Newport News council reviews FY2027 budget, homelessness overhaul and staffing additions

Mayor Philip Jones opened the April 14 work session and led disclosures before the council reviewed materials for the recommended FY2027 operating budget.

City Manager Alan told council members they would receive two printed documents — a "budget at a glance" and position papers on 10 priority topics — and that staff will take council questions during the work session and at evening public hearings. "The scribe emergency hotline, if you will, that has been run for a number of years by 4 kids, will be transitioned and phased out of service," Alan said, framing a regional effort with Hampton to redesign the front-door system for homelessness services.

The budget discussion front-loaded several headline proposals: a $18 minimum wage for city employees, pay increases and compression adjustments for public-safety staff, neighborhood-improvement and residential-façade grant programs, and replacing the existing boat tax with a registration fee. "And the and we're not raising any taxes," Councilman Robert S. Coleman said while summarizing the package.

Why it matters: Council members said the package is intended to improve competitiveness for staff, streamline community assistance programs, and test market responses to the boat-registration approach. The homelessness position papers outline two linked efforts: (1) a redesigned coordinated-entry front end that provides a cleaner pipeline to community-based services and (2) a possible AI-enabled triage that would perform preliminary screening before directing callers to human navigators.

Deputy City Manager Ginger Bluntmore described the 24/7 access intent and the role of local access points: "It's still a warm handoff, to someone when we do get back into services and to supports to wrap around," she said, and emphasized improving the coordinated-entry system before expanding new tools.

On public safety staffing, council members pressed whether the additions would meet national accreditation standards. Alan said the recommended budget includes "roughly 28 new positions out of a request for roughly 47," and that staff have proposed a two‑year phase-in to move toward the chief's staffing goals while using overtime and apparatus commitments to bridge near-term gaps.

Council also discussed the boat-tax change as a market-based test rather than a revenue target. Alan said there is no specific target for new boats but that the registration fee is intended to align Newport News with peer localities and to see whether bringing more vessels into local marinas (Leeward Marina was cited as a barometer) increases local spending on services.

Votes and council actions: Council approved three small community grants during the session: $5,000 for the Heritage High School band (sponsored by Mayor Philip Jones), $4,000 for Heritage High School's social-studies department (sponsored by Vice Mayor Bethany), and approximately $2,800 for Safe Haven Empowerment Center. Roll-call results recorded abstentions by Councilman Long and Councilman Marcellus L. Harris III on at least one item; the agenda items were moved and carried as shown in the official minutes.

Next steps: Vice Mayor Bethany reminded the council that the deadline for submitting line-item budget amendments is Friday the 17th, after which staff will compile public-hearing feedback. Council then moved into a closed session citing the Code of Virginia to discuss city-clerk candidates and a potential, unannounced business expansion in the Southern District; council later certified the closed meeting and reconvened.