City manager recommends $1.2 billion FY2026 operating budget; council sets April public hearings

The city manager's recommended FY2026 operating budget totals approximately $1.2 billion and was presented to the Newport News City Council; staff said the recommendation maintains the real estate tax rate at $1.18 per $100 of assessed value and includes no proposed increases to water, solid waste, stormwater or wastewater user fees.

Lisa Cipriano, Director of Budget and Evaluation, told the council the recommended budget funds the school superintendent's full operating request of $2,400,000, provides funding for the public safety step program started in the current fiscal year and includes a 3% general salary adjustment for eligible employees and movement of non-sworn general employees into a market-based compensation plan. Cipriano said the recommended operating budget aligns department requests with the city's strategic priorities and the results of an earlier citizen engagement survey.

Cipriano described a variety of revenue and expenditure assumptions presented to the council: a 3.76% average increase in assessed real estate values across property categories, an estimated increase in current real estate tax revenue if assessments hold, and a notable increase in participation in disabled veterans tax relief programs that staff estimated would reduce net new real estate revenue. Cipriano said staff identified 51 vacant positions, realigned 43 of them within the recommended budget to new priorities and added staffing to support new facilities coming online and to cover operating costs such as utilities and janitorial services.

The presentation also included two new online citizen engagement tools in the Balancing Act suite: a budget simulator that allows users to create and submit alternative budget scenarios and a taxpayer receipt tool that produces an unofficial estimate of an individual household's tax allocation. Budget analyst Chad Pritchett demonstrated both tools and showed how changes to tax rates and expenditures affect general fund balance and household impacts in real time.

After the presentation the council voted to adopt a public hearing schedule on the FY2026 operating budget: a public hearing will be held April 8, 2025 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, City Hall, and continued to April 10, 2025 at 7 p.m. in Room 113 of the Demby Community Center. The motion to set the public hearing schedule was made by Councilman Coleman and passed on a 5-0 roll call.

Procedural actions at the start and close of the meeting were recorded in the minutes: the council unanimously approved a motion to allow Mayor Jones to participate remotely because he was attending a mayor's conference (motion carried 5-0); later the council voted to hold a closed meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Va. Code A7 2.2-3711(A)) for candidate interviews, appointments and discussions of potential property transactions (motion carried 5-0). Following the closed session the council certified the closed meeting on a 4-0 vote with Mayor Jones absent.

Cipriano told council the recommended budget narrative, line-item documents, the 1 City, 1 Vision citizen survey results and links to the two engagement tools would be posted online and made available in libraries; staff said additional position papers and supporting detail will follow over the next month as council deliberates the budget.

Provenance: Excerpts of the meeting transcript contain the manager introduction of the FY2026 budget, Lisa Cipriano's presentation, the Balancing Act demonstration and the motions to schedule the public hearings and to move into closed session.