Chrissy Hammel, Charlottesville’s budget director, opened the City Council presentation on the FY2027 budget and told councilors, “If you can believe it, we’re starting to talk about the new next new budget, FY27.”

The council was given the development calendar, assumptions and an initial forecast that Hammel characterized as “bare bones.” The city’s staff and financial advisers are projecting roughly a $6,700,000 budget gap for FY2027 before any new initiatives are added.

The forecast and schedule matter because the council will consider school and city budgets, potential tax-rate advertisement, and formal adoption next spring. Hammel reviewed key dates: department CIP requests were already submitted, operating budgets are due in November, the city manager will present a proposed budget to council on March 2, 2026, a community budget forum and public hearing will take place on March 19, and council plans to adopt the budget on April 9. Hammel noted April 15 is the statutory deadline for final adoption and the schedule includes two public hearings and four budget work sessions.

On revenues and assumptions, Treasurer Jason Vandiver described the real-estate assessment projection as “the 3 and a half percent to 4% number is kind of where we are with the assessor right now,” and cautioned that large new construction projects are not yet counted until there is greater certainty about completion and assessment. Hammel said staff are projecting modest overall revenue growth of about 1.6% from FY2026 to FY2027, driven in part by an expected drop in personal property tax collections and largely flat sales, meals and lodging taxes.

Hammel also flagged employee health insurance costs and reserves as a specific pressure. She said the city is below its target reserve for the self-insured health plan and recommended a one-time budget adjustment to restore the fund. “We have a target reserve in the health care fund of about 30% of claims,” she said. Councilors were told the city increased per-employee allocation from roughly $10,717 in 2025 to about $14,000 in the 2026 budget and that staff are now looking at roughly a 10%–15% further adjustment in the contribution to rebuild reserves; Hammel said she would provide a specific dollar estimate on request.

Hammel and Vandiver emphasized that the current forecast does not assume large new programs and that recent federal and state pandemic-era dollars that bolstered earlier budgets are no longer available. “We are back to our normal sort of tax base,” Hammel said, and added that the forecast starts with a “budget gap” that staff will close through prioritization and additional analysis.

Councilors received additional process details: two meetings are scheduled to review schools’ budget priorities (a joint meeting Dec. 18 and a Feb. 9 preview), CIP review sessions with the planning commission are set for Nov. 25 (work session) and Dec. 9 (public hearing), and the council will hold targeted budget briefings on schools and public safety, transportation, and affordable housing.

Hammel closed by directing councilors to the city’s budget webpage and saying staff will roll out a new budget explorer and the first quarterly report in November. She invited councilors to submit questions or requests for different presentation formats as the process continues.

Ending: No formal budget decisions or tax-rate votes were taken at the meeting. The council approved the meeting agenda by voice vote; substantive budget choices will return to council during the March–April work sessions and public hearings.