Newport News manager recommends $1.2 billion FY2026 operating budget; council schedules public hearings

The Newport News City Council heard a presentation on the city manager’s recommended Fiscal Year 2026 operating budget and the community survey that will inform the next strategic plan, with council voting to set public hearings on the budget in April.

City budget staff recommended a $1,200,000,000 operating budget for FY2026 that includes the general fund, school funds, user-fee funds and special revenue and trust funds. Lisa Cipriano, director of budget and evaluation, told council the recommended plan maintains the real estate tax rate at $1.18 per $100 of assessed value and does not propose increases to Waterworks, solid waste, stormwater or wastewater user fees.

The recommendation would fully fund the school superintendent’s operating request of $2,400,000, continue the public safety step plan begun in the current fiscal year and move non‑sworn general employees into a market-based compensation plan with a proposed 3% general salary adjustment for eligible employees. Cipriano said the budget was built conservatively given federal funding uncertainty and inflationary pressures.

Cipriano provided the revenue and expenditure context: an average assessed-value increase across eight property categories of 3.76% and an estimated $2,300,000 in new real estate tax revenue at the $1.18 rate. She also cautioned that increased participation in the disabled‑veterans tax relief program is reducing net new revenue; staff estimated roughly $9,100,000 in combined tax relief from exemptions and deferrals and said the net current real estate tax gain after those factors was about $600,000.

On spending drivers the budget includes about $15,000,000 in compensation-related items in the general fund (the full cost of the public safety step program at $9,300,000; a 3% general wage adjustment at nearly $3,000,000; and funds to fully implement the market-based pay transition at about $2,100,000). The recommended budget also adds 12 police officers, 12 firefighters, increases resources for blight abatement and demolition, funds a year-long housing study, and provides one-time school cash capital funding of $1,100,000 and $118,000 to pay tuition for eligible students in the aviation academy. Cipriano said vehicle replacements, four new facilities coming online, and full funding of actuarially determined retirement contributions are also included.

Council members heard that staff realigned 43 existing positions (from an identified pool of 51) rather than increasing the total number of general‑fund positions, and that the general fund and schools account for approximately 69% of the operating budget. Cipriano described other program investments tied to the city’s strategic priorities, including expanded youth career programming, a trades academy pilot concept, a mobile integrated health unit pilot targeted to underserved neighborhoods, and ongoing investments in enterprise and tourism zone incentives ($1,100,000).

Before the budget presentation, city staff and Polco (National Research Center) described a planned National Community Survey (NCS). Brandon Barnett of Polco said the NCS is a standardized, five‑page questionnaire used by hundreds of jurisdictions for benchmarking and strategic planning and that Newport News will use a probability sample of 4,000 randomly selected households, mailings with a web response option, an open online participation survey late in the collection period, Spanish translation, and one-and-a-half pages of custom questions. Barnett said results will be weighted to Census and American Community Survey benchmarks and delivered in Tableau and PDF formats.

City staff also demonstrated two new public-facing engagement tools (under the Balancing Act suite): a budget simulator that lets users experiment with revenue and expenditure choices and an unofficial taxpayer receipt that estimates how a household’s tax dollars would be allocated under the proposed budget. Chad Pritchett, budget analyst, said the simulator is intended to be educational and to produce community-submitted budget scenarios for staff consideration.

Councilmember questions focused on sampling and outreach plans for the NCS (including oversampling multifamily units and an open‑participation link to reach hard‑to‑reach populations), the mechanics of position realignments, the growth in disabled‑veterans tax relief participation, and coordination with school leadership on potential additional local school funding requests.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to allow Mayor Jones to participate remotely: motion carried 5–0 (roll call recorded as unanimous). The meeting record shows the council approved remote electronic participation for Mayor Jones to attend while at a mayor’s conference. - Motion to adopt the FY2026 budget public‑hearing schedule (pursuant to Section 6.09 of the city charter): moved by Councilman Coman and carried 5–0. The motion set an initial public hearing for April 8, 2025, at 7 p.m. (City Council Chambers, City Hall, 2400 Washington Avenue) and continued the hearing to April 10, 2025, at 7 p.m. (Room 113, Denbigh Community Center, 15198 Warwick Boulevard) to receive additional public comment. Notices are to be published at least seven days before the first hearing. - Motion to convene a closed meeting (citing “section 2.2 TAC 3,711 A of the Code of Virginia 1950 as amended,” subsections listed): carried 5–0; subsequent certification of the closed meeting passed 4–0 on roll call (the record indicates one member was not recorded on the certification roll call).

What the council did not decide tonight: council did not adopt the FY2026 operating budget itself; staff presented the recommended budget and council scheduled public hearings and follow‑up materials that staff said will include position papers and more detailed fiscal information. Cipriano said the recommended budget narrative, line‑item documents, the 1 City, 1 Vision survey results and the new online engagement tools would be posted online and available in libraries.

The council’s next formal step on the operating budget is the public hearings in April, followed by council deliberations and any amendments before final adoption.