as to estimated receipts and recom-
mended expenditures as compared with the current fiscal year
and the last preceding fiscal year, and a summary of the pro-
posed budgets showing comparisons similar to those required by
§ 6.04 above. The budget message of the school board shall
contain similar provisions.

§ 6.07. Appropriation and Additional Tax Ordinances.—
At the same time that he submits the general fund budget, the
city manager shall introduce in the council a general fund ap-
propriation ordinance. The appropriation ordinance shall be
based on the general fund budget but need not be itemized fur-
ther than by departments and the major operating units thereof,
and by bureaus, boards, commissions, offices and agencies sub-
mitting separate budget estimates, and by the principal objects
of expenditure. At the same time the city manager shall also
introduce any ordinance or ordinances altering the tax rate on
real estate and tangible personal property or levying a new tax
or altering the rate of any other tax necessary to balance the
general fund budget as hereinbefore provided. The hearing on
the budget plan as a whole, as provided in § 6.09, shall consti-
tute the hearing on all ordinances referred to in this section,
and the appropriation ordinances for each utility.

§ 6.08. Availability of Budgets for Inspection and Publi-
cation of the Budget Message.—The city manager shall cause
the budget message to be printed, mimeographed or otherwise
reproduced for general distribution at the time of its submission
to the council and sufficient copies of the general fund, school
and utility budgets to be made to supply copies to each member
of the council and a newspaper of general circulation in the
city, and two copies to be deposited in the office of the city clerk
where they shall be open to public inspection during regular
business hours.

§ 6.09. Public Hearings.—A public hearing on the budget
plan as a whole shall be held by the council within the time and
after the notice provided for hearings on ordinances by § 4.10 of
this charter, except that the notice of such hearing shall be pub-
lished in a newspaper of general circulation in the city.

§ 6.10. Action by the Council on the General Fund Budget.
—After the conclusion of the public hearing the council may
insert new items of expenditure or may increase, decrease or
strike out items of expenditure in the general fund budget, except
that no item of expenditure for debt service or required to be
included by this charter or other provision of law shall be re-
duced or stricken out. The council shall not alter the estimates
of receipts contained in the said budget except to correct omis-
sions or mathematical errors and it shall not cause the total of
expenditures as recommended by the manager to be increased
without a public hearing on such increase, which shall be held
not less than three days after notice thereof by publication in
2 newspaper of general circulation in the city. The council shall
in no event adopt a general fund budget in which the total of
xxpenditures exceeds the receipts, estimated as provided in
§ 6.04, unless at the same time it adopts measures for providing
additional revenue in the ensuing fiscal year, estimated as pro-
vided in § 6.05, sufficient to make up this difference.
§ 6.11. Adoption of the General Fund Budget.—If, for
any reason, the council fails to adopt the general fund budget,
the general fund appropriation ordinance and such ordinances
providing for additional revenue as may be necessary to put the
budget in balance on or before the first day of July, the general
fund budget in effect for the previous fiscal year shall be the
general fund budget on a monthly basis beginning on the first
day of, July until the general fund budget shall be adopted by
the council.

§ 6.12. Effective Date of General Fund Budget; Certtfica-
tion; Copies Made Available-——Upon final adoption, the general
fund budget shall be in effect for the ensuing fiscal year. A copy
of such budget as finally adopted shall be certified by the city
manager and city clerk and filed in the office of the director of
finance. The general fund budget so certified shall be printed,
mimeographed or otherwise reproduced and sufficient copies
thereof shall be made available for the use of all departments,
courts, boards, commissions, offices and agencies and for the
use of interested persons and organizations.

§ 6.138. Utility Budgets.—Separate budget estimates for
each of the utilities as defined in Chapter 13 of this charter shall
be submitted to the director of finance at the same time as the
budgets of other departments and in the form prescribed by
the city manager, subject, however, to the provisions of Chapter
13 which shall also control the action of the city manager and
council thereon. Estimated receipts shall take account of (a)
any estimated balance of net income from the current fiscal
year as determined in accordance with subsection (d) of § 13.06
of this charter not anticipated to be transferred to the general
fund or a renewal fund; (b) the effect of any change in rates
made during the current fiscal year or contained in any rate or-
dinance submitted with such budget; and (c) any appropria-
tion to make up an estimated deficit in utility operations for the
ensuing fiscal year contained in the general fund budget. The
city manager shall submit with the budget of each utility an
ordinance making appropriations for the operation of such util-
ity during the ensuing fiscal year, which need not be itemized
further than by principal objects of expenditure. He shall also at
the same time submit any ordinance changing the rates to be
charged by the utility, used in estimating receipts. The council
shall have the same powers and be subject to the same limita-
tions with regard to the adoption of such utility budgets and
accompanying appropriation and rate ordinances, subject to the
provisions of the said Chapter 13 as are conferred or imposed on
it by § 6.10 with regard to the general fund budget and its ac-
companying appropriation and revenue ordinances. If, for any
reason, the council fails to adopt the utility budgets or any of
them before the expiration of the time set for the adoption of
the general fund budget, such budget or budgets in effect for
the previous fiscal year shall be the utility budget or budgets on
a monthly basis beginning on the first day of July until the
utility budget or budgets shall be adopted by the Council. When
such utility budgets and accompanying appropriation ordinances
are adopted, they shall be certified to the director of finance with
like effect as in the case of the general fund budget and its ap-
propriation ordinance.

§ 6.14. School Budget.—lIt shall be the duty of the school
board to file its budget estimates with the city manager or with
the director of finance. The actign of the council on the school
budget shall relate to its total only and the school board shall
have authority to expend in its discretion the sum appropriated
for its use, provided that if it receives an appropriation greater
or less than its original request it shall forthwith revise its
estimates of expenditure and adopt appropriations in accord-
ance therewith. The school board shall have power to order
during the course of the fiscal year transfers from one item of
appropriation to another.

§ 6.15. Work Plan and Allotments.—After the current
expense budgets have been adopted and before the beginning of
the fiscal year the head of each department and each board, com-
mission, office and agency shall submit to the city manager in
such form as he shall prescribe a work program which shall
show the requested allotments of the appropriations for such
department, board, commission, office or agency for the entire
fiscal year by monthly or quarterly periods as the city manager
may direct. Before the beginning of the fiscal year the city
manager shall approve, with such amendments as he shall deter-
mine, the allotments for each such department, board, commis-
sion, office or agency and shall file the same with the director of
finance who shall not authorize any expenditure to be made from
any appropriation except on the basis of approved allotments,
providing that such allotments shall be in conformity with the
salaries established by ordinance and the laws of the Common-
wealth relating to obligatory expenditures for any purpose. The
aggregate of such allotments shall not exceed the total appropri-
ation available to each such department, board, commission, of-
fice or agency for the fiscal year. An approved allotment may be
revised during the fiscal year in the same manner as the original
allotment was made. If, at any time during the fiscal year, the
city manager shall ascertain that the revenue cash receipts of
the general fund or any utility for the year, plus any cash sur-
plus available from the preceding year, will be less than the
total appropriations to be met from such receipts, he shall re-
consider the work programs and allotments of the departments,
boards, commissions, offices and agencies, and, subject to the
laws of the Commonwealth relating to obligatory expenditures
for any purpose, revise the allotments so as to forestall the in-
curring of a deficit, provided, however, that there shall be no
reduction in salaries except by ordinance.

§ 6.16. Transfers of Appropriations.—The city manager
may at any time authorize, at the request of any department,
board, commission, office or agency, the transfer of any unen-
cumbered balance or portion thereof in any general fund or
utility appropriation from one classification of expenditure to
another within the same department, board, commission, office
or agency, provided that for this purpose the water and sanitary
sewer utilities shall be deemed separate departments. At the re-
quest of the city manager, but only within the last three months
of the fiscal year, the council may, by resolution, transfer any.
unencumbered balance or portion thereof in any general fund
appropriation from one department, board, commission, office or
agency to another.

§ 6.17. Additional Appropriations.—An appropriation in
addition to those contained in the general fund appropriation or-
dinance, except for the purpose of meeting a public emergency
as provided in subsection (d) of § 2.02 of this charter, may be
made by the council, by an affirmative vote of at least two-
thirds of the entire council, only on the recommendation of the
city manager and only if the director of finance certifies in
writing that there is available in the general fund a sum unen-
cumbered and unappropriated sufficient to meet such appropria-
tion. Additional appropriations may be made by the council,
by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the entire council,
from the funds of any utility for the operation of that utility,
and by the school board, by the affirmative votes of at least a
majority of the total membership, from school funds for school
purposes, but in the case of a utility, only if the director of
finance certifies in writing that there is available in the funds of
the utility a sum unencumbered and unappropriated sufficient
to meet such appropriation.

§ 6.18. Appropriations to Lapse.—Any portion of an an-
nual appropriation remaining unexpended and unencumbered at
the close of the fiscal year shall lapse, except that any balance
remaining in the funds of the school board at the end of the
fiscal year shall remain to the credit of that board and an esti-
mate of any such balance shall be included in the school budget
of the ensuing year as an estimated receipt.

§ 6.19. Capital Budget.—At the same time that he sub-
mits the current expense budgets, the city manager shall submit
to the council a program previously acted upon by the city plan-
ning commission, as provided in Chapter 17 of this charter, of
proposed capital improvement projects, including schools, as
defined in § 7.02 of this charter, for the ensuing fiscal year and
for the four fiscal years thereafter, with his recommendations
as to the means of financing the improvements proposed for the
ensuing fiscal year. The school board may also submit a sepa-
rate capital budget to the council. The council shall have power
to accept, with or without amendments, or reject, the proposed
program and proposed means of financing for the ensuing fiscal
year but, except in the case of emergency as provided in sub-
section (d) of § 2.02 of this charter, and except to meet needs
for capital improvements arising out of annexation of additional
territory taking effect during the current or preceding fiscal year
and except to meet needs for capital improvements which could
not reasonably have been foreseen at the time of adoption of the
capital budget, the council shall not authorize any capital im-
provement project or make any appropriation therefor unless
the appropriation for such project is included in the capital
budget as adopted by it. The council shall take final action on
the capital budget not later than the twenty-eighth day after
the adoption of the general fund budget. No appropriation for
a capital improvement project contained in the capital budget
shall lapse until the purpose for which the appropriation was
made shal] have been accomplished or abandoned, provided that
any project shall be deemed to have been abandoned if three
fiscal years elapse without any expenditure from or encumbrance
of the appropriation therefor. Any such lapsed appropriation
shall be applied to the payment of any indebtedness incurred
in financing the project concerned, and if there be no such
indebtedness shall be available for appropriation in the next
capital budget.

§ 6.20. Certification of Funds, Penalties for Violation.—
No payment shall be made and no obligation incurred by or on
behalf of the city except in accordance with an appropriation
duly made; provided that the Council shall have the power to
authorize and direct the making of contracts for the expenditure
of funds not appropriated in any budget for the then current
fiscal year, in which event the Council shall appropriate the
funds in the budget or budgets for the next fiscal year or years
for the performance of the contracts. No payment shall be made
from or obligation incurred against any allotment or appropria-
tion unless the director of finance shall first certify that there
is a sufficient unexpended and unencumbered balance in such
allotment or appropriation to meet the same; provided that
nothing herein shall be taken to prevent the advance authoriza-
tion of expenditures for small purchases as provided in sub-
section (f) of § 8.03 of this charter. Every expenditure or obli-
gation authorized or incurred in violation of the provisions of
this charter shall be void. Every payment made in violation of
the provisions of this charter shall be deemed illegal and every
official who shall knowingly authorize or make such payment or
knowingly take part therein and every person who shall know-
ingly receive such payment or any part thereof shall be jointly
and severally liable to the city for the full amount so paid or
received. If any officer, member of a board or commission, or
employee of the city shall knowingly incur any obligation or
shall authorize or make any expenditure in violation of the pro-
visions of this charter or knowingly take part therein, such
action shall be cause for his removal.

§ 6.21. Reserve for Permanent Public Improvements.—
The council may, by ordinance, establish a reserve fund for per-
manent public improvements and may appropriate thereto any
portion of the general fund cash surplus not otherwise appro-
priated at the close of any fiscal year. It may likewise assign
to the said fund a specified portion of the ad valorem tax on real
estate and tangible property not to exceed ten cents on the hun-
dred dollars of the assessed valuation thereof or the whole or
part of the proceeds of any other tax. Appropriations from the
said fund shall be made only to finance improvements included
in the capital budget.

CHAP 7
BORROWING

§ 7.01. Borrowing Power.—The council may, in the name
and for the use of the city, incur indebtedness by issuing its
negotiable bonds or notes for the purposes, in the manner pro-
vided in this chapter, and to the extent provided in this chapter
and under the general law.

§ 7.02. Purposes for Which Bonds or Notes May Be
Issued.—(a)To finance capital projects. Bonds, and notes in
anticipation of bonds when the issue of bonds has been author-
ized as hereinafter provided, may be issued for the purpose of
financing the whole or any part of the cost of any capital im-
provement project which is hereby defined to include any public
improvement or utility which the city is authorized to undertake,
including the acquisition of any property, real or personal, inci-
dent thereto, the construction or reconstruction in whole or in
part of any building, plant, structure or facility necessary or
useful in carrying out the powers of the city, and the equipment
or reequipment of the same.

(b) To anticipate the collection of revenue. Notes may be
issued, when authorized by the council, at any time during the
fiscal year in anticipation of the collection of any or all revenue
not to exceed seventy-five per cent of such estimated revenue
for the fiscal year.

(c) To finance increased operating expenses. Notes to be
repaid within four years of the date of issuance may be issued
when authorized by the council for the purpose of meeting
increased operating expenses, including debt service, provided,
however, that no notes shall be issued pursuant to the authority
of this section after January 1, 1955.

(d) Temporary debt for capital outlay. The council may
issue notes or bonds to capitalize water, sewer and land for
municipal parking areas not exceeding two hundred thousand
dollars when, by a vote of two-thirds of the entire council, the
council has passed a resolution declaring it expedient to do so,
and when the creating of the debt thereby provided for is for
the purpose of installing, or extending, one or more of such
public utilities, or for the acquisition and improvement of park-
ing areas, which constitute an asset, or assets, at least equal in
value to the amount expended thereon, which utility, or utilities,
shall materially add to the service rendered by the city to its
taxpayers and other citizens; and it shall be the duty of the
council to take up such notes by an issue of bonds within five
years of the date of issue of such notes.

(e) To provide for emergency expenditures. Notes may
be issued to finance an appropriation for the purpose of meet-
ing a public emergency, as provided in subsection (d) of § 2.02
of this charter, when authorized by the ordinance making such
appropriation. Notes so issued shall be authenticated by the
signature of the director of finance and shall mature not later
than twelve months after the date of issue. Bonds may be issued,
when authorized as hereinafter provided, for the purpose of
funding such notes or other obligations incurred in accordance
with such appropriation.

(f) To refund outstanding bonds. Bonds may be issued,
when authorized as hereinafter provided, for the purpose of
refunding bonds, provided that the director of finance shall
certify in writing that such refunding is necessary to prevent
default on the interest or principal of the city’s or the school
board’s outstanding bonds to secure a lower rate of interest.

§ 7.03. Limitation on Indebtedness.—In the issuance of
bonds and notes, the city shall be subject to the limitations as tc
amount contained in § 127 of the Constitution of the Common-
wealth.

§ 7.04. Notes in Anticipation of Bonds and Revenue.—
Whenever an issue of bonds for any capital improvement project
has been authorized as hereinafter provided, the director of
finance, when authorized by ordinance, shall have power tc
issue notes of the city in anticipation of such bonds, for the
purpose of defraying the whole or any part of the cost of such
project. Such notes in anticipation of bonds shall be authenti-
cated by the signature of the director of finance and shall mature
not later than twelve months after the date of issue. They shall
be paid at maturity from the proceeds of the sale of the bonds
in anticipation of which they have been issued. Notes in antici-
pation of revenue shall be authorized by the council by ordi-
nance. They shall be authenticated by the signature of the direc-
tor of finance and shall mature not later than twelve months
after the date of issue. If not paid at maturity, the amount of
such unpaid notes shall be included as an appropriation in the
general fund budget for the ensuing fiscal year.

§ 7.05. Form and Term of Bonds.—All bonds shall be in
serial form payable, as consecutively numbered, in annual in-
stallments the first of which shall be payable not more than four
years from the date of issue of such bonds. Bonds shall be
authenticated by the seal of the city and by the signatures of
the city manager and director of finance or by the city manager
and city treasurer, if the city manager and the director of
finance are the same person. All bonds shall be made payable
within the probable life of the improvement or undertaking on
account of which they are to be issued or, if the bonds are to be
issued for several improvements or undertakings, within the
average probable life of such improvements or undertakings. In
the case of a bond issue for several improvements, or undertak-
ings having different probable periods of usefulness, the council
shall determine the average of said periods, taking into con-
sideration the amount of bonds to be issued on account of each
purpose, and the period so determined shall be the average
period of usefulness. The determination of the council as to the
probable life of any such improvement or undertaking shall be
conclusive. Except as otherwise provided in this charter, no
bonds shall be payable more than thirty years after their date
of issuance. 1

§ 7.06. Issuance of Bonds. How Authorized.—The pro-
cedure for the passage of an ordinance authorizing the issuance
of bonds shall be the same as for the passage of any other ordi-
nance, except that no such ordinance shall be passed as an
emergency ordinance and that the affirmative votes of two-thirds
of the entire council shall be necessary for its adoption. Upon
adoption by the council of a bond ordinance, the city clerk shall
forthwith certify a copy of said ordinance to the Circuit or
Corporation Court having jurisdiction or to the Judge thereof,
in vacation, who shall thereupon order a special election of the
qualified voters of the city to be held by general law in such
cases provided. If a majority of those voting therein at such
election shall approve the ordinance, it shall take effect imme-
diately, and if not, it shall be void; provided, however, that such
majority shall include a majority of the qualified voters who are
freeholders voting in such election. For the purpose of such
election, the registered qualified voters of the city who are also
freeholders in the city on the date of notice of such election
shall be determined in the following manner: at least twenty
days prior to such election the council shall ascertain and record
on an Official list the names of such registered qualified voters
who are also freeholders in the city and shall publish forthwith
such list by posting copies thereof in at least three public places
in the city. On such posted copies, notice shall be given of the
time and place of a meeting of the council (to be held not less
than seven nor more than ten days before such election) for
the purpose of correcting said official list, and at such meeting
or any adjournment thereof the council shall make such addi-
tions or eliminations or both as ascertained facts shall require.
The official list as corrected shall constitute the final and authori-
tative determination of the qualified registered voters who are
also freeholders for such election.

The election officials shall provide a separate ballot box
for qualified voters who are also freeholders in the city, and a
separate ballot box for qualified voters who are not freeholders
in the city. The ballots thus voted shall be first canvassed sepa-
rately before being totaled to determine whether a majority of
the votes cast approve the ordinance.

§ 7.07. Procedure for Sale of Bonds and Notes.—All
bonds issued under this charter shall be sold at public sale upon
sealed proposals after at least ten days’ notice published at least
once in a publication carrying municipal bond notices and de-
voted primarily to financial news or to the subject of state and
municipal bonds, published in the City of New York, New York,
and at least ten days’ notice published at least once in a news-
paper of general circulation in the City of Falls Church. Notes
in anticipation of bonds, in anticipation of revenue, or to pro-
vide for emergency expenditures, when authorized by the coun-
cil, may be sold by the director of finance, with the approval of
the city manager, at private sale without prior public offering.
The terms of the sale of all bonds and notes shall be approved by
the council by resolution.

§ 7.08. Contents of the Bond Ordinance.—An ordinance
authorizing the issuance of bonds shall include a statement of
the purpose or purposes of the issue, and if the purpose is to
finance one or more capital improvement projects, it shall de-
scribe each of them sufficiently for purposes of identification,
and shall estimate the cost of the project or projects and the
portion thereof to be defrayed from sources, specifying them,
other than the proposed bond issue. The bond ordinance shall

Google
also include the amount of the proposed issue, a statement show-
ing the proposed issue to be within the limitation of indebted-
ness as provided in § 7.03, the probable life of the purpose
or the average probable life of the purposes to be financed, as
determined by the council, the date of issue, the dates of the first
and last serial maturities, the dates on which interest shall be
paid, a declaration that principal of and interest on the proposed
issue are to be paid from ad valorem taxes on real estate and
tangible personal property and that the full faith and credit
of the city are pledged to such payment, and the procedure for
the sale of the proposed issue. All other matters relating to the
authorization, issuance or sale of the bonds or notes may be
provided by resolution.

7.09. Short Period of Limitation.—When thirty days
shall have elapsed from the date of approval of a bond ordi-
nance by the voters, as provided in this chapter, (a) any re-
citals or statements of fact contained in such bond ordinance
or in the preambles or recitals thereof shall be deemed to be
true for the purpose of determining the validity of the bonds
thereby authorized, and the city and all other parties interested
shall forever thereafter be estopped from denying the same;
(b) such bond ordinance shall be conclusively presumed to have
been duly and regularly passed by the city and to comply with
the provisions of this charter and all laws, and (c) the validity
of such bond ordinance shall not thereafter be questioned by
either a party plaintiff or a party defendant, except in a suit,
action or proceeding commenced prior to the expiration of such
thirty days.

§ 7.10. Payment of Bonds and Notes.—The power and
obligation of the city to pay any and all bonds and notes here-
after issued by it pursuant to this charter, except revenue
bonds, as provided in § 7.12, shall be unlimited, and the city
shall levy ad valorem taxes upon all taxable property within
the city for the payment of such bonds or notes and interest
thereon, without limitation of rate or amount. The faith and
credit of the city are hereby pledged for the payment of the
principal of and the interest on all bonds and notes of the city
hereafter issued pursuant to this chapter, except revenue bonds,
as provided in § 7.12, whether or not such pledge be stated in
the bonds or notes or in the bond ordinance authorizing their
issuance.

§ 7.11. Sinking Fund.—There shall be a sinking fund for
the amortization of the outstanding term bonds of the city. It
shall consist of the cash and securities in the sinking fund at
the effective date of this charter, the sums hereinafter required
to be paid into such fund and the interest earned on invest-
ments. There shall be paid into the sinking fund annually the
sum determined by the director of finance, and by him certified
to the city manager for inclusion in the budget, to be neces-
sary on actuarial principles to amortize such term bonds at
maturity. The sinking fund may be invested only in bonds or
other direct obligations of the City, the Commonwealth, or the
United States. The management of the sinking fund from the
effective date of this charter shall be entrusted to a board of
sinking fund commissioners which shall consist of the direc-
tor of finance and two qualified voters of the city skilled and
experienced in banking and investment who shall be appointed
by the council for terms of four years, provided that of those
first appointed, one shall serve for two years and one for four
years. Vacancies shall be filled by the council for the unex-
pired portion of the term.

§ 7.12. Revenue Bonds.—In addition to the authority to
issue bonds otherwise provided in this chapter, and in addition
to the authority of § 127(b) of the Constitution of Virginia, the
council may, in the manner provided for the issuance of other
bonds and subject to the limitations of this chapter, except that
the faith and credit of the city need not be pledged to their
payment and except as hereinafter provided, authorize the is-
suance of revenue bonds to be secured by mortgage upon the
property of the city devoted to the use of a revenue-producing
utility, project or enterprise and the interest and principal of
which may be paid exclusively from the revenues of such utility,
project or enterprise; provided that such issue need not be
limited to a term of thirty years.

CHAP 8
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION

§ 8.01. There shall be a department of finance which shall
include the functions of accounting and control, budgeting, pur-
chasing, the collection of taxes, special assessments and other
revenues, and such other functions as may be provided by ordi-
nance or by orders of the director of finance consistent there-
with.

§ 8.02. Director of Finance - Appointment.—The head of
the department of finance shall be known as the director of
finance, who shall be, or be appointed by, the city manager. In
making such appointment, the city manager shall give consider-
ation to the applicant’s qualifications in municipal finance and
financial control.

§ 8.03. Director of Finance - Powers and Duties.—The
director of finance shall have general management and control
of the functions of the department. He shall appoint and re-
move, subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter, all
ofticers and employees of the department, excepting Constitu-
tional officers, and shall have power to make rules and regula-
tions consistent with this charter and the ordinances of the city
for the conduct of its business. He shall have charge, subject
to the direction and control of the city manager, of the admin-
istration of the financial affairs of the city, except those of the
school board, unless specified in this chapter, and to that end
shall have authority and be required to:

(a) Compile the departmental estimates and other data
necessary or useful to the city manager in the preparation of
the current expense and capital budgets.

(b) Supervise and control all encumbrances, expenditures
and disbursements to insure that budget appropriations are not
exceeded.

(c) Maintain a general accounting system for the city gov-
ernment and each of its departments, boards, commissions, of-
fices and agencies, in conformity with the best recognized prac-
tices in governmental accounting; and encumber each item of
appropriation and the allotments thereof with the amount of
each purchase order, payroll or contract which he has approved,
including each advance authorization as provided in subsection
(f) of § 8.08.

(d) Prescribe the form of receipts, vouchers, bills or claims
to be used, and of accounts to be kept by all departments, boards,
commissions, offices and agencies of the city, provided that in
so doing he shall consult with any officer appointed by the council
for the purpose.

(e) Require daily, or at such other intervals as he may
deem expedient, a report of receipts from each of such depart-
ments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies, and prescribe
the times at and the manner in which moneys received by them
shall be paid to the office of the director of finance or deposited
in a city bank account under the control of the city treasurer.

(f) Examine all contracts, purchase orders and other docu-
ments, except bonds and notes authorized as provided in Chap-
ter 7, which create financial obligations against the city and
approve the same only upon ascertaining that money has been
appropriated and allotted therefor and that an unexpended
and unencumbered balance is available in such appropriation
and allotment to meet the same, provided that the director of
finance may give advance authorization for the expenditure from
any appropriation for the purchase of supplies, materials or
equipment of such sum, within the current allotment of such
appropriation, as he may deem necessary during a period of
not to exceed three months for the purchase of items not to ex-
ceed in cost twenty-five dollars for any one item, and immedi-
ately encumber such appropriation with the amount of such ad-
vance authorization, and thereafter, within the period specified,
purchase orders for such items, to an aggregate not exceeding
such authorization, shall be valid without the prior approval of
the director of finance endorsed thereon, but each such pur-
chase order shall be charged against such authorization and no
such purchase order, which, together with all such purchase or-
ders previously charged within the period specified, shall ex-
ceed the amount of such authorization, shall be valid.

(g) Audit before payment, for legality and correctness,
all accounts, claims and demands against the city, and no money
shall be drawn from any bank account of the city or school
board except by warrant or check, signed by the director of fin-
ance, based upon a voucher duly approved by him as above
provided.

(h) Supervise and be responsible for provision of tax
maps, property descriptions and such other information as may
be necessary or convenient for the scientific assessment of prop-
erty for taxation within the city.

(i) Have custody of all investments and invested funds of
the city or in its possession in a fiduciary capacity, unless other-
wise provided by this charter or by law, ordinance or the terms
of any trust, and the safekeeping of all bonds and notes of
the city and the receipt and delivery of city bonds and notes
for transfer, registration and exchange.

(j) Submit to the city manager for presentation to the
council not later than the tenth day of each month, a state-
ment concerning the financial transactions of the city and each
utility respectively, prepared in accordance with accepted prin-
ciples of municipal accounting and budgetary procedure, and
showing: (1) the amount of each appropriation with transfers
to and from the same, the allotments thereof to the end of the
preceding month, the encumbrances and expenditures charged
against such appropriation and the allotments thereof during
the preceding month, the total of such charges for the fiscal year
to the end of the preceding month, and the unencumbered bal-
ance remaining in such appropriation and the allotments there-
of; (2) the revenue estimated to be received from each source,
the actual receipts from each source for the preceding month,
the total receipts from each source for the fiscal year to the
end of the preceding month, and the balance remaining to be
collected.

(k) Furnish to the head of each department, court, board,
commission, office and agency of the city a copy of that portion
of the statement relating to such department, court, board, com-
mission, office or agency.
(1) Prepare and submit to the city manager at the end of
each fiscal year, for the preceding year, a complete financial
statement and report of the financial transactions of the city.

(m) Protect the interests of the city by withholding the
payment of any claim or demand by any person, firm or corpo-
ration against the city until any indebtedness or other liability
due from such person, firm or corporation shall first have been
settled and adjusted.

§ 8.04. City Treasurer.—The city treasurer shall, subject
to the supervision of the director of finance, collect and receive
all moneys due the city for taxes whether current or delinquent,
assessments or fees or charges of every kind except that the
council may by ordinance provide for the collection of charges
for the use of water and sanitary sewers, by some officer or
agency and except as otherwise provided by this charter or the
general laws of the Commonwealth as the same may relate to the
city. In so doing, he shall have power to employ any procedure
that is now or may hereafter be prescribed by law for the collec-
tion of State taxes or local taxes. There shall be a lien, which
shall have precedence over any other lien or encumbrance there-
on, on all real estate and on each and every interest therein, for
the city taxes assessed thereon, from the commencement of the
year for which they are assessed, including penalties and interest
on such taxes, which may be enforced by the city treasurer on
behalf of the city in any manner provided by law. All goods and
chattels wheresoever found may be distrained and sold for taxes,
interest and penalties assessed and due thereon and for taxes, in-
terest and penalties assessed against the owner thereof, and no
deed of trust or mortgage upon goods or chattels shall prevent
the same from being distrained and sold for taxes or levies
assessed against the grantor in such deed while such goods and
chattels remain in the grantor’s possession; nor shall any such
deed prevent the goods and chattels conveyed from being dis-
trained and sold for taxes or levies assessed thereon, no matter
in whose possession they may be found. He shall have power
to enforce the provisions of this charter and the ordinances of
the city with regard to licenses and license taxes, to check any
or all of records of the commissioner of revenue and to examine
and audit the books of all persons, firms and corporations whom
he has reasonable cause to believe to be liable to pay a license.
He shall have custody of all funds belonging to the city and the
school board and deposit all funds coming into his hands to the
account of the city or the school board, as the case may be, in
such banks as may be designated for the purpose by the council
and the school board, respectively, subject to the laws of the
Commonwealth applicable to the city and school board relative
to the deposit of public funds. He shall perform such other
duties, including validating of school board warrants or checks,
have such powers and be liable to such penalties as are now or
may hereafter be prescribed by law or ordinance. For such
services, the city treasurer shall receive such compensation as
the council may from time to time prescribe by ordinance.

§ 8.05. Commissioner of Revenue.—The commissioner of
revenue shall perform such duties not inconsistent with the laws
of the Commonwealth in relation to the assessment of property
and licenses as may be required by the council for the purpose
of levying city taxes and licenses. He shall have power to admin-
ister such oaths as may be required by the council in the assess-
ment of license taxes or other taxes for the city. He shall make
such reports in regard to the assessment of both property and
licenses, or either, as may be required by the council or by the
director of finance. The council may by ordinance require that
all tax bills shall be made out by the commissioner of revenue
and delivered in such manner as said ordinance may prescribe.
For all such services, the said commissioner of revenue shall
receive such compensation as the council may, from time to time,
prescribe by ordinance, which compensation shall be in addition
to the compensation set by the State Compensation Board.

§ 8.06. Sale of Property for Taxes.—The council may
require real estate in the city, delinquent for the nonpayment
of taxes, to be sold for said taxes, as provided in the Code of
Virginia, except that if at any such sale no bid shall be made
for any such real estate, or such bid shall not be equal to the
tax or assessment, with interest, charges and expenses, then
such real estate shall be struck off to the city. As soon as prac-
ticable thereafter, the city treasurer shall prepare a statement
of sales made to the city, in which the real estate so sold shall
be described, and the aggregate amount of tax or assessment
with interest, charges and expenses specified.

(a) The owner of any real estate so struck off to the city,
his heirs or assigns, or any person having the right to charge
such real estate for a debt, or any person having interest in such
real estate by way of reversion, remainder or otherwise, may
redeem the real estate within three years from the sale thereof,
by payment to the city of the amount for which it was sold, with
such additional sums as would have accrued for taxes thereon
if it had not been purchased for the city, with interest on the
purchase money and taxes at the rate of six per cent per annum
from the time that they may have been so paid.

(b) In case that any real estate, struck off to the city as
hereinbefore provided, shall not be redeemed within the time
specified, the city treasurer may, at the direction of the council,
within sixty days after the expiration of three years from the
sale, cause to be recorded in the clerk’s office of the circuit court
of the county a certificate of sale with his oath that the same
has not been redeemed, and thereupon the city, or its assignee,
shall acquire an absolute title in fee by chancery proceedings to
such real estate, and every interest therein, subject to be de-
feated only by proof that the taxés for which said real estate
was sold were not properly chargeable thereon, or that the taxes
properly chargeable thereon had been paid at the time of the
execution of such certificate. The said certificate shall be re-
corded in the said clerk’s office in a record book known as “deed
book, recording conveyances to city lands sold for delinquent
taxes”, for recording which certificate the clerk shall be entitled
to a fee of ten cents, payable out of the city treasury. The
council may impose penalties upon its officers for their failure
to comply with the requirements of this section. The said cer-
tificate, or the record thereof, or a certified copy thereof, shall,
In all courts and other places, be evidence of the facts therein
stated; provided, however, that the failure to obtain or record
such certificate shall not invalidate the lien of the city for all
taxes assessed against such real estate, but the city may, at any
time, elect to enforce its lien for taxes in a court of equity and
release its right as purchaser or to become a purchaser of such
real estate. When real estate is sold at a tax sale, it shall be
continued upon the land books in the name of the former owner
or owners until there is a transfer of title of record and taxes
and levies shall be annually extended thereon the same as if
such tax sale had not taken place.

(c) When land sold for delinquent taxes or struck off to
the city is redeemed by persons under disability at the time of
sale, in addition to the payments otherwise required for redemp-
tion, the person or persons so redeeming the land shall pay to
the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, the appraised value of any
improvement that may have been made thereon after three
years from the date of the sale for delinquent taxes.

§ 8.07. Correction of Assessments and Exoneration of
Taxes.—(a) The officer or board responsible for making any
assessment of taxes or levies, or the director of finance, may
require the production of the books and records of any taxpayer
containing information concerning the tax liability of such tax-
payer for the purpose of verifying or amending or correcting
the assessment of city taxes for any tax year of the three tax
years last past or for the then current tax year. The council
may provide by ordinance for the issuance of a summons requir-
ing the production of the taxpayer’s books and records and for
the imposition of fines and penalties for the failure to obey such
summons. .

(b) If the officer or board responsible for making any
assessment or the director of finance ascertain that any tax-
payer has not been assessed with taxes of any kind for any tax
year of the three tax years last past or for the then current
tax year, or that said taxpayer has been assessed with taxes of
any kind at less than the law required for or during any one or
more of such years, or that the said taxes for any cause have not
been realized, it shall be the duty of the officer or board respon-
sible for making the assessment or the director of finance, upon
his or its own examination and audit, to assess the taxpayer with
the taxes at the rate or rates prescribed for said year or years
and in cases where the error has been due to the failure of the
taxpayer to file a proper return, or in cases of omitted taxes
upon lands, and excluding cases where the erroneous assessment
has been due to the mistake of the assessing officer, to include
in such assessment penalties and interest as may be prescribed
by the council, not to exceed, however, a penalty of five per cent
of the tax and interest upon said tax and penalty at the rate of
six per cent per annum from the time when such tax would have
borne a penalty for nonpayment had it been regularly assessed
and remained unpaid, and the council may provide for the impo-
sition of additional] interest not to exceed interest upon the entire
assessment at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date
of assessment, if such assessment be not paid within thirty days
after its date.

(c) If in the regular course of the audit of such tax-
payer’s records the officer or board responsible for making any
assessment and the director of finance ascertain that the amount
of license taxes assessed against the taxpayer for any one or
more of said years is in excess of the amount of license taxes
which should have been assessed against said taxpayer upon a cor-
rect computation thereof, then the director of finance, with the ap-
proval of the city attorney, may refund out of the city treasury
the excess of such taxes erroneously assessed if said excess be
paid or exonerate the taxpayer from the payment of said excess
if the excess be not paid. If the officer or board responsible for
making the assessment, or the director of finance, ascertain
that there be additional liability for one or more years and also
an excessive assessment for one or more years, then the excess
of one assessment may be credited against the deficiency of the
other assessment and the taxpayer be assessed with the net
deficiency or be refunded the net excess if paid or exonerated
from the payment of the net excess if unpaid, by order of the
director of finance, with the approval of the city attorney.

(d) Any person, firm or corporation assessed with any
local tax or levy and who is aggrieved thereby may, at any time
within one year from the thirty-first day of December of the
year in which such assessment is made, apply to the officer or
board making such assessment for a correction of said assess-
ment. Notice of such application shall also be given to the
director of finance and the city attorney, and if the officer or
board making such assessment, with the approval of both the
director of finance and the city attorney, be satisfied that such
person, firm or corporation has been erroneously assessed with
any such tax or levy, then the director of finance, with the ap-
proval of the city attorney, may order the officer or board mak-
ing such assessment to correct the assessment and it shall be
the duty of said officer or board to make such correction in ac-
cordance with the orders of the director of finance, with the
approval of the city attorney. The director of finance, with the
approval of the city attorney, shall have the power to order
that the taxpayer be exonerated from the payment of so much
as is erroneously charged if unpaid, and if said assessment be
paid, then the director of finance, with the approval of the city
attorney, shall have the power to order the refund of the excess
of said assessment out of the treasury of the city. But where it
is shown to the satisfaction of the officer or board making such
assessment, with the approval of both the director of finance and
the city attorney, that there has been a double assessment in
any case, one of which assessments is proper and the other er-
roneous, and that a proper single tax has been paid thereon,
the director of finance, with the approval of the city attorney,
may order that such erroneous assessment be corrected whether
the erronous tax has been paid or not, and even though the
application be not made within the one year as hereinbefore
required. The remedy granted by this section shall be in addi-
tion to the right of any taxpayer to apply within the time pre-
scribed by law to the proper court as provided by law for the
correction of erroneous assessments of the taxes described in
this section, and application may be made to the proper court
irrespective of whether such applicant has or has not thereto-
fore made application to the officer or board making such assess-
ment for the correction of any such assessment. The approval
or withholding of approval by the city attorney in the matters
provided for in §§ 8.07(c) and 8.07(d) shall relate only to the
legality of the proposed action.

§ 8.08. Annual Assessment and Equalization of Assess-
ments.—The council shall have the power to provide for the
annual assessment and equalization of assessments of real es-
tate for local taxation as provided in the general law, Chapter
146 of the Acts of 1942, and the council with the approval of
the State Commissioner of the Revenue may authorize the com-
missioner of revenue to act as the assessor provided therein, and
provided further that application for relief from assessments
may be made to the circuit court or corporation court of ap-
propriate jurisdiction.
— § 8.09.° City Purchasing Agent. — The city purchasing
agent, shall be, or be appointed by, the director of finance. In
selecting the city purchasing agent, consideration shall be given
to the applicant’s experience in private business purchasing, or
governmental purchasing, or comparable kind of institutional
purchasing, and property control and accountability. He shall,
pursuant to the provisions of this charter and to such rules and
regulations consistent therewith as may be established by the
council, purchase for the use of the city and all its departments,
bureaus, boards, commissions, offices, and agencies, hereinafter
in this chapter referred to as “using agencies’, all supplies,
materials, equipment and contractual services, including insur-
ance and surety bonds, except the following: scientific instru-
ments and equipment, medicines and drugs, legal and scientific
books and periodicals, and printing of legal briefs; manuscripts,
maps, charts, sheet music, phonograph records, books, pamphlets
and periodicals, when ordered by any city public library; such
perishable articles and other articles as may be designated in
the rules and regulations established by ordinance; and such
supplies, materials, equipment and contractual services as may
be required by any using agency in an emergency as defined in
the said rules and regulations. The services of the purchasing
agent shall be available to the school board whenever it wishes
to make use thereof.

§ 8.10. Further Powers and Duties of Purchasing Agent.
—The purchasing agent, for the purpose of giving effect to the
provisions of the preceding section, shall have the following
powers and duties:

(a) To establish, with the approval of the city manager,
and after consultation with the heads of the using agencies con-
cerned, and enforce standard specifications for all supplies,
materials and equipment required by the city government ex-
cept as to the purchases exempted above.

(b) To prescribe the time of making requisitions for such
supplies, materials and equipment and the future period which
said requisitions are to cover.

(c) To inspect or cause to be inspected, all deliveries of
such supplies, materials and equipment, and to cause tests to be
made, when necessary, in order to determine their quality,
quantity and conformance with specifications.

(d) To supervise and control such central storerooms,
workshops, garages and repair shops as the council may provide
by ordinance to serve the several using agencies or any of them.

(e) To transfer to or between using agencies, sell or trade-
in supplies, materials and equipment determined by him, with
the approval of the city manager and after consultation with the
head of the using agency concerned, to be surplus, obsolete or
unused.
(f) To maintain an adequate system of accounting for all
property received and all property issued by the bureau of pur-
chasing, in accordance with accepted principles of accounting
for property and inventory control, and to maintain such in-
ventory of all movable property belonging to the city, as may be
required by the council.

(g) To perform such duties with regard to the letting of
contracts for public works or improvements as are provided in
Chapter 12 of this charter and to have such other powers and
duties as may be provided by ordinance.

§ 8.11. Competitive Bidding.—Before making a purchase
or contract, the purchasing agent shall give opportunity for com-
petitive bidding under such rules and regulations as may be
established by the council. All single purchases or contracts
which shall involve an expenditure of one thousand dollars or
less shall, whenever practicable, be based on three or more com-
petitive bids which may be informal, but of which there shall be
a written record, and shall be awarded to the lowest responsible
bidder, except as hereinafter provided. If any single purchase or
contract involves an expenditure of more than one thousand dol-
lars, it shall be made on the basis of sealed bids after such pub-
lic notice as may be prescribed by the council. The city manager,
however, shall have the power in respect of all purchases or
contracts involving an expenditure of ten thousand dollars or
less, and the council in all other cases, to authorize the purchas-
ing agent to reject any or all bids, to readvertise for bids, or to
make the purchase or contract in the open market after the re-
jection of all bids. The council shall further have power in the
rules and regulations provided for in § 8.09 to authorize the
purchasing agent, with the approval of the city manager, to pur-
chase or make contracts for professional services and for ser-
vices for which the rate or price is fixed by a public authority
authorized by law to fix rates or prices, without recourse to com-
petitive bidding. All sales by the purchasing agent shall he made
on the basis of competitive bids after such public notice as may
be prescribed by the council, and all sales shall be to the highest
responsible bidder. A record of all bids, showing the names of
the bidders and the amounts of the bids and indicating in each
case the successful bidder, together with the originals of all
sealed bids and other documents pertaining to the award of con-
tracts, shall be preserved by the purchasing agent for six years
in a file which shall be open to public inspection during regular
business hours. No transaction which is essentially a unit shall
be divided for the purpose of evading the intent of this section.

§ 8.12. Accounting Control of Purchasing.—All purchases
made and contracts executed by the purchasing agent shall be
pursuant to a written requisition, in such form as may be pre-
scribed by the director of finance, from the head of the using
agency whose appropriation is to be charged, or from the head
of a bureau or other operating unit to whom such authority has
been delegated in writing, filed with the purchasing agent, ex-
cept as provided in subsection (f) of § 8.03 of this charter, by
the head of the using agency. No purchase order made or con-
tract entered into by the purchasing agent shall be valid unless
there be endorsed thereon the certificate of the director of fin-
ance that there is an unexpended and unencumbered balance in
the appropriation and allotment applicable thereto. Nothing
herein, however, shall be taken to prevent the purchasing agent
from making purchases from a stores revolving fund which the
council is hereby authorized to establish, or from making sales
from the stores to the several using agencies based on their requi-
sitions, provided the director of finance certifies that there is an
unexpended and unencumbered balance in the appropriation
to be charged.

CHAP 9
PERSONNEL

§ 9.01. Merit Basis of Appointments.—Appointments and
other personnel actions shall be made according to merit and
fitness. The council shall have all necessary powers to carry out
this purpose including, if the council so determines, the establish-
ment and operation of a competitive examination or selection
system. The council may vest the following powers in the city
manager, who may delegate them to any officer or department
of the city government, as he may decide:

(a) To administer recruitment and selection to fill posi-
tions in the city government, except the following:

(1) Officers elected by the people and persons appointed to
fill vacancies in elective offices; (2) members of boards and com-
missions; (3) officers appointed by the council; (4) the civil
and police justice and the justices of the peace provided for in
this charter; (5) employees of the school board; (6) assistant
city attorneys, special counsel, and technical advisors employed
by the city attorney;

(b) To administer any system of competitive examination
or selection which may be established by the council;

(c) To prepare and recommend to the council a classifica-
tion plan;

(d) To prepare and recommend to the council a pay plan
covering all employees in the city government, including school
board employees, if the board so requests;

(e) To direct and enforce the maintenance by all depart-
ments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies of the city, of
such personnel records and service rating of city employees (ex-
cept employees of the school board) as he shall prescribe ;

(f) To maintain a roster of all persons in the employ of
the city (except employees of the school board) which shall
specify as to each such person such information as (1) the class
title of the position held, (2) the salary or pay, (3) any changes
in class title, salary or pay, and (4) such other data as may be
deemed useful or significant;

(zg) To certify all payrolls, except those of the school board,
and to make no payment for personal services to any person
unless the payroll voucher bears the certificate of the city man-
ager that the persons named therein have been appointed and
employed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;

(h) To provide a systematic program of in-service train-
ing for city employees (other than employees of the school
board) to improve their performance and their potentialities
for service to the city; .

(i) To investigate the operation and effect of the personnel
provisions of this charter and the rules adopted thereunder and
report annually his findings and recommendations to the council;

(j) To recommend to the council and to effectuate such
rules and regulations as may be necessary for the purpose of
carrying out the provisions of this charter and to perform such
other powers and duties as may be assigned to him by ordinance.

§ 9.02. Unclassified Service.—The service of the city shall
be divided into the unclassified and classified services. The un-
classified service shall consist of: (a) officers elected by the
people and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;
(b) the members of boards and commissions, all officers ap-
pointed by the council, and persons appointed by officers elected
by the people; (c) the civil and police justice and the justices
of the peace provided for in this charter; (d) the heads of de-
partments appointed by the city manager, and the assistant citv
manager, if there be one; (e) employees of the school board,
provided that any class of such employees may be transferred
to the classified service on the request of the school board; (f)
assistant city attorneys, special counsel and technical advisors
employed by the city attorney; (g) licensed physicians and den-
tists employed by the city in their professional capacities; (h)
persons temporarily employed in a professional or scientific
capacity or to conduct a special inquiry, investigation, examina-
tion or installation, if the council or the manager certifies that
such employment is temporary and that the work should not be
performed by employees in the classified service; (i) per diem
employees.

§ 9.03. Classified Service.— The classified service shall
comprise all positions, including those in the police and fire de-
partments not specifically included by the preceding section in
the unclassified service.

§ 9.04. Appointment and Removal. —All original appoint-
ments to positions in the classified service shall be for a proba-
tionary period. The probationary period shall be one year, but
at any time prior to the conclusion of the probationary period of
any employee, his services may be terminated by the officer hav-
ing the power of appointment to the position, if, in the opinion
of such officer, the employee does not possess the qualifications
to perform satisfactorily the duties of the position. Upon the
conclusion of the probationary period, no employee shall be sus-
pended for more than sixty days, reduced in rank or pay, or re-
moved, except after notice in writing of the grounds of the pro-
posed action. Such notice shall be from the city manager, ex-
cept that for positions over which the city manager does not
have appointive power, the notice shall be from the officer who
has power of appointment to the position. The decision of the
city manager (or for positions not under his appointing power,
the decision of the appointing officer) shall in all cases be final.

§ 9.05. Tenure.——An employee who has been continued in
employment after the conclusion of the probationary period may
not, so long as he continues in the employ of the city, be required
to serve a new probationary period upon appointment or trans-
fer to a position not involving different skills.

§ 9.06. Rules—Within three months after this charter
becomes effective, the city manager shall prepare and recommend
to the council such rules as he may consider necessary to carry
out the provisions of this chapter with respect to persons in the
classified service. The council shall cause to be published at least
once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, a notice
of the time and place of a public hearing to be held on such pro-
posed rules, to take place not less than five days after the publi-
cation of such notice. Thereafter, the council shall reject or
adopt the rules recommended by the city manager with such
modifications as it may deem advisable. Amendments to the
rules may be adopted from time to time after public hearing as
above provided, but no change in the rules shall be set for hear-
ing which has not been recommended by the city manager un-
less the same shall have first been referred to him for his opinion
at least ten days prior to such hearing. The rules and amend-
ments thereof so adopted shall have, to the extent that they are
-onsistent with the terms of this charter, the force of law.
Among other things, they shall provide for the administration
of the classification plan and pay plan; hours of work, vacations,
sick leaves and other leaves of absence; overtime pay; the order
and manner in which layoffs shall be effected; procedure on ap-
peals from orders of suspension or removal or other disciplinary
action; and such other matters as may be necessary to provide
adequate and systematic handling of the personnel affairs of the

§ 9.07. Classification Plan.—The city manager first ap-
pointed shall, within six months after his appointment, prepare,
after consultation with all officers having the power of appoint-
ment, and submit to the council a plan of classification and grad-
ing for all positions in the classified service according to simi-
larity of authority, duties and responsibilities. The council shall
hold a public hearing thereon, at least ten days’ notice of which
shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circula-
tion in the city, and within thirty days after the submission of
the plan by the city manager, it shall reject or adopt the same
with or without modifications. Changes in the classification plan
may thereafter be recommended from time to time by the city
manager and shall take effect when approved by the council.
When the specifications of any job are changed or new position
created the city manager shall recommend the necessary changes
in the classification plan. After the adoption of the classification
plan the class titles set forth therein shall be used to designate
such positions in all official records, documents, vouchers and
communications, and no person shall be appointed to or employed
in a position in the classified service under any class title which
has not been recommended by the city manager and approved
by the council as appropriate to the duties to be performed. Em-
ployees affected by the allocation or reallocation of a position
to a class or by any changes in the classification plan shall be
afforded an opportunity to be heard thereon by the city man-
ager after filing a request for such hearing. After such hearing,
the decision of the city manager shall be final.

§ 9.08. Pay Plan.—There shall be a pay plan consisting
of a salary range for each class of position in the classification
plan, which shall provide for regular increments within such
range to be earned by length of service upon certification
of satisfactory service by the supervisor. Each such range shall
be determined with due regard to the salary ranges for other
classes and to the relative difficulty and responsibility of char-
acteristic duties of positions in the class, the minimum qualifica-
tions required, the prevailing rate paid for similar employment
outside the city service, and any other factors that may properly
be considered to have a bearing upon the fairness or adequacy
of the range. The city manager shall prepare within thirty
days after the adoption of the classification plan by the council
a pay plan as described above which shall be transmitted to the
council, with his recommendations. The council shall have power
to adopt the same by ordinance with or without modifications.
When so adopted by the council, the pay plan shall remain in
effect until amended by the council. When a pay plan has been
adopted, the council shall not increase or decrease the salaries
of individual members of the classified service but shall act in
fixing the salaries of members of the classified service only by
amendment of the pay plan.

§ 9.09. Status of Present Employees.—All persons holding
positions in the service of the city at the effective date of this
charter which are included by this chapter in the classified serv-
ice, shall immediately become members of the classified serv-
ice, upon certification by the city manager with the approval
of the council. Nothing in this section, however, shall be deemed
to limit the power of the council by ordinance to abolish any
position or positions, or to establish a classification plan affect-
ing any position in the classified service, or to adopt a pay plan
altering the compensation thereof.

§ 9.10. Prohibited Practices.—No person shall wilfully or
corruptly make any false statement, certificate, mark, rating or
report in regard to any test or certification or appointment made
under the personal provisions of this charter or in any manner
commit or attempt to commit any fraud preventing the impartial
execution of such personnel provisions or of the rules made
thereunder. No person seeking appointment to or promotion
in the classified service of the city shall either directly or indi-
rectly give, render or pay any money, service or other valuable
thing to any persons for or on account of or in connection with
his test, appointment, proposed appointment, promotion or pro-
posed promotion. The council shall determine whether there has
been a violation of this section and may provide that any person
who by himself or with others violates any of the provisions of
this section shall be ineligible for appointment to or employment
in a position in the city service and shall. if he be an officer or
employee of the city, immediately forfeit the office or position he
holds, or may impose such lesser administrative penalty as it
deems appropriate.

§ 9.11. Pension and Retirement System.—The council
shall have authority to establish a pension and retirement
system for any or all groups of officers and employees
except elective officers in the service of the city. The cost of the
system shall be determined actuarially on the basis of such mor-
tality and service tables as the council shall approve. Any
officer or employee of the city at the time of the establishment
of such system shall become a member of the system so estab-
lished. If the council in establishing such system, shall provide
for participation on the basis of prior service, officers or em-
ployees of the city at the time of establishment of the system
may elect whether or not they wish to have their prior service
included for retirement purposes. Officers and employees there-
after appointed to any position which has been included in a
retirement system by the council shall be required to join the
system as a condition of employment. Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prevent the council from making appropri-
ations for pensions for or relief of persons retired from the ser-
vice of the city prior to the establishment of the retirement sys-
tem authorized herein. If the council shall deem it inadvisable
to establish an independent retirement system for the City of
Falls Church, it may make arrangements for group insurance
for employees or it may affiliate its retirement system with that
of the Commonwealth, if permissible under general law, or with
that of any other local government in the Commonwealth. Any
pension and retirement system established under this section
shall be administered by the department of finance. The bene-
fits accrued or accruing to any person under such system shall
not be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment or any
other process whatsoever nor shall any assignment of such bene-
fits be enforceable in any court. .

CHAP 10
DEPARTMENT OF LAW

§ 10.01. Department of Law.—There shall be a depart-
ment of law which shall consist of the city attorney and such
assistant city attorneys and other employees as may be provided
by ordinance.

§ 10.02. Qualifications and Appointment.—The head of the
department of law shall be the city attorney. He shall be an
attorney at law licensed to practice under the laws of the Com-
monwealth. He shall be chosen in the manner provided in
§ 10.05.

§ 10.03. City Attorney. Powers and Duties.—The city at-
torney shall (a) be the legal advisor of (1) the council, (2) the
city manager and (3), of all departments, boards, commissions
and agencies of the city, in all matters affecting the interests
of the city, and shall, upon request. furnish a written opinion
on any question of law involving their respective official powers
and duties; (b) at the request of the city manager or any mem-
ber of the council, prepare ordinances for introduction and at
the request of the council or any member thereof shall examine
any ordinance after introduction and at the request of the coun-
cil or any member thereof shall examine any ordinance after
introduction and render his opinion as to the form and legality
thereof; (c) draw or approve all bonds, deeds, leases, contracts
or other instruments to which the city is a party or in which it
has an interest; (d) have the management and control of all the
law business of the city and the departments, boards, commis-
sions and agencies thereof, or in which the city has an interest,
and represent the city as counsel in any civil case in which it
is interested and in criminal cases in which the constitutionality
or validity of any ordinance is brought in issue; (e) with vhe
approval of the council, institute and prosecute all legal pro-
cecdings he shall deem necessary or proper to protect the in-
terests of the city; (f) attend in person or assign one of his
assistants to attend all meetings of the council; (g) appoint and
remove such assistant city attorneys and other employees as shall
be authorized by the council, subject to the provisions of Chap-
ter 9 of this charter as to employees in the classified service, and
authorize the assistant city attorneys or any of them or special
counsel to perform any of the duties imposed upon him in this
charter; and (h) have such other powers and duties as may be
assigned to him by ordinance. The approval or withholding of
approval by the city attorney in the matters provided for in
§§ 8.07(c) and 8.07(d) shall relate only to the legality of the
proposed action. The school board shall have authority to em-
ploy legal counsel.

§ 10.04. Restrictions on Actions for Damages against City.

(a) No action shall be maintained against the city for in-
jury to any person or property or for wrongful death alleged
to have been sustained by reason of the negligence of the city
or of any officer, employee or agent thereof, unless a written
statement by the claimant, his agent, attorney or representative,
of the nature of the claim and of the time and place at which
the injury is alleged to have occurred or been received shall have
been filed with the city attorney within sixty days after such
cause of action shall have accrued, except that when the claim-
ant is an infant or non compos mentis, or the injured person
dies within such sixty days, such statement may be filed within
one hundred and twenty days. Neither the city attorney nor
any other officer, employee or agent of the city shall have author-
ity to waive the foregoing conditions precedent or any of them.

§ 10.05. <A. special election shall be held on the 7th day
of November, nineteen hundred fifty, at which election the elec-
torate of the city who are qualified to vote at the regular election
held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nine-
teen hundred fifty, shall determine whether the city attorney
shall be appointed by the council. It shall be the duty of the
regular election officers of the city to prepare and have printed
and distributed for use at said election in the manner prescribed
by law for printing and distributing ballots, the requisite num-
ber of ballots for the submission of said question. Such election
shall be held and conducted in the manner prescribed by law for
other elections, provided, however, that the ballots for use at
such election shall be printed to read as follows:
Shall the City Attorney be appointed by the Council

[] For

[] Against
The squares shall be printed and the voting shall be as is
provided by § 24-141 of the Code of Virginia.

If a majority of the electors voting on the question shall
vote for appointment of the city attorney by the council then
the city attorney shall be appointed by the council to serve at
the pleasure of the council.

If a majority of the electors voting on the question shall
vote against appointment of the city attorney by the council
then at the regular municipal election to be held in said city on
the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred fifty-one, and
every two years thereafter, there shall be elected a city attorney
for terms of two years beginning on the first day of September
next succeeding his election, and the term of office of the city
attorney in office on August thirty-one, nineteen hundred fifty-
one, shall expire on that date; and in case of vacancy thereafter
occurring in the office of the city attorney it shall be the duty
of the council to certify the same to the judge of the circuit
court, who shall issue his writ for an election to fill such vacancy
wn the manner prescribed by the general election laws of this

tate.

CHAP 11
PUBLIC SAFETY

§ 11.01. The functions of public safety shall be performed
by the police department and such other bureaus, divisions and
units as may be provided by ordinance or by orders of the city
manager consistent therewith.

The City of Falls Church may enter into contractual rela-
tionships with neighboring political subdivisions for the support
and utilization of a joint fire department which shall be re-
sponsible for the protection from fire of life and property within
the city, and may, at any time, establish a city fire department
for such purpose.

§ 11.02. Police Department.—The police department shall
consist of the chief of police and such other officers and em-
ployees of such ranks and grades as may be established by ordi-
nance. The police department shall be responsible for the preser-
vation of the public peace, prevention of crime, apprehension of
criminals, protection of the rights of persons and property, and
enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth, the ordinances
of the city and all rules and regulations made in accordance
therewith. The chief of police and the other members of the
police force of the city shall have all the powers and duties of
police officers as provided by the general laws of the Common-
wealth.

§ 11.03. Chief of Police.—The head of the police depart-
ment shall be the chief of police and shall be appointed by the
city manager. Under the general supervision of the city mana-
ger, he shall be in direct command of the police department. He
shall appoint all members of the department and assign all mem-
bers of the department to their respective posts, shifts, details
and duties. He shall, with the approval of the city manager,
make rules and regulations in conformity with this charter and
the ordinances of the city concerning the operation of the de-
partment, the conduct of the officers and employees thereof, their
uniforms, arms and other equipment, their training and the
penalties to be imposed for infractions of such rules and regula-
tions. The chief of police shall be responsible for the efficiency,
discipline and good conduct of the department. Orders of the
city manager relating to the police department shall be trans-
mitted in all cases through the chief of police or in his absence
from the city or incapacity through an officer of the department
designated as acting chief by the city manager. Disobedience to
the lawful commands of the chief of police or violation of the
rules and regulations made by him with the approval of the city
manager shall be ground for removal or other disciplinary action
as provided in such rules and regulations, subject to the pro-
visions of Chapter 9 of this charter.

§ 11.04. Special Police.—The civil and police justice in
time of grave public emergency, may appoint and equip a suffici-
ent number of special policemen to preserve the peace, safety and
good order of the community. The civil and police justice shall
also appoint such employees of the city to be special policemen
who while in the performance of their official duties shall have
the powers and duties of policemen. The civil and police justice
may in his discretion, upon the application of any individual,
firm or corporation showing the necessity therefor, appoint one
or more special policemen, to be paid by the applicant, who shall
have the powers and duties of policemen while in or on the
premises of such applicant or in the actual performance of the
duties for which employed. Special policemen shall be subject
to the rules and regulations of the police department and their
appointments shall be revocable at any time by the civil and
police justice.

§ 11.05. The regular members of the police force and the
special police shall receive all fees and allowances prescribed by
law arising out of the exercise of their powers and duties, which
shall be collected by the chief of police and paid into the city
treasury, except that witness fees allowed for attendance upon
the courts of record may be paid to and retained by such mem-
bers as individuals.

CHAP 12
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

§ 12.01. Department of Public Works.—Unless otherwise
provided by the council pursuant to §§ 4.02(a), 4.02(b) and
4.02(c) of this charter, there shall be a department of public
works which shall consist of the director of public works, who
shall be, or be appointed by, the city manager, and such other
officers and employees organized into such bureaus, divisions and
other units as provided by this chapter or as may be provided
by ordinance or by the orders of the director consistent there-
with.
§ 12.02. Functions.—The department of public works shall
be responsible for: (a) the making of such surveys, reports,
maps, drawings, plans, specifications and estimates as may be
requested from time to time by the council, the city manager or
the head of any department, or any board, commission or agency
of the city, provided that the city manager may, with the ap-
proval of the council, employ consulting engineers or architects
in connection with the design of any building, work or improve-
ment; (b) the custody of all maps or plans of the city or any
part thereof which were filed at the effective date of this charter
in the office of the director of public works and all such maps or
plans hereafter made and not expressly required by law or ordi-
nance to be filed in some other place, and any map or plan of the
city or any part thereof made in accordance with any law or
ordinance and in the custody of the department of public works,
or a copy thereof attested by the director of public works, shall
be evidenced in the courts of the Commonwealth of the facts
shown thereon; (c) the supervision of the execution and per-
formance of all contracts for capital improvement projects as
defined.in subsection (a) of § 7.02 of this charter, and no pay-
ment shall be made by the city upon any such contract without
the certificate of the director of public works that the work or
the portion thereof for which such payment is to be made has
been satisfactorily performed in accordance with the terms of
such contract, provided that when the plans and specifications
for any capital improvement project have been prepared under
the authority of the school board or department of public utili-
ties by some person or agency other than the department of pub-
lic works, the contract may be supervised and the certificate
above required shall be issued by a person or agency to be desig-
nated by the school board or the director of public utilities, as
the case may be; (d) the construction of any capital improve-
ment project by employees of the department of public works
when ordered, as hereinafter provided in this chapter, by the
council or the city manager; (e) the maintenance and cleaning
of streets, alleys, other public places, bridges, viaducts, subways
and underpasses; (f) the maintenance of storm water sewers,
drains and culverts, the collection of garbage and other refuse
and the maintenance and operation of facilities for the disposal
of the same, subject to the authority of the director of public
health in matters affecting the public health; (g) the mainte-
nance, heating, lighting and janitorial service for all city-owned
buildings except those under the jurisdiction of the school board
and the department of public utilities, and except when other-
wise provided by this charter, law, ordinance or the directions
of the city manager; (h) the determination, in accordance with
such ordinances on the subject as the council may adopt, of the
conditions under which street surfaces may be cut by the de-
partment of public utilities or any person, firm or corporation,
for the purpose of laying, relocating, removing, connecting or
repairing pipes or conduits therein, and the time within and the
manner in which such work shall be completed and such cuts
filled and the street surface restored; (i) the inspection of
buildings, and electrical wiring and plumbing installations, and
the issuing of permits for such construction, maintenance, re-
pair, and installations to secure compliance with existing codes
or as may be provided by ordinance; (j) requiring every mer-
chant, retailer, trader, and dealer in merchandise, or property
of any description, which is sold by measure or weight, to cause
their weights to be sealed by a city sealer, and to be subject to
his inspection; and (k) such other powers and duties as may be
assigned to the department by ordinance.

§ 12.03. Director of Public Works. Qualifications.—The
head of the department of public works shall be the director of
public works. In making the appointment of such director, con-
sideration shall be given to the applicant’s experience in public
works problems and public works administration.

§ 12.04. Director of Public Works. Powers and Duties.—
The director of public works shall have general management and
control of the several bureaus, divisions and other units of the
department. He shall appoint and remove, subject to the pro-
visions of Chapter 9 of this charter, all the officers and em-
ployees of the department and shall have power to make rules
and regulations consistent with this charter and the ordinances
of the city for the conduct of its business.

§ 12.05. Grading of Streets——Whenever the council shall
have determined to grade or change the grade of any street,
alley or public place within the city, if the work be of such a
nature as may cause damage to the abutting landowners it shall
be the duty of the director of public works to ascertain what
damages, if any, will accrue to the owners of the property likely
to be so affected. It shall further be the duty of the director of
public works, such ascertainment having been made, to give such
notice and hearings and to make such reports and proceed in
such manner as is required by §§ 15-767, 15-768, 15-769 and
15-770 of the Code of Virginia. The amount finally ascertained,
in the manner provided in the said sections, to be due to any
property owner shall have the effect of a judgment in favor of
the property owner and against the city as of the date of such
final ascertainment.

§ 12.06. Assessment of the Cost of Certain Improvements
upon Abutting Landowners.—Before the council shall order the
assessment of the whole or any portion of the cost of any im-
provement, as provided in subsection (e) of § 2.03 of this char-
ter, it shall give notice to the abutting landowners as required
by §§ 15-669 through 15-671, and § 15-674 of the Code of Vir-
ginia, and all further proceedings in relation to such assessment
shall be governed by the provisions of §§ 15-669, 15-670, 15-671,
15-672, 15-673, 15-674, 15-675, 15-676 of the Code of Virginia
relating to notice, hearings, appeals and other procedural mat-
ters; provided that it shall be the duty of the director of public
works to ascertain the cost of such improvement and that any
duties which under said sections may be performed by an officer
of the city, shall be performed by the director of public works.

§ 12.07. Contracts for Capital Improvement Projects.—
When ever any capital improvement project is to.be undertaken
by the city or any department, board, commission or agency
thereof, except the school board and the department of public
utilities, it shall be the duty of the director of public works to
cause plans, specifications and estimates of cost of such capital
improvement project to be made. The school board and depart-
ment of public utilities may utilize the services of the depart-
ment of public works in preparing plans, specifications and esti-
mates of cost for capital improvement projects relating to their
respective functions but they may, in the discretion of the
school board or director of public utilities, as the case may be,
cause such plans and specifications to be prepared by their own
employees or by architects and engineers engaged for the pur-
pose. In the case of any capital improvement project, except
one relating to school buildings and grounds, if the estimate of
cost is ten thousand dollars or less it may, in the discretion of
the city manager, be constructed either by contract or by the
employees of the department of public works or the department
of public utilities, as the case may be. If the estimate of cost is
more than ten thousand dollars, such capital improvement pro-
ject shall, except as hereinafter provided, be constructed by
contract. No contract for any capital improvement project esti-
mated to cost more than one thousand dollars shall be let except
upon sealed bids based on the plans and specifications prepared
by the department of public works or the department of public
utilities, which bids shall be advertised for, received, opened and
tabulated by the purchasing agent in the manner and subject to
the conditions prescribed by ordinance. The contract shall be
awarded by the purchasing agent to the lowest responsible bid-
der, provided that the city manager, when the estimated cost of
the capital improvement project is ten thousand dollars or less,
and the council in all cases, may authorize the rejection of all
bids, instruct the purchasing agent to readvertise for bids with
or without modification of the plans and specifications for such
capital improvement project or order the same to be constructed
by the department of public works or the department of public
utilities, as the case may be. A record of all bids, showing the
names of the bidders and the amounts of the bids and indicat-
ing in each case the successful bidder, together with the originals
of all sealed bids and other documents pertaining to the award of
contracts, shall be preserved by the purchasing agent for six
years in a file which shall be open to public inspection during
regular business hours. No capital improvement project which
is essentially a unit shall be divided for the purpose of evading
the intent of this section.

§ 12.08. School Board Contracts for Capital Improvement
Projects.—The school board may make use of the contract pro-
cedure provided by § 12.07 and if it does so, the authority to re-
ject all bids and order the purchasing agent to readvertise for
bids shall be vested in the school board, provided that the execu-
tion of any capital Improvement project relating to school build-
ings or grounds shall not be undertaken by the department of
public works except upon the request of the school board and
with the approval of the city manager. The school board may, in
its discretion, adopt its own procedure for the letting of con-
tracts for capital improvement projects, provided that no such
project involving an estimated cost of more than ten thousand
dollars shall be let except on sealed bids.

§ 12.09. Inspection Functions.—The director of public
works shall supervise and be responsible for: (a) receiving all
applications for permits as required under the existing building,
electrical, and plumbing codes of the city or as may be provided
by ordinance, as well as applications for any work sought to
be done by private parties in the streets of the city or upon pub-
lic property, and shall issue or refuse such permits according to
the regulations of the existing code or as may be provided by
ordinance, and inspecting all such construction, maintenance,
repair, and installations to insure compliance with all of the re-
quirements of the aforementioned code and the approved plans
and permit; (b) the inspection by the city sealer of all weights,
measures and weighing or measuring devices used In the City,
and all weights, scales and measures used in commerce which
may be found, or can be made to agree with the standard as
provided by existing code or as may be provided by ordinance,
shall be sealed by the city sealer, and all which do not or can
not be made to agree therewith shall be defaced and destroyed
by the city sealer.

CHAP 13
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES

§ 13.01. Department of Public Utilities —Unless other-

wise provided by the council pursuant to §§ 4.02(a), 4.02 (b)
and 4.02(c) of this charter, there shall be a department of public
utilities which shall consist of the director of public utilities,
who shall be, or be appointed by, the city manager, and such
other officers and employees organized into such bureaus, divi-
sions and other units as may be provided by ordinance or by
the orders of the director consistent therewith.
13.02. Functions.—The department of public utilities
shall be responsible for: (a) the operation of the water and sani-
tary sewer utilities of the city; (b) the collection of all charges
for the services of such utilities; (c) such other powers and
duties as may be assigned to the department by ordinance.

§ 13.038. Director of Public Utilities—Qualifications. —
The head of the department of public utilities shall be the
director of public utilities. He shall be a person trained and
skilled in public utility problems and shall have had at least
five years’ experience in public utility operation or administra-
tion.

§ 13.04. Director of Public Utilities—Powers and Duties.
—The director of public utilities shall have general management
and control of the several bureaus, divisions and other units of
the department. He shall appoint and remove, subject to the
provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter, all officers and employ-
ees of the department and shall have power to make rules and
regulations consistent with this charter and the ordinances of
the city for the conduct of its business.

§ 13.05. Bureau of Billing and Collection.—There shall be
a bureau of billing and collection in the department of public
utilities, which shall be responsible for the collection of all
charges for the use of water, sanitary sewers and other services
incident thereto. The collection of unpaid bills may be enforced
in the manner now or hereafter prescribed by law or ordinance.

§ 13.06. Each Utility a Separate Enterprise.—The water
and sanitary sewer utilities shal] each be conducted as a sepa-
rate enterprise, provided that nothing herein shal] prevent the
transfer of employees from one utility to another or the division
of the time of any officer or employee between the two utilities.
To facilitate accurate analysis of the financial results of the op-
eration of each utility:

(a) The bureau of billing and collection shall bill for and
collect on behalf of each utility not only the charges due from
domestic, commercial and industrial users of its services but
similar charges against the city and each department, board,
commission, office and agency thereof, including the school board
and each other utility. The rates to be charged the city and its
departments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies, as above
provided, for water and sanitary sewers shall be the same as
those charged to other customers, except that the charges to be
made for the use of water for fire protection shall be in the
form of an annual rental to be paid from appropriations by the
council for fire protection within the city, for each fire hydrant
based on the proportion of the valuation of the water utility
properly allocable to fire protection as determined by the valua-
tion hereinafter provided.

(b) Separate budgets shall be prepared for each utility an-
nually at the time and in the manner prescribed in Chap 6
of this charter, which shall include estimates of receipts and
expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year. The budget estimates
of each department of the city shall include items for water
and sanitary sewers to be used by them.

(c) The director of finance shall keep separate accounts, in
accordance with accepted principles of public utility accounting,
for each utility. Expenditures shall be authorized and made as
in the case of other departments solely in accordance with the
appropriation ordinance adopted for each utility as provided in
Chapters 6 and 8 of this charter. Revenues shall be analyzed
in the case of the water and sanitary sewer utilities so as to
show, among other things, the amount paid by each class of
customer according to the rate schedules of each such utility.
Operating expenditures shall be analyzed so as to show, among
other things, production costs, distribution costs, central office
costs including customer billing and collecting, merchandising
costs, and ordinary maintenance costs. The director of finance
shall, immediately after the close of the fiscal year, prepare and
submit to the city manager and council a profit and loss state-
ment on an accrual basis, in accordance with accepted principles
of public utility accounting, for each utility for such fiscal year
and a balance sheet for each utility showing assets and liabilities
as of the beginning and close of such fiscal year. For the purposes
of this chapter all indebtedness of the city incurred on account
of each utility shall be regarded as the indebtedness of such
utility.
(d) The director of finance shall also, immediately after
the close of each fiscal year, prepare and submit to the city man-
ager and council the following statement showing for each
utility for such fiscal year:

(1) Cash receipts from sales to commercial, industrial and
domestic consumers. |

(2) Receipts from sales to the city and its departments,
boards, commissions and agencies, including the school board.

(8) Cash receipts from miscellaneous sources.

(4) total receipts (the sum of (1), (2) and (3))._

(5) Operating expense, including ordinary maintenance,
incurred during such year.

(6) Interest payable during such year.

(7) Principal on outstanding debt payable during such
year.
(8) Taxes, if any, lawfully accruing during such year.

(9) Taxes not actually accruing but which would have ac-
crued during such year had the utility not been municipally

ed.

(10) Depreciation estimated for such year at the rates de-
termined by the valuation hereinafter provided and computed
in accordance with accepted principles of public utility account-
ing, less the amount payable during such year on the principal
of outstanding debt.

(11) Total expense (the sum of items (5) through (10) ).

_ (12) Excess of receipts over expense or expense over re-
ceipts (the difference between items (4) and (11)).

§ 13. Disposition of Utility Surplus.—A sum of money
equal to item (10) above shall be paid annually by the director of
finance into special reserve funds to be known as the “water
works renewal fund,” the “sanitary sewer works renewal fund”,
respectively, from which appropriations may be made by the
council on the recommendation of the city manager only for re-
newing, rebuilding or extending the plant and distribution sys-
tem of each such utility respectively. A sum of money equal
to item (9) above shall be paid annually by the director of
finance into the general fund. The whole or any part of any ex-
cess of receipts over expenses shown in item (12) above may,
when authorized by the council by the affirmative votes of at
least two-thirds of the entire council be transferred to the gen-
eral fund or to the renewal fund of each utility respectively.

§ 13.08. Valuation.—As soon as practicable after the ef.-
fective date of this charter and at such other times as it shal
determine the council shall cause to be made a valuation of each
of the two utilities, in accordance with accepted valuation prin-
ciples, by a competent firm of engineers to be selected by the
council on the recommendation of the city manager, showing
in the case of the water utility the proportion of its valuation
properly allocable to fire protection, provided that the council
may accept any such valuation of any or both of the utilities
completed within three years before said date or cause to be
completed any such valuation then in progress.

§ 13.09. Changes in Rates.—The rates to be charged for
the respective services of the water and sanitary sewage utili-
ties shall be fixed from time to time by the council on the recom-
mendation of the director of public utilities and the city man-
ager. If for any three consecutive fiscal years the average an-
nual receipts of any utility, as shown in item (4) of subsection
(d) of § 138.06, shall be less than its average annual expense as
shown in item (11) of subsection (d) of § 13.06, it shall be the
duty of the director of public utilities and the city manager to
recommend and the council to adopt for that utility a schedule
of rates which in its judgment will produce receipts equal to
expense.

§ 13.10. May Utilize Department of Public Works.—The
functions of construction, maintenance, repair and installation
pertinent to the operation of the water and sanitary sewer utili-
ties, including sewage disposal plants may be performed, at the
option of council, by the department of public works and the
director of public works shall charge all costs incident thereto
to the department of public utilities.

§ 13.11. No Sale or Lease of Utilities Except When Ap-
proved by Referendum.—tThere shall be no sale or lease of the
water or sanitary sewerage utilities unless the proposal for such
sale or lease shall first be submitted to the qualified voters of the
city at a general election and be approved by a majority of all
votes cast at such election.

CHAP 14
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

§ 14.01. Department of Public Health—Unless otherwise
provided by the council pursuant to §§ 4.02(a), 4.02(b) and
4.02(c) of this charter, there shall be a department of public
health which shall consist of the director of public health and
such other officers and employees organized into such bureaus,
divisions and other units as may be provided by ordinance or
by the orders of the director consistent therewith.

§ 14.02. Functions.—The department of public health shall
be responsible for: (a) enforcing all laws and ordinances and all
lawful rules and regulations of the department as hereinafter
provided, relating to the preservation and promotion of public
health and sanitation; (b) the protection of the inhabitants of
the city from contagious, infectious and other diseases; (c) the
abatement of nuisances detrimental to public health; (d) the
operation of city hospitals, sanatoria and laboratories and the
furnishing of medical aid and care to the indigent; (e) the con-
ducting of clinics, nursing and educational services for the pres-
ervation and promotion of public health; (f) the collecting of
morbidity and vital statistics; and (g) such other powers and
duties as may be assigned to the department by ordinance.

§ 14.08. Director of Public Health. Qualifications.—The
head of the department of public health shall be the director of
public health. He shall be a person trained and skilled in pub-
lic health problems and shall have had at least five years’ ex-
perience in public health work.

§ 14.04. Director of Public Health. Powers and Duties.—
The director of public health shall have general management and
control of the several bureaus, divisions and other units of the
department. He shall appoint and remove, subject to the pro-
visions of Chapter 9 of this charter, all officers and employees
of the department, provided that all regular officers and em-
ployees of the department who are included in the unclassified
service by reason of their professional status as physicians or
dentists shall be disciplined or removed only in the manner pre-
scribed for the discipline or removal of members of the classified
service and shall be subject to the provisions of §§ 9.07, 9.08
and 9.10 of this charter.

§ 14.05. Director of Public Health - Further Powers and
Duties.—The director of public health shall further have all the
powers and duties with respect to the preservation of the public
health which now are or may hereafter be conferred or im-
posed on municipal boards of health and health officers by the
laws of the Commonwealth, as well as all the powers and duties
conferred or imposed on him by this charter and the ordinances
of the city. He shall have the power, with the approval of the
board of health, to make rules and regulations for the preserva-
tion of the public health, not inconsistent with the laws of the
Commonwealth and the ordinances of the city, which shall have
the force of law. The penalties for the violation of any such
rules and regulations shall be fixed by ordinance.

§ 14.06. Contractual Relationships.—The City of Falls
Church may enter into contractual relationship with the Com-
monwealth and neighboring political subdivisions for the sup-
port and utilization of a joint board of health to effectuate anv,
or all of the functions of the department of health.

CHAP 15

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE

_ § 15.01. Department of Public Welfare.—Unless other-
wise provided by the council pursuant to §§ 4.02(a), 4.02(b)
and 4.02(c) of this charter, there shall be a department of pub-
lic welfare which shall consist of the director of public welfare
and such officers and employees organized in such bureaus, di-
visions and other units as may be provided by ordinance or the
orders of the director consistent therewith.

15.02. Functions.—The department of public welfare
shall be responsible for: (a) the duties imposed by the laws of
the Commonwealth relating to public assistance and relief of
the poor; (b) the operation of the city home; and (c) such
other powers and duties as may be assigned to the department
by law or ordinance.

§ 15.03. Director of Public Welfare. Qualifications.—The
head of the department of public welfare shall be the director of
public welfare. He shall be a person trained and experienced in
welfare administration. |

§ 15.04. Director of Public Welfare. Powers and Duties.
—The director of public welfare shall have, subject to the laws
of the Commonwealth relating to public assistance, general man-
agement and control of the several bureaus, divisions and other
units of the department, including the appointment and removal,
subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter, of all
officers and employees of the department and the making of rules
and regulations, consistent with this charter and the ordinances
of the city, for the conduct of its business.

§ 15.05. Contractual Relationships. — The City of Falls
Church, at the option of the council, may enter into contractual
relationships with neighboring political subdivisions for the ad-
ministration of public aid and assistance, and the care, mainte-
nance and support of the aged, indigent, and infirm.

CHAP 16
DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND PARKS

§ 16.01. Department of Recreation and Parks. — Unless
otherwise provided by the council pursuant to §§ 4.02(a),
4.02(b) and 4.02(c) of this charter, there shall be a department
of recreation and parks which shall consist of the director of
recreation and parks and such other officers and employees or-
ganized into such bureaus, divisions and other units as may be
provided by ordinance or by the orders of the director consistent
therewith.

§ 16.02. Functions.—The department of recreation and
parks shall be responsible for: (a) organizing and conducting
recreation programs for all age groups in various parts of the
city; (b) operating and maintaining all public parks, grounds,
playfields and playgrounds of the city both within and without
its boundaries, except those under the jurisdiction of the school
board; (c) operating and maintaining all city cemeteries; (d)
operating and maintaining nurseries for flowers, vines, shrubs
and trees for use in the public parks, grounds, streets and ways
of the city; (e) planting and care of all flowers, vines, shrubs
and trees in the public parks, grounds, streets and ways of the
city; (f) operating and maintaining all buildings, museums,
gardens, monuments, lakes, swimming pools, rest rooms, res-
taurants, refreshment stands and other facilities and establish-
ments situated in the public parks and grounds under the juris-
diction of the department; (g) promoting, sponsoring and man-
aging public concerts, entertainments and other recreational
activities; and (h) such other powers and duties as may be as-
signed to the department by ordinance. The department of
recreation and parks shall be permitted to utilize grounds and
buildings under the jurisdiction of the school board at such
hours and on such days as they are not in use for other educa-
tional purposes, subject to such reasonable rules and regula-
tions as the school board may establish, and provided that the
department of recreation and parks shall be responsible for any
damage or extra expense arising from its use of the school
grounds and buildings. When authorized by the council and upon
such terms and conditions as it may provide, the department of
recreation may lease concessions and other facilities in the public
parks and grounds under its jurisdiction, fix and collect charges
for the use of its facilities and services, fix and collect charges
for admission to concerts, entertainments and other recrea-
tional activities sponsored by it, and sell or exchange the surplus
products of the city nurseries. The repair and maintenance of
all buildings, drives and walks in parks and grounds under the
jurisdiction of the department may, when so directed by the city
manager, be performed by the department of public works.

§ 16.03. Director of Recreation and Parks. Qualifications.
—The head of the department of recreation and parks shall be
the director of recreation and parks. He shall be a person tr@m-
ed and experienced in recreational activities, with experience in
the administration of public recreation or parks.

§ 16.04. Director of Recreation and Parks. Powers and
Duties.—The director of recreation and parks shall have general
management and control of the several bureaus, divisions and
other units of the department. He shall appoint and remove,
subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter, all officers
and employees of the department, and he shall have the power to
make rules and regulations consistent with this charter and the
ordinances of the city for the conduct of its business.

§ 16.05. Rules and Regulations.—The council shall have
power to adopt by ordinance all needful rules and regulations
relating to the use of public grounds, parks, playfields, play-
yrounds and cemeteries, whether within or without the city, and
for the preservation of order, safety and decency therein. For

the purpose of enforcing such rules and regulations, all such
public grounds, parks, playfields, playgrounds and cemeteries
shall be under the police jurisdiction of the city. Any member of
the police force of the city, or park employee appointed as a
special policeman shall have power to make arrests for viola-
tions of any such rule or regulation.

§ 16.06. Advisory Board of Recreation and Parks.—There
shall be an advisory board of recreation and parks consisting of
five members, of whom one shall be a member of the school
board, appointed by the school board, and one a member of the
city planning commission, appointed by the city planning com-
mission, for terms of two years from the first Tuesday in Sep-
tember 1951 and every two years thereafter, but in no case shalla
member so appointed continue to be a member of the advisory
board of recreation and parks after the expiration of his term
as a member of the school board or the city planning commission,
as the case may be; and of whom three shall be appointed by the
council for terms of three years, provided that the members in
office at the effective date of this charter are hereby continued
in office for the terms they were appointed, and new appoint-
ments shall be made annually from the first Tuesday in Septem-
ber in such a manner that one or more, but less than three, of
the appointments expire annually. Vacancies shall be filled by
the Authority making the appointment, for the unexpired por-
tion of the term. The advisory board of recreation and parks
shall choose annually one of its own number to be chairman for
a term of one year and until his successor is chosen and quali-
fied. An employee of the department of recreation and parks
shall be assigned by the director of recreation and parks to act as
secretary of the board. It shall hold such regular meetings as it
may determine. Special meetings may be held at any time on the
call of the director of recreation and parks. The advisory board
of recreation and parks shall advise with the director of recrea-
tion and parks on all matters submitted by him for their con-
sideration. The members of the advisory board of recreation
and parks shall serve without compensation.

CHAP 17
PLANNING, ZONING AND SUBDIVISION CONTROL

§ 17.01. Planning Powers.—IiIn addition to the powers
granted under prevailing State laws and elsewhere in this char-
ter, the council is authorized and empowered to make and adopt
planning ordinances and approve a comprehensive master plan
for the orderly development of the city to promote health, safe-
ty, morals, comfort, prosperity, and general welfare. The mas-
ter plan may include but shall not be limited to the following:
(a) The general location, character and extent of al
streets, highways, superhighways, freeways, avenues, boule
vards, roads, lanes, alleys, walks, walkways, parks, parkways
squares, playfields, playgrounds, recreational facilities, stadia
arenas, swimming ‘pools, terminals, airports and other public
places or ways, and the removal, relocation, widening, narrow-
ing, vacating, abandonment, change of use or extension thereof.

(b) The general location, character and extent of all pub-
lic buildings, schools and other public property and of utilities
whether publicly or privately owned, off-street parking facilli-
ties, and the removal, relocation, vacating, abandonment, change
of use, alteration or extension thereof.

(c) The general location, character and extent of slum
clearance, housing and neighborhood rehabilitation projects, in-
cluding the demolition, repair or vacation of substandard, unsafe
or unsanitary buildings.

(d) A general plan for the control and routing of railways,
streetcar lines, bus lines and all other vehicular traffic.

(e) A comprehensive zoning plan for the zoning of all or
any part of the area within the city.

(f) The general location, character and extent of use and
development of land in areas beyond the corporate limits of the
city which may be considered for annexation.

§ 17.02. The City Planning Commission—Composition.—
There shall be a city planning commission which shall consist of
seven members appointed by the council. One member shall be
a member of the council who shall be appointed for a term co-
incident with his term in the council; one member shall be a
member of the board of zoning appeals appointed for a term co-
incident with his term on such board; one member shall be the
city manager or an administrative officer or employee of the
city designated from year to year by the council; four citizen
members shall be qualified voters of the city who hold no office
of profit under the city government, appointed for terms of four
years; provided that the citizen members of the city planning
commission previously appointed by the mayor and in office at
the effective date of this charter shall continue to serve as mem-
oers of the commission for the terms for which they were ap-
pointed, and provided further, that of the citizen members first
appointed thereafter by the council, two shall be appointed for
two years and two for four years from the first of January
following their appointment. Vacancies shall be filled for the
inexpired portion of the term. Members of the city planning
-ommission shall serve as such without compensation.

§ 17.08. Organization and Expenditures.—The commis-
sion shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among the
‘itizen members appointed by the council, for a term of one
year, who shall be eligible for reelection, and appoint a secre-
tary. The commission shall hold at least one regular meeting
in each month, shall adopt rules for the transaction of its busi-
ness, and shall keep a record of its resolutions, transactions,
findings and determinations, which record shall be a public
record. The commission shall appoint such employees as it may
deem necessary for its work and may contract with city plan-
ners, engineers, architects and other consultants for services
it may require. Al] expenditures, exclusive of gifts to the com-
mission, shall not exceed the sums appropriated by the council
therefor.

§ 17.04. Duty to Adopt Master Plan.—It shall be the duty
of the commission to make and adopt a master plan which, with
accompanying maps, plats, charts and descriptive matter, shall
show the commission’s recommendations for the development
of the territory covered by the plan. In the preparation of such
plan, the commission shall make careful and comprehensive
surveys and studies of existing conditions and future growth.
The plan shall be made with the general purpose of guiding and
accomplishing a coordinated, adjusted and harmonious develop-
ment of the city and its environs which will, in accordance with
existing and future needs, best promote health, safety, morals,
comfort, prosperity and general welfare, as well as efficiency
and economy in the process of development.

§ 17.05. Control of Monuments and Other Works of Art.
—It shall be the further duty and function of the commission
to make recommendations to the city council to provide for the
preservation of historical landmarks; and to control the design
and location of statuary and other works of art which are or
may become the property of the city, and the removal, reloca-
tion and alteration of any such work; and to consider and sug-
gest the design of bridges, viaducts, airports, stadia, arenas,
swimming pools, street fixtures and other public structures and
appurtenances.

§ 17.06. Adoption of Master Plan by Commission.—The
commission may adopt the plan as a whole by a single resolu-
tion or may, by successive resolutions, adopt successive parts
of the plan, said parts corresponding to major geographical
sections or geographical or topographical divisions of the area
to be covered by the master plan or with functional subdivisions
of the subject matter of the plan, and may adopt any amendment
or extension thereof or addition thereto.- Before the adoption
of the plan or any such part, amendment, extension or addition,
the commission shall hold at least one public hearing thereon, at
least fifteen days’ notice of the time and place of which shall
be given by one publication in a newspaper of general circula-
tion in the city. The adoption of the plan or of any such part,
amendment, extension or addition shall be by resolution of the
commission carried by the affirmative vote of not less than a
majority of the entire membership of the commission. The
resolution shall refer expressly to the maps and descriptive mat-
ter and other matter intended by the commission to form the
whole or part of the plan adopted, which resolution shall be
signed by the chairman of the commission and attested by its
secretary. An attested copy of the resolution, accompanied by
a copy of so much of the plan in whole or in part as was adopt-
ed thereby, and each amendment, alteration, extension or addi-
tion thereto adopted thereby, shall be certified to the council
and upon approval by it to the clerk of the circuit court of the
county who shall file the same.

§ 17.07. Effect of Adoption of Master Plan.—Whenever
the commission shall have adopted a master plan for the city or
one or more parts thereof, geographical, topographical or func-
tional, and the master plan or such part or parts thereof shall
have been approved by the council, and it has been certified and
filed, as provided in the preceding section, then and thereafter
no street, square, park or other public way, ground, open space,
public building or structure, shall be constructed or authorized
in the city or in the planned section or division thereof until and
unless the general location, character and extent thereof has
been submitted to and approved by the commission; and no pub-
lic utility, whether publicly or privately owned, shall be con-
structed or authorized in the city or in the planned section or
division thereof until and unless its general location, but not its
character and extent, has been submitted to and approved by
the commission, but such submission and approval shall not be
necessary in the case of pipes or conduits in any existing street
or proposed street, square, park or other public way, ground or
open space, the location of which has been approved by the com-
mission; and no ordinance giving effect to or amending the com-
prehensive zoning plan as provided in § 17.10 shall be adopted
until it has been submitted to and approved by the commission.
In case of disapproval i in any of the instances enumerated above,
the commission shall communicate its reason to the council
which shall have the power to overrule such action by a recorded
vote of not less than two thirds of its entire membership. The
failure of the commission to act within sixty days from the date
of the official submission to it shall be deemed approval. The
widening, extension, narrowing, enlargement, vacation or
change in the use of streets and other public ways, grounds and
places within the city, as well as the acquisition by the city of
any land within or without the city for public purposes, or the
sale of any land then held by the city, shall be subject to similar
approval, and in case the same is dissapproved, such disapproval
may be similarly overruled. The foregoing provisions of this
section shall not be deemed to apply to the pavement, repave-
ment, reconstruction, improvement, drainage or other work in
or upon any existing street or other existing public way.

§ 17.08. Capital Budget.—It shall be the duty of the com-
mission to prepare and revise annually a program of capital
improvement projects for the ensuing five years, and it shall
submit the same annually to the city manager, at such time as
he shall direct, together with its recommendations, and estimates
of cost of such projects and the means of financing them, to be
undertaken in the ensuing fiscal year and in the next four years,
as the basis of the capital budget to be submitted to the council
by the city manager. In the preparation of its capital budget rec-
ommendations, the commission shall consult with the city man-
ager, the heads of departments and interested citizens and or-
ganizations, and shall hold such public hearings as it shall deem
necessary.

§ 17.09. Further Planning Powers and Duties of the Com-
mission.—The commission shall have power to promote public
interest in and understanding of the plan, and to that end may
publish and distribute copies of the plan or any report relating
thereto, and may employ such other means of publicity and edu-
cation as it may determine. The commission shall consult and
advise with public officials and agencies, public utility companies,
civic, educational, professional or other organizations, and with
citizens, with relation to the protection or carrying out of the
plan. All public officials shall, upon request, furnish to the com-
mission within a reasonable time, such available information as
it may require for its work. The commission, its members, offi-
cers and employees in the performance of their duties, may enter
upon any land in the city and make examinations and surveys,
and place and maintain necessary monuments and markers
thereon. In general, the commission shall have such powers as
may be necessary to enable it to fulfill its function, promote plan-
ning and carry out the purposes of this charter. The commis-
sion shall make an annual report to the council concerning its
activities.

§ 17.10. Zoning Powers.—In addition to the powers
granted elsewhere in this charter, the council shall have the
power to adopt by ordinance, a comprehensive zoning plan de-
signed to lessen congestion in streets; secure safety from fire,
panic and other danger; promote health, sanitation and general
welfare; provide adequate light and air; prevent the overcrowd-
ing of land; avoid undue concentration of population; facilitate
public and private transportation and the supplying of public
utility services and sewage disposal, and facilitate provision for
schools, parks, playgrounds and other public improvements and
requirements. The comprehensive zoning plan shall include the
division of the city into districts with such boundaries as the
council deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this chap-
ter, and shall provide for the regulation and restriction of the
use of land, buildings, and structures in the respective districts
and may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(a) It may permit specified uses of land, buildings and
structures in the districts and prohibit all other uses.

b) It may regulate the height, area, bulk, size, design and
appearance of buildings and structures and the appropriateness
of their use in the districts.

(c) It may establish setback building lines and prescribe
the area of land that may be used as front, rear and side yards
and courts and open spaces.

(d) It may restrict the portion of the area of lots that may
be occupied by buildings and structures.

(e) It may prescribe the area of lots and the space in build-
ings that may be occupied by families.

f) It may require that spaces and facilities deemed ade-
quate by the council shall be provided on lots for parking of
vehicles in conjunction with permitted uses of land and that
spaces and facilities deemed adequate by the council shall be
provided on lots for off-street loading or unloading of vehicles.

(z) It may permit the designed use and development of
land not less than ten acres in extent in a manner varying in
certain respects from the regulations and restrictions prescribed
for the district or districts in which such land is situated, pro-
vided that such designed use shall be approved by the city plan-
ning commission and the council, and adopted as a part of the
master plan of the city.

(h) It may provide that land, buildings and structures
and the uses thereof which do not conform to the regulations
and restrictions prescribed for the district in which they are
situated may be continued so long as the then existing or more
restricted use continues and so long as the buildings or struc-
tures are maintained in their then structural condition; and may
require that such buildings or structures and the use thereof
shall conform to the regulations and restrictions prescribed for
the district or districts in which they are situated whenever they
are enlarged, extended, reconstructed or structurally altered;
and may require that such buildings or structures and the use
thereof shall conform to the regulations and restrictions pre-
scribed for the district or districts in which they are situated,
in any event, within a reasonable period of time to be specified
in the ordinance.
§ 17.11. Considerations to Be Observed in Adoption and
Alteration of Regulations. — The regulations and restrictions
shall be enacted with reasonable consideration, among other
things, of the character of each district and its peculiar suita-
bility for particular uses, and with a view of conserving the
value of land, buildings and structures and encouraging the
most appropriate use thereof throughout the city. Upon the en-
actment of the ordinance dividing the city into districts and
regulating and restricting the use of land, buildings and struc-
tures therein in accordance with a comprehensive zoning plan;
no land, building or structure shall be changed from one district
to another district unless the change is in accord with the in-
terest and purposes of this section and will not be contrary to
the comprehensive zoning plan and the enumerated factors upon
which it is based and the regulations and restrictions applicable
to the districts involved in the change. Aside from extensions
from an existing zone to immediately adjoining or adjacent
properties, no change in district boundaries shall be made so as
to include less than the entire area fronting on the same street
in one block, but such change need not include such portions
of corner lots as may be within one hundred feet of the street
line of the intersecting streets which bound the block, and in
blocks where the frontage on the same street is seven hundred
feet or more, the change need not include more than three hun-
dred and fifty continuous feet thereof.

§ 17.12. Duties of the City Planning Commission ‘with
Relation to Zoning.—It shall be the duty of the city planning
commission to prepare and submit to the council a comprehensive
zoning plan as referred to in § 17.10 and from time to time
prepare and submit such changes in or revisions of the said plan
as changing conditions may make necessary.

§ 17.18. Adoption and Amendment of Regulations and Re-
strictions and Determination of District Boundaries.—Subject to
the other provisions of this chapter, the council shall have power
by ordinance to adopt the regulations and restrictions herein-
before described and determine the boundaries of the districts
in which they shall apply, provide for their. enforcement, and
from time to time amend, supplement or repeal the same. The
council shall also have authority to provide for the collection of
fees to cover at least the costs involved in the consideration of
any request for amendment, supplement or repeal of any such
regulation, restriction or determination of boundaries, to be paid
to the city clerk by the applicant upon filing such request. No
such ordinance or amendment shall be adopted until: (a) the
ordinance or amendment has been referred to the city planning
commission and approved by it, subject to overrule by the coun-
cil, as provided in § 17.07; and (b) until after a public hearing
in relation thereto shall be held by the council at which the par-
ties in interest and other persons shall have an opportunity to
be heard. At least fifteen days’ notice of the time and place of
such hearing shall be given by publication thereof in a news-
paper of general circulation in the city.

§ 17.14. Effect of Protest by Twenty Per Cent of the Own-
ers of Property.—lf a protest is filed with the city clerk against
such amendment, supplement or repeal, signed and acknowledged
before a person authorized to administer oaths, by the owners of
twenty per cent or more of the total area of the lots included in
such proposed change or of the total area of the lots outside of
the proposed change, any point in which is within one hundred
and fifty feet of the boundary of such area, the council shall not
adopt the ordinance making such amendment, supplement or
repeal, except by the votes of two-thirds of the entire council.

§ 17.15. Board of Zoning Appeals. Composition.—There
shall be a board of zoning appeals which shall consist of five
regular members and one alternate. They shall be qualified
voters of the city, shall hold no office of profit under the city
government and shall be appointed by the council for terms of
four years; provided that the members of the board of zoning
appeals in office at the effective date of this charter shall con-
tinue to hold office until the first day of January following the
expiration of the terms for which they were appointed, and the
first alternate member shall be appointed to serve until the said
date; and provided, further, that the council shall appoint two
regular and one alternate member to serve for two years, and
three regular members to serve for four years from said date.
Thereafter, their successors shall be appointed for full terms of
four years. Vacancies shall be filled by the council for the un-
expired portion of the term. A regular or alternate member may
be removed by the council for neglect of duty or malfeasance in
office, upon written charges and after public hearing. Members
of the board of zoning appeals shall serve without compensation.

§ 17.16. Board of Zoning Appeals. Organization.—The
board shall elect a chairman and a vice-chairman from among
its regular members for a term of one year who shall be eligible
for reelection. The chairman shall preside at all meetings of
the board and, in his absence, the vice-chairman or other mem-
ber designated by the board shall act as chairman and shall pre-
side. The board shall appoint a secretary and such other em-
ployees as may be needed for the conduct of the work of the
board. The alternate member may take the place of any regular
member who is absent or disqualified, in hearing and deter-
mining any matter before the board.

§ 17.17. Board of Zoning Appeals. Procedure.—The meet-
ings of the board shall be held at the call of the chairman and at
such other times as the board may determine. The board shall
keep minutes of its proceedings showing the vote of each mem-
ber on each question or, if absent, or failing to vote, indicating
such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and other
official actions, all of which shall be filed in the office of the board
and shall be a public record.

§ 17.18. Appeals to Board of Zoning Appeals.—Appeals
to the board may be taken by any person aggrieved, or by any
officer, department, board, commission or agency of the city
affected, by any decision of the administrative officer designated
by the council to administer and enforce the ordinance dividing
the city districts and regulating and restricting the use of land,
buildings and structures therein. Appeals shall be taken within
such reasonable time as shall be prescribed by the board by
general rule, by filing with the said administrative officer and
with the board a notice of appeal specifying the grounds there-
of. The administrative officer shall forthwith transmit to the
board all the papers constituting the record upon which the
action appealed from was taken. An appeal stays all proceed-
ings in furtherance of the action appealed from unless the ad-
ministrative officer from whose decision the appeal is taken
certifies to the board that by reason of the facts stated in the
certificate a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to
life or property. In such case, proceedings shall not be stayed
otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by
the board or by a court of record on application and on notice
to the administrative officer and on due cause shown.

The board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the
appeal, give public notice thereof, as well as due notice to the
parties in interest and decide the issue within a reasonable time.
At the hearing, any party may appeal in person, by agent, or
by attorney, and shall be given an opportunity to be heard. The
board may prescribe a fee to be paid whenever an appeal is
taken which shall be paid into the city treasury. |

§ 17.19. Powers of Board of Zoning Appeals.—The board
shall have the following powers and it shall be its duty:

(a) To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is
error in any order, requirement, decision or determination by
the administrative officer in the administration and enforcement
of the provisions of the ordinance. )

(b) To grant variations in the regulations when a proper-
ty owner can show that his property was acquired in good faith
and where by reason of the exceptional narrowness, shallowness
or shape of a specific piece of property at the time of the effec-
tive date of the ordinance or where by reason of the exceptional
topographical conditions or other extraordinary or exceptional
situation, the strict application of the terms of the ordinance
actually prohibit or unreasonably restrict the use of the proper-
ty, or where the board is satisfied, upon the evidence heard by
it, the granting of such variation will alleviate a clearly demon-
strable hardship approaching confiscation, as distinguished from
a special privilege or convenience sought by the owner; pro-
vided, however, that all variations granted shall be in harmony
with the intended spirit and purpose of this chapter and the
ordinance.

(c) To permit, when reasonably necessary in the public
interest, the use of land, or the construction or use of buildings
or structures, in any district in which they are prohibited by
the ordinance, by any agency of the city, county or state or the
United States, provided such construction or use shall adequate-
ly safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the occupants of
the adjoining and surrounding property, shall not unreasonably
impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property,
shall not increase congestion in streets and shall not increase
public danger from fire or otherwise affect public safety.

(d) To permit such other exceptions or grant variances
from the strict application of the terms of the zoning regula-
tions under the principles, standards, rules, conditions, and safe-
guards set forth in the zoning ordinance, provided they are de-
termined to be consistent with the general purpose and intent
of such ordinance.

§ 17.20. Form and Scope of Decisions by Board of Zoning
Appeals.—In exercising the powers conferred upon it, the board
may reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the or-
der, requirement, decision or determination appealed from, and
may make such order, requirement, decision or determination
as should be made and to that end shall have all the powers of
the administrative officer charged by the ordinance with en-
forcement. The concurring affirmative vote of three members
of the board shall be necessary to reverse any order, require-
ment, decision or determination of the administrative officer
or to decide in favor of the applicant in any matter of which
it has jurisdiction. The board shall act by formal resolution
which shall set forth the reason for its decision and the vote of
each member participating therein, all of which shall be spread
upon its records and shall be open to public inspection. The
board may, upon the affirmative vote of three members, recon-
sider any decision made and, upon such reconsideration, render
a decision by formal resolution. Every decision of the board
shall be based upon a finding of fact based on sworn testimony,
which finding of fact shall be reduced to writing and preserved
among its records.
§ 17.21. Appeals from Board of Zoning Appeals.—Any
person, firm or corporation, jointly or severally aggrieved, or in
fact affected by any decision of the board of zoning appeals, or
any officer, department, board or agency of the city govern-
ment charged with the enforcement of any order, requirement
or decision of said board, may appeal from such decision by
filing a petition in the court of appropriate jurisdiction, verified
by affidavit, setting forth the alleged illegality of the action of
the board and the grounds thereof. The fetition shall be filed
within thirty days from the date of the decision of the board.
No appeal from the decision of the board shall be allowed in
any case involving the same petitioner, principles, property and
conditions previously passed upon by such court.

§ 17.22. Procedure on Appeal.—Upon filing of the peti-
tion, the court may cause a writ of certiorari to issue directed
to the board, ordering it to produce within the time prescribed
by the court, not less than ten days, the record of its action
and documents considered by it in making the decision appealed
from, which writ shall be served upon any member of the board.
The issuance of the writ shall not stay proceedings upon the
decision appealed from, but the court may, on application, no-
tice to the board and due cause shown, issue a restraining order.
The board shall not be required to produce the original record
and documents, but it shall be sufficient to produce certified or
sworn copies thereof or of such portions thereof as may be re-
quired by the writ. With the record and documents, the board
may concisely set forth in writing such other facts as may be
pertinent and material to show the grounds of the decision ap-
pealed from, verified by affidavit.

§ 17.23. Powers and Duties of the Court.—The court shall
review the record, documents and other matters produced by
the board pursuant to the issuance of the writ and may reverse
or modify the decision reviewed, in whole or in part, when it
is satisfied that the decision of the board is contrary to law or
that its decision is arbitrary and constitutes an abuse of dis-
cretion.

§ 17.24. Proceedings against Violators of Zoning Ordi-
nance.—Whenever any building or structure is erected, con-
structed, reconstructed, altered, repaired or converted, or when-
ever any land, building or structure is used in violation of any
ordinance adopted in accordance with § 17.13, the city may
institute and prosecute appropriate action or proceedings to
prevent such unlawful act and to restrain, correct or abate
such violation or to prevent any unlawful act, conduct or use
of such property.
§ 17.25. Penalties for Violation of Zoning Ordinance.—
The council may, in such ordinance, provide that fines and jail
sentences, either or both, shall be imposed for violations of the
ordinance by owners of land, buildings or structures, their
agents having possession or control of such property, lessees,
tenants, architects, builders, contractors or any other persons,
firms or corporations who take part in or assist in any such
violations or who maintain any land, building or structure in
which such violations exist, which penalties shall not exceed
those prescribed in § 2.06 of this charter.

§ 17.26. Land Subdivision.—In order to provide for the
orderly subdivision of land within the city, there is hereby con-
ferred upon the city the power to adopt regulations and re-
strictions relative to the subdivision of land in the manner
hereinafter provided. Such regulations and restrictions may
prescribe standards and requirements for the subdivision of
land which may include, but shall not be limited to, the fol-
lowing: the location, size and layout of lots so as to prevent
congestion of population, to provide for light and air, and to
prevent the hazard of inundation, the width, grade, location,
alignment and arrangement of streets and sidewalks with rela-
tion to other existing streets, planned streets and the master
plan; access for fire-fighting apparatus; adequate open spaces;
adequate and convenient facilities for vehicular parking; ease-
ments for public utilities; reservation or dedication of suitable
sites for schools, parks and playgrounds; planting of shade
trees and shrubs; naming and designation of streets and other
public places; laying out, constructing and improving streets,
alleys and sidewalks, the installation of public utilities and
other physical improvements therein and the conditions under
which the cost thereof shall be borne by the developer; and
provisions for the guarantee of payment by the developer for
the required improvements; procedure for making variations in
such regulations and restrictions; requirements for preparing
and recording plats of subdivisions including their size, scale,
contents and other matters; and for the erection of monuments
of specified type for making and establishing property and
street, alley, sidewalk and other lines.

§ 17.27. Hearings on Subdivision Ordinance.—The coun-
cil shall not adopt or amend any ordinance establishing such
regulations and restrictions until notice of intention so to do has.
been published once a week for two successive weeks in a news-
paper of general circulation in the city. The notice shall specify
the time, not less than ten days after final publication, and the
place at which persons affected may appear before the council
and present their views.
§ 17.28. Adoption of Regulations and Restrictions Appli-
cable Only within the City Limits—After hearing, as above
provided, the council may adopt by ordinance any such regula-
tions and restrictions applicable within the limits of the city
which, when recorded in the office of the clerk of the circuit
court of the county, shall be in full force and effect.

§ 17.29. Approval of Plats of Subdivisions.—The planning
commission shall be the platting commission of the city, and, as
such, shall have control of the platting or subdivision of land
within the city. From and after the date on which such regula-
tions and restrictions become effective in the city, the owners of
tracts of land to which such regulations and restrictions are ap-
plicable, who subdivide them into two or more lots, shall cause
plats of such subdivisions, in the form prescribed by the ap-
plicable regulations and restrictions, to be made and submitted
to the city planning commission. It shall be the duty of such
commission to consider such plat in the light of the regulations
and restrictions applicable to the same and approve or dis-
approve the plat in accordance therewith. Before taking any
action thereon, the city planning commission shall afford the
owner and other interested parties an opportunity to be heard
after such reasonable notice as may be provided in such regula-
tions and restrictions. Failure to act on any plat for a period of
forty-five days shall be deemed to constitute approval unless a
petition in a proper court has been filed as hereinafter provided
in this section. Approval shall be attested on that plat by the
signature of the chairman or vice-chairman of the city planning
commission.

§ 17.30. Recording of Plats of Subdivisions.—From and
after the date on which such regulations and restrictions be-
come effective in the city, no plat of any subdivision to which
such regulations and restrictions are applicable shall be re-
ceived or recorded by the clerk of any court unless the plat has
been approved as provided in the preceding section. No
owner of land in the city in which such regulations and
restrictions are applicable, who has subdivided the same into
two or more lots, shall sell or offer for sale any such lot by
reference to or exhibition of or by the use of a plat of such sub-
division or otherwise before the plat of such subdivision has
been approved as provided in the preceding section and has
been recorded in the office of the clerk of the court or courts in
which a deed conveying such lot would be required to be re-
corded.

§ 17.31. Penalty for Transfer of Lots in Unapproved Sub-
divisions.—Whoever being the owner or agent of the owner of
any land in a subdivision subject to such regulations and re-
strictions, the plat of which has not been approved and recorded
as above provided, shall transfer, sell or offer for sale or agree to
sell any lot in such subdivision by reference to or exhibition of an
unapproved and unrecorded plat or otherwise, shall forfeit and
pay a penalty of one hundred dollars for each lot or similar par-
cel of land transferred or agreed or negotiated to be sold; and
the description of such lot or parcel by metes and bounds in the
instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of
selling or transferring shall not exempt the transaction from
such penalty or from the remedies herein provided. The city may
enjoin such transfer or sale or agreement by proceedings for
injunction brought in a court having jurisdiction of the land to
which the injunction applies. The city in which any lot trans-
ferred, sold or offered for sale in violation of this chapter is
situated, may recover the penalty provided therefor in a civil
action brought in a court in whose jurisdiction such lot is situ-
ated, for the benefit of the city. In the absence of intent to evade
the provisions of this section, the penalty may be waived in the
case of an attempted transfer by will. :

§ 17.82. Transfer of Portion for Public Use.—The re-
cordation of the plat shall operate to transfer in fee simple to
the city such portion thereof as is on the plat set apart for
streets, alleys, easements or other public use or purpose and to
create a public right of passage over or use of the same. The
owner or owners of the land subdivided may construct, recon-
struct, operate and maintain with the consent of the city where
the land lies, sewers, gas and water pipes or electric lines along
or under the streets, alleys, easements or other land devoted to
public use, provided that it shall not obstruct or hinder the
passage over the streets, alleys or other property devoted to
public use further than is reasonably necessary to construct,
reconstruct, repair, operate and maintain such works.

§ 17.33. Vacation of Plats.——Any plat or part thereof re-
corded may be vacated, with the consent of the council by the
owners thereof at any time before the sale of any lot therein, by a
written instrument declaring the plat to be vacated, which shall
be duly executed, acknowledged and recorded in the clerk’s office
wherein the plat to be vacated is recorded. The execution and
recordation of the instrument shall operate to destroy the force
and effect of the recording of the plat and to divest all public
rights in and to reinvest the owners with the title to the.streets,
alleys, easements and other land devoted to public use laid out or
described in the plat. In cases where lots have been sold, the plat
or part thereof or any unaccepted or abandoned street, or street
recommended by the Planning Commission for vacation, may be
vacated according to the procedure provided in §§ 15-766,
33-156, 33-157 and 33-158 of the Code of Virginia as amended,
for the alteration and vacation of streets and alleys. The clerk in
whose office any plat so vacated has been recorded shall write in
plain, legible letters across the plat or part thereof vacated the
word “vacated”, and also make a reference on the plat to the
volume and page thereof in which the instrument of vacation 1s
recorded.

§ 17.34. Use of Street for Twenty Years — Dedication. —
Whenever any piece, parcel or strip of land shall have been
opened to and used by the public as a street, alley, lane or other
public place or part thereof for the period of twenty years, the
same shall thereby become a street, alley, lane, public place or
part thereof for all purposes, and the city shall have the same
authority and jurisdiction over and right and interest therein
that it has by law over the streets, alleys, lanes and public places
laid out by it, and thereafter no action shall be brought to re-
cover such piece, parcel or strip of land so opened to and used
by the public as aforesaid. Any street, alley, lane or other pub-
lic place reserved in the division or subdivision into lots within
the corporate limits of the city by a plat or plan of record shall
be deemed and held to be dedicated to the public use and the
council shall have authority, upon the petition of any person or
corporation interested therein, to open such street, alley, lane or
other public place or any portion of the same. No agreement
between, or release of interest by, persons or corporations own-
ing the lands immediately contiguous to any such street, alley,
lane or other public place, whether the same has been opened or
used by the public or not, shall avail or operate to abolish such
street, alley, lane or other public place or to divest the interest
of the public therein or the authority of the council over the
same.

§ 17.35. Present Master Plan, Comprehensive Zoning Plan
and Subdivision Ordinance.—The master plan, the comprehen-
sive zoning plan, and subdivision ordinance as heretofore adopt-
ed, approved and filed, with all amendments, additions and ex-
tensions thereto, in force and effect at the effective date of this
charter are hereby validated and confirmed as if the same had
been prepared, adopted, approved and filed in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter. Every amendment or addition
thereto or extension thereof and every other master plan, com-
prehensive zoning ordinance, or subdivision ordinance hence-
forth adopted shall be in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter. Where existing ordinances are at variance with the
provisions of this chapter, they shall be deemed to be amended
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES

§ 18.01. Acquisition, Ownership and Use of Property.—
The city shall have, for the purpose of carrying out any of its
powers and duties, power to acquire by gift, bequest, purchase
or lease, and to own and make use of, within and without the
city, lands, buildings, other structures and personal property,
including any interest, right, easement or estate therein, and
in acquiring such property to exercise, within and without the
city, the right of eminent domain as hereinafter provided in
this chapter. This power shall be in addition to the powers
granted to the school board in § 20.02.

§ 18.02. Eminent Domain.—The city is hereby authorized
to acquire by condemnation proceedings lands, buildings, struc-
tures and personal property or any interest, right, easement or
estate therein, of any person or corporation, whenever in the
opinion of the council a public necessity exists therefor, which
shall be expressed in the resolution or ordinance directing such
acquisition, and whenever the city cannot agree on terms of
purchase or settlement with the owners of the subject of such
acquisition because of the incapacity of such owner, or because
of the inability to agree on the compensation to be paid or other
terms of settlement or purchase, or because the owner or some
one of the owners is a nonresident of the State or cannot with
reasonable diligence be found in the state, or is unknown.

Such proceedings shall be instituted in the court of appro-
priate jurisdiction.

§ 18.03. Procedures in Condemnation.—The city may, in
exercising the right of eminent domain conferred by the preced-
ing section, make use of the procedure prescribed by the general
law, as modified by said section.

§ 18.04. Enhancement in Value When Considered.—In all
cases under the provisions of §§ 18.02 and 18.03, the enhance-
ment, if any, in value of the remaining property of the owner
by reason of the construction or improvement contemplated or
made by the city, shall be offset against the damage, if any, re-
sulting to such remaining property of such owner by reason of
such construction or improvement, provided such enhancement
in value shall not be offset against the value of the property
taken, and provided further, that if such enhancement in value
shall exceed the damage, there shall be no recovery over against
the owner for such excess.

§ 18.05. Unclaimed Funds in Condemnation Cases. —
Whenever any money shall have remained for five years in the
custody or under the control of any of the courts enumerated
in § 18.02, such money shall be disposed of pursuant to §§ 8-746
and 8-747 of the Code of Virginia.

CHAP 19

CIVIL AND POLICE JUSTICE

§ 19.01. Appointment, Term and Qualifications. — The
council shall elect at the first regular meeting of the council in
September 1950 and every three years thereafter, a civil and
police justice. He shall be an attorney at law licensed to prac-
tice under the laws of the Commonwealth but he need not be a
resident of the city.

§ 19.02. Oath and Bond.—Such civil and police justice,
before entering upon the performance of his duties, shall take
the oath prescribed by law and shall enter into bond in the pen-
alty of two thousand dollars payable to the City of Falls Church,
Virginia, and conditioned as the law directs, with corporate
surety deemed sufficient by the council of said city, which bond
shall be filed with the clerk of the county court and preserved
in his office.

§ 19.03 Compensation.—Such civil and police justice shall
receive such monthly salary as the council may determine, which
salary is to be paid in the same manner as the salaries of other
officials are paid, and he shall receive no other compensation for
his services as civil and police justice.

§ 19.04. Collection of Costs and Fees.—The said civil and
police justice shall cause to be collected such costs and fees re-
quired by law to be paid to him in civil matters; the amount of
such costs and fees shall be the same as allowed to justices of
the peace and civil and police justices by general law, except
that said justice shall receive for issuing a warrant of arrest
in a misdemeanor case the sum of one dollar; for issuing a war-
rant of arrest in a felony case the sum of two dollars; for issu-
ing a search warrant in any case, the sum of two dollars; for
admitting any person to bail charged with a misdemeanor, the
sum of one dollar, for admitting any person to bail charged
with a felony, the sum of two dollars, provided that none of said
fees shall be taxed against or paid by the said city; for issuing a
warrant or other process of similar kind in a civil case, the sum
of one dollar, for trying any civil case when the amount or
thing in controversy does not exceed one hundred dollars in
value, the sum of one dollar; for each one hundred dollars addi-
tional or fractional part thereof in value, the sum of fifty cents,
which said fee shal] be taxed as a part of the costs; providing
that in all criminal cases tried before such justice, and in which
there is a conviction, the said justice shall, if authorized by the
council, tax as a part of the costs the sum of one dollar as trial
fee, and not more than two dollars as arrest and attendance fees
of officers, which criminal trial fees and arrest and attendance
fees shall be collected and paid into the city treasury and all
fines collected shall be accounted for according to general law
and city ordinances and paid into the treasury of the said city
or to the State, whichever may be entitled thereto. In civil cases,
the civil and police justice shall charge and cause to be collected
for every second or subsequent continuance of the case, a fee of
fifty cents, to be paid at the time such continuance is granted, by
the party on whose motion or at whose request such continu-
ance is granted, but such continuance fee shall not be taxed as
a part of the costs of such case.

§ 19.05. Jurisdiction—tThe jurisdiction of the civil and
police justice shall be as follows: (a) such civil and police jus-
tice shall be a conservator of the peace within the corporate
limits of the City of Falls Church and for one mile beyond said
limits, and within the city limits shall have exclusive original
jurisdiction for the trial of all offenses against the ordinances
of the city, provided that the city shall have the right of appeal
to the Circuit Court of Fairfax County from any decision of
the civil and police justice affecting its revenues or the legality
or validity of any ordinance passed by the council; he shall
have concurrent jurisdiction with the Circuit Court of Fairfax
County in all cases of the violation of the revenue laws of both
State and city, and the laws regulating the manufacture, use,
sale, offering for sale, transportation, keeping for sale and giv-
ing away ardent spirits. He shall possess all the jurisdiction and
exercise all the powers and authority in criminal] cases of a trial
justice for the county and except where it is otherwise specifi-
cally provided by law, shall have exclusive original jurisdiction
for the trial of all misdemeanor cases occurring within the cor-
porate limits of the city. He shall possess all the jurisdiction
and exercise all the power and authority in civil cases as is pro-
vided by general law for civil and police justices. The council
may, by ordinance, impose such other duties as it deems
expedient.

(b) The said civil and police justice shall have exclusive
original jurisdiction in all civil matters cognizable by trial jus-
tices for the counties.

___(c) The said civil and police justice shall also have juris-
diction to try and decide attachment cases as provided by gen-
eral law.

(d) He shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the Circuit
Court of Fairfax County in actions at law, except for the re-
covery of a fine, where the amount in controversy does not ex-
ceed one thousand dollars. An appeal shall be allowed from the
judgment of such justice only in cases where the amount or
thing in controversy exceeds twenty dollars in value, exclusive
of interest, and in all cases affecting the public revenues, but
no such appeal shall be granted unless and until the party ap-
plying for same shall have given bond in the amount and with
the surety to be approved by such justice, to abide the Judgment
of the court to which the appeal is made. In all misdemeanor
trials before such justice, there may be an appeal to the Circuit
Court of Fairfax County as is now or may hereafter be pro-
vided by law for appeals from judgments of justices. An
appeal to the Circuit Court shall also be allowed from the judg-
ment of such justice imposing a penalty for the infraction of
any city ordinance.

(e) The said civil and police justice shall have all the
powers and authority respecting interrogatories as is now
provided for civil justices under § 16-94 of the Code of Vir-
ginia, and other sections pertaining to such interrogatories.

§ 19.06. Docket Books—tThe said civil and police justice
shall keep a civil docket book and a criminal docket book, in
which shall be entered all cases tried and prosecuted before him
and all civil processes issued by him, except summonses for
witnesses, the proceedings had therein and the disposition of
same, which docket books shall be furnished by the council. All
papers connected with any proceedings before such justice, ex-
cept such as may be removed on appeal, distress warrants, and
such as in criminal matters may be required by law to be re-
turned or lodged in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court
of Fairfax County, shall be properly indexed, filed and pre-
served. The council shall provide, for such justice, the neces-
sary and proper books, forms, files and office equipment, which
shall be and remain the property of the city, and shall be turned
over by such justice to his successor in office. The books and
papers in such office shall be examined and audited at any time
the council may see fit by such person or persons as the council
may designate.

§ 19.07. Record of Fees, Fines, Forfeitures and Costs.—
He shall keep a regular account of all fees, fines, forfeitures
and costs imposed or arising in the administration of his office
in both civil and criminal matters, which he shall report to the
auditor, at such intervals and in such form as the council may
require. The said civil and police justice or the clerk of the
police court, if such officer is appointed, or such other person
as the council may designate for that purpose, shall collect all
fines, forfeitures and costs imposed in said court and report to
the auditor monthly such as have accrued to the city, and pay
the same to the city treasurer not later than the fifth day of
the next succeeding month in which collected, and shall segre-
gate and transmit to the State Treasurer all fines and forfeiture:
accruing to the Commonwealth.

§ 19.08. The civil and police justice shall hold his court
at such place and time as may be prescribed by the council, anc
if from any cause he is unable to act, the substitute civil anc
police justice shall discharge the duties of the civil and police
justice prescribed herein during such inability.

§ 19.09. Vacanctes.—Any vacancy occurring in the office
of the civil and police justice or substitute civil and police jus-
tice from any cause, shall be filled by the council by the electior
of a person with like qualifications, prescribed by this charter

§ 19.10. Substitute Civil and Police Justice.—The counci!
shall elect a substitute civil and police justice for such term
as the council may designate. He shall possess the qualifications
for the civil and police justice, and shall act for said civil and
police justice, when, from any cause, said civil and police jus-
tice is unable to perform the duties of his office. When acting
for said civil and police justice, he shall be subject to all the
provisions of law regarding the civil and police justice and shall
possess all the jurisdiction and exercise all the power and au-
thority and receive the same salary as is prescribed by the
civil and police justice, prorated on a per diem basis; and
either of said justices while serving as civil and police justice
may perform acts, with reference to the proceedings of the
other in any matter, in the same manner and with the same
force and effect as if they were his own. He shal] take the
oath prescribed by law and enter into bond in the sum of one
thousand dollars, with corporate surety conditions as provided

y law.

§ 19.11. Clerk of the Police Court.—The city clerk shall
be clerk of the civil and police court as provided in § 4.04 of
this charter, unless otherwise provided by the council pursuant
to §§ 4.02 (a) 4.02 (b) and 4.02 (c) of this charter, and shall
perform such duties and receive such compensation as the coun-
cil may by ordinance prescribe. He shall give such bond as the
council may by ordinance require and qualify by taking the
oath required by law of public officers.

§ 19.12. Bailing Justice.—The council may in its discre-
tion, elect a bailing justice for said city. If and when elected,
he shall take the oath prescribed by law and give bond in the
penalty of one thousand dollars, conditioned according to law to
oe approved by the council with corporate surety. He shall be
a resident of the city during his term of office.

He shall have authority to issue summonses in criminal
“ases and criminal warrants, returnable before, and to be heard
und determined by the civil and police justice or the substitute
civil and police justice and to bail persons charged with mis-
demeanors or violations of the city ordinances. His term of
office shall be concurrent with that of the civil and police jus-
tice, and his compensation shall be determined by the council,
and the same fees shall be collected by the said bailing justice
as are allowed by this charter to the civil and police justice for
issuing summonses in criminal cases, criminal warrants, search
warrants, and admitting persons to bail in misdemeanor cases
and for violations of the city ordinances, but in no case shall
any of such fees be taxed against, chargeable to or paid for by
the said city, nor shall the bailing justice’s salary be determined
by the amount of fees accruing from his service, nor shall he
receive any part of such fees for his services. The said bailing
justice shall be a conservator of the peace within the corporate
limits of the City of Falls Church, but shall have no other
authority, powers or jurisdiction except those provided for in
this charter.

§ 19.18. Judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations
Court, His Election, Qualifications, et cetera.—The council may
elect a special justice of the peace, who shall at time of election
possess the same qualifications of the civil and police justice,
to be known as the judge of the juvenile and domestic relations
court of the City of Falls Church, who shall hold office for a
term of two years from the day of his election, and until his
successor has been elected and has qualified, unless sooner re-
moved as provided by general law. He shall have and possess
all the authority and jurisdiction given judges of juvenile and
domestic relations courts by general law, provided, that the
council may designate the civil and police justice or the sub-
stitute civil and police justice to act as the judge of the juvenile
and domestic relations court. The judge of the juvenile and
domestic relations court shall receive such compensation as the
council may by ordinance or resolution prescribe. He shall take
the oath prescribed by law and give such bond as the council
may require.

CHAP 20
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

§ 20.01. School District.—The City of Falls Church shall
constitute a separate school district.

§ School Board.—

(a) The school board shall consist of seven trustees who
shall be qualified voters of the city. The trustees in office at the
effective date of this charter are hereby continued in office for
the terms for which they were elected.
(b) On the first Monday in June, 1950, and every three
years thereafter, the council shall elect two trustees for a term
of three years from the first day of July following their elec-
tion; and on the first Monday in June, 1951, and every three
years thereafter, the council shall elect two trustees for a term
of three years from the first day of July following their election.
On the first Monday of June, 1952, and every three years there-
after, the council shall elect three trustees for a term of three
years from the first day of July following their election. Except
as provided in this charter the school board shall have all the
powers and duties relating to the management and control of
the public schools of the city provided by the general laws of
the Commonwealth, including right of eminent domain within
and without the city. None of the provisions of this charter shall
be interpreted to refer to or include the school board unless the
intention so to do is expressly stated or is clearly apparent from
the context.

(c) The power conferred on the city by §§ 2.03(f) and
2.03(h) shall be exercised by the school board with respect to
property and buildings devoted to public school purposes. The
title to property and buildings devoted to public school purposes
shall be in the school board.

In addition to the authority conferred upon the city by
Chapter 7, the school board may borrow from the Literary Fund
of Virginia or from such other sources as may be made available
to it by general law.

§ 20.038. Transfer of Books and Papers.—If any person,
having been an officer of the city, shall not, without good cause,
within ten days after he shall have vacated or been removed
from office, deliver over to his successor in office all the prop-
erty, books and papers belonging to the city or appertaining to
such office, in his possession or under his control, he shall for-
feit and pay to the city the sum of five hundred dollars, to be
sued for and recovered with costs. All books, records and docu-
ments used in any office, by virtue of any provision of this char-
ter or of any ordinance or order of the council or any superior
officer of the city, shall be deemed the property of the city and
appertain to said office, and the chief officer thereof shall be re-
sponsible therefor. )

§ 20.04. Enforcement of Surety Bonds.—In all cases
where a bond is required of any officer, such bond shall be with
corporate surety and conditioned for the faithful discharge by
himself, his deputies, assistants or other subordinates, of the
duties imposed on him by this charter and all ordinances passed
in pursuance thereof.

§ 20.05. Rules and Regulations to be Filed.—All depart-
ments, boards, commissions, officers and agencies of the city,
authorized to make rules and regulations by this or any previous
charter of the city or by the general laws of the Commonwealth,
shall immediately after the first Tuesday of September 1950, file
with the city clerk copies of all such rules and regulations pre-
viously issued by them and in force on such day, and shall there-
after file with said city clerk copies of all rules and regulations
and amendments thereof subsequently issued by them upon their
issuance. It shall be the duty of the city clerk to keep in his
office for public inspection a well-indexed file of the rules and
regulations so filed.

§ 20.06. Officers Must Not Be Interested in Contracts.—
No officer or employee of the city shall be interested in any con-
tract entered into by the city with any person, firm or corpora-
tion, but this prohibition shall not apply to nonsalaried officers
or nonsalaried members of boards and commissions in respect of
contracts other than those in the making of which they have
a pa
§ 20.07. Contractual Relationships. — The City of Falls
Church may, at the option of the council, enter into contractual
relationships with the Commonwealth and/ or its departments,
bureaus, boards and agencies, neighboring political subdivisions,
and private agencies for the performance of any part of,
or all of the functions, or purposes of the city, on such terms
and for such periods as the council may determine to be in the
public interest, where such contractual relations are not specific-
ally prohibited by the Constitution and general laws of the
Commonwealth

§ 20.08. Reprinting of Charter after Amendment.—With-
in a reasonable time after the conclusion of any session of the
general assembly and the effective date of any amendment or
amendments to this charter adopted at such session, the amend-
ment or amendments shall be printed in such number of copies
as the council shall order.

§ 20.09. Officers to Hold Over Until Their Successors Are
Appointed and Qualified—Whenever under the provisions of
this charter, any officer of the city, judge or member of any
board or commission is elected or appointed for a fixed term,
except the mayor and vice-mayor, such officer, judge or member
shall continue to hold office until his successor is appointed and
qualified.

§ 20.10. Courtroom for Civil and Police Justice and
Office Space for Constitutional Officers.—It shall be the duty of
the city to provide a suitable courtroom for the civil and police
justice of the city and suitable offices for the commissioner of
revenue, city treasurer and city sergeant.

§ 20.11. Posting of Bonds Unnecessary.—Whenever the
general law requires the posting of a bond, with or without
surety, as a condition precedent to the exercise of any right, the
city, without giving such bond, may exercise such right, provided
all other conditions precedent be complied with, and no officer
shall fail or refuse to act because the city has not filed or exe-
cuted the bond that might otherwise be required, and the city
shall be bound to the same extent that it would have been bound
had the bond been given.

§ 20.12. Code References.—All references in this charter
to the Code of Virginia are to the Code of 1950.

§ 20.13. Definitions.

(a) As used in this charter, the term “at the effective date
of this charter” shall be interpreted to refer to a period im-
mediately preceding the taking effect thereof.

(b) As used in this charter in reference to voting by the
council, the term “‘elected members of the council” shall include
those members, if any, elected by the council.

(c) Wherever in this charter any department, bureau, di-
vision, office, agency or officer is empowered or directed to take
any action or perform any duty or function, such action may
be taken or duty or function performed by the appropriate
department, bureau, division, agency or officer to whom the
duty or function is transferred by or pursuant to action of the
council under §§ 4.02(a), 4.02(b) and 4.02(c), or upon whom
it is conferred by § 21.05.

(d) The term “board” or “boards”, as used in this charter
shall not include the school board unless the school board is
specifically named. The term “member of the school board”
shall have the same meaning as the term “school trustee’, as
used in the provisions of the Code of Virginia which refer to
the school boards of cities and towns.

(e) As used in this charter, the term “print” shall include
any method of reproducing or making multiple copies.

§ 20.14. United States Government Employees.—No per-
son, otherwise eligible, shall be disqualified, by reason of his ac-
cepting or holding an office, post, trust or emolument under the
Government of the United States, from serving as an officer
or employee of the city, or as a member, officer, or employee of
any board or commission, including the school board.

CHAP 21
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

§ 21.01. Present Ordinances and Rules and Regulations
Continued in Effect.—All ordinances of the city and all rules,
regulations and orders legally made by any department, board,
commission or officer of the city, in force at the effective date
of this charter, insofar as they or any portion thereof are not
inconsistent therewith, shall remain in force until amended or
repealed in accordance with the provisions of this charter.

§ 21.02. Validation and Ratification of Bonds, Taxes, and
Contracts.—All bonds issued and sold, al] contracts and obliga-
tions heretofore made by the council and government of the
town and city, not inconsistent with the Constitution and the
law of the Commonwealth, all taxes assessed and levied when
the city was a town, and when the city was in transition from
the status of a town to that of a city of the second class from
August 16, 1948, to the effective date of this charter, are hereby
validated, ratified and confirmed; and all proceedings authoriz-
ing the issuance of bonds, notes or other obligations of the City
of Falls Church heretofore had are hereby validated, ratified
and confirmed and shall not lapse or terminate or be otherwise
affected by reason of any of the provisions contained in this
charter, and such bonds, notes or other obligations may be
authorized, sold or issued in accordance with the provisions of
law in force prior to the effective date of this charter, or in
accordance with the provisions of this charter.

21.038. Present Mayor and Council to Continue in Office
Until the First Tuesday in September 1951.—The mayor and
members of the council in office on the date of the passage of
this charter, or their successors, shall remain in office until the
first Tuesday in September 1951, at which time the terms of
office of all of them, irrespective of the terms for which they
were originally elected, shall terminate.

§ 21.04. Continuance of Internal Organization of Depart-
ments.—Except where this charter otherwise provides, the sev-
eral bureaus, divisions and other administrative units of the
departments of police, fire, public works, public health, public
welfare and public utilities shall remain in the department in
which they were located at the effective date of this charter
until otherwise provided by ordinance, and present incumbents
of positions shall continue to serve until the council provides
otherwise in accordance with this charter.

§ 21.05 Acting City Manager.—Immediately upon pas-
sage of this charter the city council shall consider the appoint-
ment of a city manager and the preparation of such ordinances
as may be necessary to effectuate the transition from the present
form of government to that established by this charter. The
incumbent of the position of city manager created under the
former charter shall serve as acting city manager under this
charter until the council provides otherwise.

§ 21.06. Severance Clause.—If any clause, sentence, para-
graph or part of this act shall, for any reason, be adjudged by
any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judg-
ment, order or decree shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the
remainder of said act, but shall be confined in its operation to the
clause, paragraph or part thereof directly involved in the con-
troversy in which said judgment, order or decree shall have
been rendered.

2. Chapter 378 of the Acts of Assembly of 1946, entitled “An
Act to provide a new charter for the Town of Falls Church,
in the county of Fairfax’’, approved March 28, 1946, and all
acts amendatory thereof, are hereby repealed.

3. An emergency exists, and this act is in force frcm p2ssace.