Tag: charlottesville budget

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City Council talks budget and everything road-related

City Manager Sam Sanders, who previously served as Charlottesville’s Deputy City Manager of Operations, has been working to fix the VDOT portfolio for three years. Photo by Eze Amos.

At its penultimate meeting of 2024, Charlottesville City Council received its second budget briefing from City Manager Sam Sanders. In addition to the budget, the December 2 session focused on everything transportation—including the Virginia Department of Transportation portfolio, parking rules, and scooters.

In his briefing, Sanders outlined and affirmed council’s housing and infrastructure priorities for what’s expected to be a jam-packed budget.

Under housing, top items included the land bank, tax abatement programs, and the city’s commitment to housing accessibility. 

Earlier this fall, $500,000 in funds previously allocated for the land bank, which aims to help with the area’s affordable housing crisis, were shifted to the purchase of Carlton Mobile Home Park, leaving the fund empty. Sanders proposed a $12 million investment in affordable housing for FY25, part of the city’s 10-year, $100 million commitment.

Sanders also emphasized the importance of funding work on the city’s long-overdue Americans with Disabilities Act transition.

“We’ve added a $2 million a year commitment. … I am not convinced that that’s enough to really, really demonstrate best effort. … The ADA is law, therefore it’s not optional,” said Sanders. “Let’s check our work and make sure … we’re getting these things done, and we’re checking things off the list. … Our prior transition, I can’t say that we did that.”

Under a Department of Justice settlement, Charlottesville would need to sideline or substantially reduce its spending on other priorities to quickly improve ADA compliance.

Transportation and accessibility were the focus of the council’s 6:30pm session, starting with a review and extension of the city’s permit agreement with micromobility company Veo.

As the only e-scooter and e-bike company permitted in the city, Veo has almost 7,000 users in Charlottesville and more than 250,000 rides annually. Over the past year, the city has worked with Veo to address persistent parking problems. Changes include more proactive issuance of violations and fines by Veo, the creation of recommended and mandatory parking zones, and added education and speed restrictions for new users.

Despite pressure from some constituents to eliminate scooters and e-bikes, council expressed support for extending Veo’s permit.

Council also decided to push back its vote updating the city’s parking rules after a contentious discussion and confusion over the legal definition of the word “truck.” Changes in the proposed ordinance include a ban on covering a vehicle’s identifying information with a tarp and a prohibition on street parking of vehicles with more than two wheels per axle.

In addition, councilors voted to right-size the city’s VDOT portfolio, canceling two projects and reducing the scope of others.

“We did not arrive at this conclusion very easily. This is not without a lack of consideration,” said Sanders. “It’s fair for people to be disappointed that we had to make changes. It is fair to be angry that we’re canceling projects.”

Though councilors inquired about potential ways to save the scrapped projects on Emmet Street and Fifth and Ridge streets, Sanders and Deputy City Manager for Operations James Freas said there is no wiggle room.

“While we have a very close working relationship with VDOT, VDOT has made it clear that this is the deal,” said Freas.

“VDOT district office has gone to bat for us, and secured the ability for some flexibility in the movement of money that is unheard of. … That gives us the best possibility for us delivering on what remains of our portfolio,” said Sanders.

One topic that was not addressed by City Council was the allocation of remaining American Rescue Plan funds.

In 2021, Charlottesville received $10,428,843 in ARP funding. On top of interest generated by the money, the city still has more than $3 million to allocate before the end of the year. Council’s last opportunity to appropriate the funds is on December 16, during its final meeting of the year.

“This is the last allocation, so everything else has been reviewed previously and presented,” Sanders told C-VILLE after the meeting. “This is just a cleanup action for what the remaining balance is.”

According to the city manager, decisions are still being finalized, but funds will likely go to projects supporting the unhoused.

“We recognize that when the federal government made the funding available, it was, ‘Let’s do what you can to [overcome] the impacts of COVID, but also do something significant in your community,’” said Sanders. “Addressing homelessness is a top priority.”

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Charlottesville kicks off annual budget work, but still needs to allocate ARP funds

Councilor Michael Payne and the rest of City Council will continue budget discussions into spring 2025. Image via City of Charlottesville.

It’s budget time again in Charlottesville, and at the November 18 City Council meeting, City Manager Sam Sanders gave council members his first budget brief of the fiscal year.

Sanders highlighted a number of upcoming meetings and hearings, including a Planning Commission work session on November 26 and a public hearing on December 10. Sanders and city staff will also speak with the public about “things that they’d like to see discussed and/or considered for the budget” at the December 12 community forum.

As part of his presentation, Sanders outlined areas requiring additional regular expenditures, primarily to advance the city’s social equity goals. One area of significant investment that may see an increase is the Pathways Fund, which helps connect community members experiencing housing insecurity with resources. The program has had an increased and accelerated need for money beyond the quarterly funding schedule over the last year which, according to city staff, indicates not only a rise in costs, but local need.

“This is the second time this year we’ve asked to front the money earlier, so that we are not leaving a community member in a gap. But what that does mean is that more of our community members are in need, that is even with us putting some limitations on the funding to allow it to stretch as far as it can,” said Deputy City Manager for Social Equity Ashley Marshall. Beyond answering calls and connecting people with resources, human services employees also assist individuals and families in need.

While the details of Charlottesville’s annual budget are still unknown, Sanders says he is working to present a balanced budget that meets council’s priorities without additional tax increases.

“It is my desire that I can bring to you a balanced budget that does not rely on a tax increase. … I am not confident that I’ll be able to do that,” said Sanders. “I would like to have a lower surplus, and I would like to have a budget that I can bring to you that does not require a tax increase. I believe our public has made it clear that it is becoming more and more difficult for them if that is how we continue.”

The initial reading of the American Rescue Plan allocation was originally on the meeting agenda as well, but was pushed to a later date. Council has until the end of the year to finish allocating the more than $7.5 million in funding.

A majority of the remaining ARP funds are expected to go toward efforts to open a low- barrier shelter in the city and expanded social services programming.

The next City Council meeting is Monday, December 2.

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In brief: Rotunda breakage, budget burdens, alleged perv and more

Living wage demonstration March 1. Eze Amos

Breaking news

On the first of the month, UVA students rallied outside of the Rotunda, where the Board of Visitors was set to discuss living wage for university employees. While it’s currently $13.79, students would like to see it set at $16, and demanded so by slapping their hands against Rotunda windows until one broke.

Gone wrong

Xavier Murphy, 24, was sentenced February 26 to 13 years and 8 months for voluntary manslaughter in the shooting of Tatiana Wells, his girlfriend and mother of his child, last June in the Days Inn. Murphy is the cousin of Alexis Murphy, who was murdered in 2013, and his mother is an advocate against domestic abuse.

Alleged molester pleads

Former Albemarle school psychologist Richard Sidebottom, 74, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery of a child under 14 and indecent liberties involving girls aged 4 and 11. According to the Daily Progress, a 2009 allegation was not prosecuted, but the case was revived in 2018 with another report that included Sidebottom wearing shorts that exposed his genitals and masturbating nude in front of the windows in his home.

Where’s he going?

Ryan Jones

Rick Shannon, UVA Health System’s executive vice president of six years, announced March 4 that he’s stepping down in May. Shannon and President Jim Ryan didn’t allude to any future plans for the hospital’s head honcho, and neither did a UVA spokesperson, but Shannon did say this: “The time has come for new leadership to guide this great organization into the future.”

To the landfill

If you’ve been recycling your No. 3 through No. 7 plastics, like sandwich bags, PVC pipe, and styrofoam, you won’t be for long—and they’ve likely already ended up in a Raleigh, North Carolina dump, according to Charlottesville Tomorrow. The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority voted last week to stop accepting those materials, effective July 1, because the Chinese market for them is closed.

Quote of the week

“Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuse or lavish praise can change that.”—Fred and Cindy Warmbier, on the president’s recent statement that he believes the North Korean dictator didn’t know about the treatment of their son, UVA student Otto Warmbier

City budget breakdown

It’s that time of the year again, when the city manager—or interim city manager in this case—proposes his budget for the next fiscal year. This time, Mike Murphy is requesting $189 million for 2020, a 5 percent increase over the current year’s adopted budget.

The increase in meals tax from 5 to 6 percent has some folks in the restaurant industry reeling, out of fear that lower- and middle-income people will be priced out
of feasting on their fare.

Murphy says a meals tax is less of a burden on local residents than a real estate tax, pointing out that a significant percentage
of restaurant meals—the city estimates 35 percent or more—are paid for by tourists.

The proposed budget keeps the city’s real estate tax rate at 95 cents per 100 dollars of assessed value, but it’s been advertised as two cents higher to give City Council some flexibility as it reviews the budget proposal before its April adoption. Though it may sound like pocket change, the additional two pennies would add up to $1.6 million, says Murphy.

Here’s a bit more of the budget breakdown:

• A lodging, or transient occupancy, tax on hotels, bed and breakfasts, and other short-term rentals, increased from 7 to 8 percent.

• Just over $10 million is proposed to go toward affordable housing, with an additional $33 million or so in the five-year capital program reserved for several initiatives, including improvements at Friendship Court.

• The budget asks for funding for three new jobs:

  • A centralized safety coordinator within the office of risk management, who would make $43,020, and serve as a staff member to guide policy and practice on things such as emergency preparedness and event planning. Says Murphy, “There are a lot of different ways that safety and security need to continue to be addressed…but we do need somebody to spearhead those efforts.”
  • A $132,729 security manager at the police department, who would make the city’s security plans, policies, and infrastructure.
  • A support services manager in Neighborhood Development Services for $56,670, because Murphy says assistant director Missy Creasy has her hands full, and a new position would help spread out her work.

• City schools will be allocated an extra $3.37 million, the largest increase in over a decade, to total $88 million. The city’s capital improvement program will also give about $6 million to schools.