CHAPTER 301

An Act to amend and reenact 8§ 3.02, 3.05, 4.01, 4.08, 4.09, 4.10, 4.14,
5.01, 7.02, 7.11, 10.08, 10.05, 13.05, 18.06, 14.08, and 17.07 of Chapter
823 of the Acts of Assembly of 1950, approved April 4, 1950, which
provided a charter for the city of Falls Church, the sections relating,
respectively, to nomination of candidates for council, filing of certain
offices, composition and pay of council, election of mayor, form of
ordinances, passage of ordinances, appointments by counctl, city man-
ager, borrowing by city, sinking fund, city attorney, filling vacancies
in office of city attorney, collection of charges for use of city utilities,
director of public health, and changes in master plan of the city;
and to repeal §§ 9.10 and 21.03 of such chapter relating to prohibited
practices and termination of office of former mayor and oune 5951

Approved March 11, 1952

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 3.02, 3.05, 4.01, 4.03, 4.09, 4.10, 4.14, 5.01, 7.02, 7.11, 10.03,
10.05, 13.05, 13.06, 14.03, and 17.07 of Chapter 323 of the Acts of Assembly
of 1950, approved April 4, 1950, be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 3.02. Nomination of Candidates for Council_—Candidates 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 wit-
nessed by a person whose affidavit to that effect is attached thereto, to-
gether 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 *

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

§ 3.05. Election of Other City Officers.—All other city officers re-
quired 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 commis-
sioner of revenue, city treasurer, city attorney 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 prescribed by law and shall continue
in office until their successors are elected and qualified.

§ 4.01. Composition.—The council shall consist of seven members
elected as provided in Chapter 3. They shall each receive in full compen-
sation for their: services the sum of twenty-five dollars 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, or any member of the council,
subject to the approval of the council, may be allowed his actual expenses
incurred in representing the city. No member 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.

§ 4.08. Mayor.—* At the first meeting of the newly elected council
as provided in § 4.05, the newly elected council, having taken the oath of
office as hereinafter provided, shall proceed to choose by majority 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 members. 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 disability 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.

§ 4.09. Form of Ordinances.—Every ordinance except the annual
appropriation ordinances and an ordinance codifying ordinances shal]
be confined to a single subject *. The enacting clause of all ordi-
nances shall be: “The City of Falls Church hereby ordains.’”’ Unless
another date is specified therein and except as otherwise provided in this
charter, an ordinance shall take effect 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 included in the notice for such special
meeting or been approved by a majority vote of all * 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 reading without a hearing
thereon by vote of a majority of the * members. The hearing may be
held separately or in connection with a regular or special meeting of the
council and may be adjourned 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 introduction 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 general
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 introduction 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.

§ 4.14. Appointments.—The council in making appointments shall
act only by the affirmative votes of a majority of the members * of the
counci

5.01. Appointment and Qualifications.—There shall be a city mana-
ger who shall be the executive officer of the city and shall be responsible
to the council for the proper administration of the city government. He
shall be appointed by the council for an indefinite term. He shall be
chosen * on the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications,
with special reference to his actual experience in or knowledge of accepted
practice in respect to the duties of his office. *

§ 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 authorized as hereinafter provided, may be
issued for the purpose of financing the whole or any part of the cost of
any capital improvement 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, incident 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 an-
ticipation 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 with-
in four years of the date of issuance may be issued when authorized by
the council for the purpose of meeting increased operating expenses, in-
cluding debt service, provided, however, that no notes shall be issued pur-
suant 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 parking 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 *.

(e) To provide for emergency expenditures. Notes may be issued to
finance an appropriation for the purpose of meeting 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 au-
thorized 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.

§ 7.11. Sinking Fund.—There shall be a sinking fund for the amorti-
zation 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 investments. 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 necessary on actuarial
principles to amortize such term bonds at maturity. The sinking fund
* shall be invested only in bonds or other direct obligations of the City,
the Commonwealth, or the United States. The management of the sinking
fund * shall be entrusted to * the director of finance.

§ 10.03. City Attorney. Powers and Duties.—The city attorney 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 council 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 as to legal form
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,
commissions 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 * presence of the city attorney or prose-
cuting attorney is required by general law or in such classifications of
cases as the council may direct; (e) with the approval of the council, in-
stitute and prosecute all legal proceedings he shall deem necessary or
proper to protect the interests 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 au-
thorized by the council, subject to the provisions of Chapter 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 with-
holding 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 employ legal counsel.

§ 10.05. A special election shall be held on the 7th day of November,
nineteen hundred fifty, at which election the electorate of the city who are
qualified to vote at the regular election held on the Tuesday after the first
Monday in November, nineteen 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 dis-
tributed for use at said election in the manner prescribed by law for
printing and distributing ballots, the requisite number 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

[1] 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 ap-
pointment 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 muni-
cipal election to be held in said city on the second Tuesday in June, nine-
teen 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 * prior to expiration of term it shall be
filled as provided in § 3.05.

§ 13.05. Bureau of Billing and Collection.—There * may be a bureau
of billing and collection in the department of public utilities, which shal]
be responsible for the collection of all charges for the use of water, sani-
tary 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 sani-
tary sewer utilities shall each be conducted as a separate enterprise, pro-
vided that nothing herein shall 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 operation of each utility:

(a) The bureau of billing and collection or other agencies or officers
of the city designated by the council shall bill for and collect on behalf of
each utility not only the charges due from domestic, commercial and in-
dustrial 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
{ts 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 valuation
hereinafter provided.

(b) Separate budgets shall be prepared for each utility annually at
the time and in the manner prescribed in Chapter 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 accord-
ance with accepted principles of public utility accounting, for each utility.
Expenditures shall be authorized and made as in the case of other depart-
ments 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 expendi-
tures 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 indebted-
ness 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 manager 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, com-
missions and agencies, including the school board.

(3) 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 accrued during
such year had the utility not been municipally owned.

(10) Depreciation estimated for such year at the rates determined
by the valuation hereinafter provided and computed in accordance with
accepted principles of public utility accounting, 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 receipts (the
difference between items (4) and (11)).
§ 14.03. 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 public health problems *.

§ 17.07. Effect of Adoption of Master Plan.—Whenever the commis-
sion shall have adopted a master plan for the city or one or more parts
thereof, geographical, topographical or functional, 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 public utility, whether publicly or
privately owned, shall be constructed 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 commission; and no ordinance giving
effect to or amending the comprehensive zoning plan as provided in § 17.10
shall be adopted until it has been submitted to and approved by the com-
mission. In case of disapproval 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 * a majority
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
disapproved, such disapproval may be similarly overruled. The fore-
going provisions of this section shall not be deemed to apply to the pave-
ment, repavement, reconstruction, improvement, drainage or other work
in or upon any existing street or other existing public way
2. §§ 9.10 and 21.03 of Chapter 323 of the Acts of Assembly of 1950,
approved April 4, 1950, are repealed.

3 An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.