PFM financial advisor Bien (PFM) briefed Charlottesville City Council at the Aug. 15 retreat on national economic indicators and the city's fiscal position. The presentation framed Charlottesville as relatively well-positioned because roughly half of city revenue is derived from property taxes, a comparatively stable base, but warned the city faces headwinds from slowing revenue growth and rising personnel-related costs.

PFM's summary of the economic context noted that leading economic indicators have declined and that parts of the U.S. economy face recession risk. The firm described three fiscal takeaways for Charlottesville:

- Strength: A high share of property-tax revenue gives Charlottesville a more stable revenue base than many jurisdictions that depend on income taxes.
- Risk: Personnel costs (pensions and health care), deferred maintenance and other recurring obligations are growing and could outpace revenue if growth slows.
- Action: The city should stress-test budgets, set spending parameters and prioritize investments to preserve fiscal flexibility.

PFM showed the city's recent trends on debt, reserves and pension funding and highlighted that pension contributions have grown over the past decade and remain an important long-term obligation. The adviser recommended the council consider a set of spending parameters and return to the council with scenarios—conservative assumptions for revenues and explicit prioritization rules to guide the FY26 budget.

Council members pressed for context about how university-related population and housing changes affect revenues and asked for more localized scenario modeling. Bien and staff said those analyses could be provided as follow-up work and recommended continuing to plan for constrained revenue growth and to identify which capital and program investments can be deferred or prioritized.