Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney presented his proposed $782.6 million budget to City Council on March 6. (Photo by Rodrigo Arriaza)
As Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney outlined his proposed city budget for the coming fiscal year to City Council last Friday, he acknowledged that the road ahead will likely be daunting.
“[The budget measures] are truly an exercise in compromise,” he told council and a packed audience in the City Council chambers, “an attempt to balance everything we need — and want — with what we actually have.”
Stoney’s proposed budget for the 2021 fiscal year — the final city budget of Stoney’s first term in office — comprises $782.6 million in operating funds in addition to $85 million in capital improvement funds. It marks a $36.4 million increase over the current budget, which is set to last until June 30.
City Council now will launch into a series of meetings over the next two months to deliberate the proposed budget and offer amendments, but will need to adopt a new city budget by May 31. The fiscal year 2021 budget will take effect on July 1 and will last until June 30, 2021.
Included in the budget is a $16 million investment in Richmond Public Schools, a 2% salary increase for city employees and $32 million for road work, which would pair $15 million in city funds for paving projects with $15 million from the state, made available through the passage of state legislation to create the Central Virginia Transportation Authority. The plan also would allocate $2 million toward sidewalk improvements and new sidewalk construction.
The proposed school funding would be paired with $20 million in state education funding and would go toward implementing the next phase of the school system’s strategic plan, raises for teachers and staff, and additional ESL teachers, among other expenditures.
In Stoney’s proposed budget, city real estate taxes remain level at $1.20 per $100. Last year, Stoney’s budget plans were roadblocked when council rebuked a proposed 9-cent increase to city real estate taxes.
While the proposed budget doesn’t include new taxes, it would increase city utility bill rates. If approved by council, utility rates in the city would be increased by:
- 2.75% for natural gas
- 2.5% for water
- 3% for wastewater
- 8.75% for stormwater
Added revenues from the increases would be funneled toward maintaining aging city infrastructure, costs associated with ensuring the city’s water supply is in compliance with safety regulatory requirements and maintaining utility bond ratings. Stoney said the change would result in an average bill increase of $5.56 per month.
Council members bristled at the prospect of raising utility rates, however. Second District Councilwoman Kim Gray, who recently announced her intent to challenge Stoney in the race for mayor this November, said the increase will make living in the city less affordable for residents who are already struggling to make ends meet on fixed incomes.
“I have serious concerns about utility rates, because there’s no end in sight and those increases, and they've gone up every year since we've been on council,” she said after Stoney’s presentation.
Eighth District Councilwoman Reva Trammel also questioned the utility rate hike after Stoney’s address and questioned how the salary increase for city employees would address mounting job vacancies in the city’s Public Works Department.
“I did like the idea that he's talking about … giving employees a raise and all of that, but this is an election year. Why don't you think about that when you first got here?” she asked. “You said you were gonna do it. What happened?”
The proposed budget also addresses eviction prevention efforts with a proposed $3.5 million allocation to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. In addition, it would increase funding for the city’s eviction diversion program by 40% to $686,000. The program, a city effort to help residents in danger of eviction, was launched last October in collaboration with Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, the court system, the Greater Richmond Bar Foundation and Firms in Service. To date, the program has helped 122 Richmond families avoid eviction, Stoney said.
“I am proud of the investments we make in this budget for public education, for housing, for roads, for city services and for programs that lift up the most vulnerable in our community,” he said. “But we’re going to need to do more. Our city is growing — 30,000 people in the last 10 years alone — and as its needs increase, we must grow with it.”
City Council’s first budget work session will take place March 23 at 1 p.m. Read the complete proposed budget here.
