Chesapeake manager presents budget; chiefs outline firefighter and police staffing shortfalls as city considers advertising 2¢ tax increase

City Manager Price told the Chesapeake City Council at a March 18 work session that next week he will present a proposed FY26 core budget at the existing tax rate and that the city will advertise a proposed 2¢ real-estate tax rate increase to give council options for additional public safety spending.

The announcement set the stage for detailed presentations from Fire Chief Golisano and Police Chief Celeski, who described chronic staffing shortages, equipment gaps and specific program requests. Price said the advertised 2¢ increase would not be binding if council does not adopt it: “If I don't advertise a tax rate increase, I'm taking that choice away from you,” he told council members.

Council members discussed options including pausing or delaying capital projects, using one‑time surplus dollars and prioritizing which public-safety items to fund immediately.

Chief Golisano said the fire department has a mix of urgent operational and capital needs. He highlighted three items already in the manager’s proposed core budget: continuation of the public‑safety pay plan, advanced health screenings for firefighters, and adding positions to close the department’s documented minimum‑staffing gap. “We identified 2 firefighters that had cancer,” he said, describing results from a prior federal screening grant that also diagnosed 14 firefighters with cardiac issues.

Golisano summarized staffing math used in the department’s request: on each shift the department starts 23 positions short, which across three shifts equals 69 staffed positions short of the authorized complement; on an average day overtime and reassignments fill roughly 11 of those spots, leaving 12 vacancies. Those gaps force some engine companies below the department's minimum staffing and render about two engine companies out of service on a typical day, he said.

To reduce those gaps, the department proposed adding 36 firefighter positions phased over three years. The city won a FEMA SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant that will fund 18 firefighter positions for three years; the manager’s core budget includes funding for 12 of the remaining positions this year, with six next year and the SAFER positions to be absorbed when the grant ends in FY28.

Golisano also described other enhanced needs council could target if it chose to increase funding: a staffed technical-rescue “rescue” unit, a staffed medic at Dock Landing Road, replacement or major renovation for Station 4 (Northern Battlefield Boulevard), a joint police‑fire station and ladder company at Station 14 in Greenbrier, a rural water tanker to support areas without hydrants, a second set of turnout gear for every firefighter, and a fire‑department data analyst to turn incident data into deployment improvements. He emphasized that several items (for example apparatus and personnel for new stations) were not covered by the construction cost estimates and would require additional operating funds.

Police Chief Celeski described parallel shortfalls in the Police Department. “We currently have 46 sworn vacancies on the Police Department,” Celeski said, and—citing a 2008 management and staffing study known locally as the Baraka Report—said the department is below recommended per‑capita staffing. Celeski said the city’s authorized sworn strength is 403 officers (1.59 officers per 1,000 residents) while the Baraka benchmark of 1.75 per 1,000 would translate into an authorized strength of about 444 officers for the current population. He proposed requesting 37 additional officers phased over FY27–FY28 once the current vacancies are filled.

Celeski also requested three additional animal‑shelter attendants and two customer‑service clerks for animal services, and funding for drone hardware and a device to maintain remote contact with suspects during negotiations. He tied public‑safety investments to economic development, relaying a Chamber of Commerce anecdote in which a relocating firm cited safety as a reason for choosing Chesapeake.

City Manager Price said the advertised 2¢ increase would be dedicated to enhanced public safety and that the revenue projection for a 2¢ rate was about $7.4 million annually, noting that in Virginia the advertised rate must be published to give council the option to adopt it (council may only lower the advertised rate when approving the final budget). He also said the core proposed budget maintains the public‑safety pay plan and funds some public‑safety priorities even without the 2¢ option.

Council members pressed for detail on alternatives to a tax increase. Several asked staff to return with: (1) a list of capital projects that could be paused or delayed and the savings available; (2) five‑year surplus/closeout history; and (3) a short, prioritized list of the chiefs’ top two critical, two urgent and two desirable items so council could make incremental choices. Council Member Ritter said she would not support a tax increase and urged managers to present options funded by reprogramming or delaying projects; other council members said they wanted a clear list of priorities to guide tradeoffs.

What’s next: Price will present the full proposed FY26 budget to council next week with options that reflect the core budget at the current tax rate and an enhanced public‑safety package tied to a 2¢ advertised tax increase. Any tax increase will still require council action during the formal budget adoption process and public hearings.