Stoney's budget included $21M for paving, sidewalks, bridge maintenance, new bike lanes (2024)

Mayor Levar Stoney presented his eighth and final budget to a crowded City Council chambers Wednesday afternoon. The proposed $2.9 billion 2024-25 fiscal year budget prioritizes city employee raises, public education and poverty mitigation.

If approved, the proposed budget calls for increasing the city’s general fund to roughly $1 billion, a 5% increase from the previous year’s budget and the first time the fund has topped the billion dollar mark.

The general fund is essentially all of the taxes collected the previous fiscal year. While the general fund has grown, this year’s overall proposed budget is roughly $100 million less than the previous year.

Despite this, there are no proposed changes to real estate or personal property tax rates, which will remain at $1.20 per $100 of the assessed real estate value and $3.70 per $100 assessed personal property value. Richmond consumers could see, however, an up to 4% increase in their utility rates. The previous year saw those rates increase by 9%.

“We certainly do not have every dollar we need to fix all of our problems,” Stoney said. “But, there is no doubt, we have grown as a city. We have persevered. We are stronger than before.”

This year’s budget focuses heavily on funding city employee raises and neighborhood services. It calls for a 4% pay increase to all employees, guaranteed a $20 minimum wage, and a $9.1 million allocation for police, firefighter and emergency services raises.

According to Stoney, if approved, the overall $17 million proposed for employee raises will account for one of the highest minimum wage rates among cities in the Commonwealth.

Stoney also wants to use $500,000 to restructure the current Department of Human Services. He said this would bring in additional management to oversee the all-encompassing department and help things run smoother.

A proposed $5.6 million will go toward information technology enhancements including $2.3 million to fully automate RVAPay, the city’s online payment website, and an additional $1 million to modernize the 311 call center.

The proposed budget calls for $21 million to go toward paving streets, bridge maintenance, sidewalk maintenance and adding new bike lanes. A proposed $10 million will go toward making improvements to Brown’s Island and an additional $13 million has been set aside to fund the Shockoe Project, a planned 10-acre memorial site and slavery museum in the city’s historic Shockoe Bottom.

Additionally, this year’s budget calls for funding a number of children and family services-related items, including an additional $15.8 million for Richmond Public Schools for a total of $237 million.

The mayor has also proposed $1 million toward the city’s first Child Care and Education Trust Fund to provide child care to folks who cannot afford it along with an additional $4 million to fund various after-school programs, community centers and youth violence prevention programs.

“These investments are about activating our communities and creating strong foundations for our children and families to thrive. As long as I am your mayor, we will continue to put our kids first,” Stoney said.

In an effort to mitigate poverty, this year’s budget includes funding for either new programs or those piloted through the American Rescue Plan Act that the city has decided to continue to fund.

This includes $1 million to the Family Crisis Fund, which has so far helped nearly 1,000 Richmond households stay afloat.

Likewise, there are several proposed funding streams for affordable housing initiatives. The proposed budget accounts for a $10 million annual commitment for affordable housing projects, as well as an additional proposed $4.2 million for shelter-related services to provide care for the city’s homeless population as well as allocating $1.5 million toward its eviction diversion program.

If approved, the city will also see $5 million allocated to the Creighton Court redevelopment.

While the mayor met before the City Council, the council did not comment on the presentation. Over the next couple of weeks, the City Council will hold public work sessions to dive into the proposal. The next meeting will be held at 12:30 p.m., on Monday, April 8 in City Hall. The council anticipates making a final decision in May.

“This has been the most collaborative budget process since we changed the form of government in the early 2000s,” Stoney said. “I hope we are setting a new standard for how future councils and administrations can work together on what is probably our most important duty.”