Newport News council previews FY2027 budget with $18 minimum, phased public-safety hires and boat-tax shift

The Newport News City Council on April 14 reviewed the administration's FY2027 recommended operating budget and signaled support for several headline items, including a proposal to raise the minimum wage for city employees to $18 an hour and a phased plan to add public-safety positions.

The city manager, Alan, told the council staff had prepared two documents for the work session and evening public hearing: a brief "Budget at a glance" and a packet of FY2027 position papers covering 10 topics that outline proposed program frameworks and next steps. The packet will be available to the public at upcoming hearings.

Why it matters: The recommended budget includes personnel and program changes that affect city workers, public safety capacity and small business and neighborhood incentives. Councilmembers said they want clear rules before spending on new grant programs and asked staff to return with finalized program language.

Council discussion and key proposals "We're also going to increase pay for public safety and do compression raises as well to be competitive in the region and keep the best and brightest," a councilmember said while summarizing the major budget elements. Councilmembers highlighted several administration proposals: raising the city minimum to $18 an hour; targeted public-safety pay and staffing increases; neighborhood improvement and residential façade grant programs; elimination of the existing boat tax in favor of a registration fee; and no general tax increase proposed in the packet, though water rates may be evaluated.

On staffing, the city manager said the FY2027 budget includes a phased approach to new firefighter positions to help meet accreditation standards, describing roughly 28 new positions phased over two years as part of a larger request of about 47 positions. He said the phase-in also includes overtime and apparatus commitments to address current capacity gaps.

Program rules and next steps Staff told council that the position papers outline program frameworks but that specific rules for the neighborhood assistance and façade-improvement grants will be developed later and brought back for council consideration after stakeholder input. Councilmembers asked that staff circulate concept papers and solicit feedback before returning with final proposals.

Small fiscal actions and votes Council approved three small community funding requests during the work session. Mayor Philip Jones sponsored a $5,000 allocation for the Heritage High School band; after a roll call the motion carried (motion carried 5-0). The vice mayor sponsored a $4,000 allocation for Heritage High School's social-studies department; that motion also carried 5-0. Council approved a $2,800 contribution toward the Safe Haven Empowerment Center's "Believe in Yourself" program; the motion carried 6-0 with abstentions noted in the roll call.

Process timeline The vice mayor reminded members that the deadline for line-item budget amendments is Friday the 17th following the public hearings; staff asked members to submit amendment forms and to raise large items offline with the city manager. The council then voted to convene a closed session to consider personnel and confidential economic-development matters, and later certified compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act after the closed session.

What's next Staff will return with program rules for the proposed neighborhood and façade grants, more detail on the phased public-safety staffing plan and any recommended water-rate changes. The FY2027 budget position papers provided at the public hearing will be made available to the public as the council moves toward final action.