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Leesburg holds public hearing on FY2026 proposed budget; manager’s plan preserves tax rate
Summary
Town staff presented the FY2026 proposed budget — a $158.1 million plan that maintains the real estate tax rate and relies in part on annexation revenue — and offered a public comment from a resident urging larger cuts.
The Leesburg Town Council held a public hearing March 11 on the town manager’s proposed FY2026 budget, which totals $158.1 million and keeps the real estate tax rate unchanged.
Liz Weaver, acting deputy management and budget officer, summarized the proposal and said the budget "reflects the town's strong financial position and commitment to long term financial sustainability." Weaver said the proposal incorporates $2,100,000 in additional real property revenue resulting from the annexation of the Compass Creek development and recommends no change in the real estate tax rate.
The presentation highlighted that the proposed budget represents a 1.1% overall decrease compared with the FY2025 adopted budget, and that the general fund portion is $88 million, a 6.7% increase. Weaver said the budget includes operating and capital investments, staffing adjustments and compensation changes, including a 3% average pay-for-performance increase, a 2% cost-of-living adjustment and a 9% increase in health insurance costs.
A member of the public, Ned Jawalski, questioned the budget’s scale and urged steeper savings. He said the town’s roughly $158.1 million budget could be reduced by “1% which is 1,580,000” and argued staff processes should be streamlined to speed business licensing and permitting.
Weaver noted council had taken straw poll votes the night before that would change some proposed enhancements and that council had expressed support for removing funding for a tax relief program and certain preliminary engineering studies. She also outlined the capital improvement program totals — $367.6 million across the FY2026–2031 CIP, with $30.385 million budgeted for projects in FY2026.
Weaver closed by noting next steps: a final markup work session on March 24 and a public hearing on the real estate tax rate followed by budget adoption on March 25.
No action was taken on the budget at the hearing; it remains before the council for final votes later in the schedule.
