Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Operating topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Petersburg managers present $176.4M FY27 spending plan, highlight $15M casino incentive fund
Summary
City budget staff presented a $176.37 million FY27 all-funds proposal, including a new $15 million Casino Incentive Fund (first-year contractual payment), a $119 million general fund and investments in public safety, compensation and a new beautification "turf" division.
City budget staff on Tuesday laid out a $176,367,632 proposed operating budget for fiscal 2027 that planners said balances investment in services with fiscal restraint.
"The budget is balanced, which means all projected revenues are accounted for to cover all expected expenses," Budget Manager Gary Cozier told the council, while outlining a $119,000,000 general fund and a total across all funds of $176,367,632, a 15% increase over FY26. Cozier said priorities include public safety hiring, a cost-of-living adjustment and continued implementation of the class-and-compensation study.
The proposal creates a new Casino Incentive Fund for a contractual payment stream from the casino operator LiveVirginia. Cozier said the fund is "for the yearly contractual payments made from LiveVirginia to the city of Petersburg. The agreement is for 15,000,000 for the first four years and 5,000,000 for four years thereafter for a total of 80,000,000 across eight years." He added this should not be confused with casino gaming taxes, which are paid separately to the general fund on a quarterly basis.
Cozier walked through major revenue and expense categories and emphasized the composition of the general fund: 47% general property taxes, significant local taxes and $18.9 million in revenue from the Commonwealth. He said public safety would see a notable increase — a 32% rise in that category — in part because a historic grant funds 17 police officers but not all operational costs.
Council members asked detailed questions about the class-and-compensation funding, the size and function of the new turf or beautification division (budgeted at about $1.24 million in the presentation) and the assumptions for casino-related receipts. City Manager Altman and Cozier responded that the $15 million item in the special revenue fund is a one-time annual contractual payment and that quarterly gaming-tax receipts have already proven cyclical.
The council did not vote on the operating budget at Tuesday's meeting; staff recommended a special meeting to satisfy the state code's requirement that seven days elapse between a public hearing and adoption.
