OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Chesapeake City Council Meeting - April 28, 2026: Budget Work Session and Regular Meeting

City Council — Tuesday, April 28, 2026
BodyChesapeake, Virginia
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, April 28, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 6:54:36

Transcript — Verbatim
4:36

Want to welcome everyone to our April twenty eighth, twenty twenty six city council work session.

4:42

Mr.

4:43

Manager.

4:43

Thank you, Ms.

4:44

Mayor.

4:44

We want to close out the uh budget uh discussions uh today.

4:48

Um, want to go through the available funding.

4:50

So as you recall, um, City Manager's budget was presented about a month ago.

4:55

Um, we've had a series of work sessions to go through some different alternatives and to address some issues raised by uh members of council.

5:03

So we want to talk about after all of those amendments to the city manager's proposed budget what's the available funding left on the bottom line.

5:12

Some pending issues and requests that still remain unaddressed.

5:16

I try to get some straw polls so we can see if we can have concurrence there.

5:21

If you recall last uh meeting, Councilmember Whitaker asked about some scenarios for possible reductions on personal property tax rate.

5:30

Um so we've run some numbers there.

5:32

Um then we have some final recommendations and then certainly um discussion of questions, all towards um hopefully being able to resolve outstanding issues today so that we're prepared on the first meeting in May to have a budget that's ready for adoption.

5:47

So our current balance if you take the city manager's proposed budget and all of the things council through straw polls has has agreed to, what we're left at is um with an available balance of 234, um677 dollars.

6:04

And so you'll see on this chart um kind of what's happened on on the bottom line of the budget.

6:10

We left council about a half a million dollars capacity.

6:13

And if you recall, we left a reserve for impacts of the General Assembly that were unknown at the time of preparing the budget, so a million dollars to address um uh those issues.

6:24

And then over the course of the last several um uh meetings, work sessions, um, council members have requested that we add some things back in.

6:33

So um first up was some shift safety officers.

6:36

We had um uh one in the proposed budget.

6:39

There are three shifts.

6:40

So funding this would allow us to have a shift safety officer for all three shifts in the fire department.

6:46

Um additional support for Stepping Stone.

6:49

The number one requested the team for Stepping Stone was an additional staff member to help serve as the liaison between the team, the the facility, and um uh Castanabolis, the folks that are um staffing up the facility overnight.

7:03

Um Councilmember Um Smith uh requested um the Fun Fridays events, so things to do, especially during the summertime for youth in the community.

7:12

We talked a little bit about um um council members uh Smith and um Whittaker had uh discussed an idea about um redevelopment in and around the lanes, and we talked about some of the public safety issues there, some of the redevelopment opportunities.

7:27

Um we had put an additional cost of 200,000 on that to take a look at some development scenarios.

7:33

Council did ask us to meet with some potential developers that have already expressed interest and to drive that number down a little bit so we have the capacity to to do that, but we do recommend um proceeding with that project.

7:46

The summer youth employment program, um 100,000 could certainly accommodate the 20 youth that we think would be good to start that program with, and um we are compiling um information for council.

7:58

This is a small supplement to a larger thing that's out there that that a variety of groups do with youth employment.

8:05

Um then if you recall um we had um an item in the budget to shift uh responsibility for the cost of radios to user departments.

8:16

So parks, um the public works, our different operational departments.

8:20

Schools is a big user of those radios, and so to shift those costs right now, the city is paying for all of them.

8:26

Some departments like parks have decided to turn their radios in.

8:30

They're they're not gonna use them.

8:32

Um schools is still considering their options, and so given that they had a short amount of time to consider their options, we're recommending um delaying that decision by a year.

8:42

And so again, that leaves an available balance of almost 235,000.

8:47

Before I get into the straw poll, I just want to give you another update on collective bargaining.

8:52

So as we uh discussed at the last meeting, the um the governor had uh um rejected uh many elements of the General Assembly's proposal.

9:05

The governor's umendments were favorable to local governments.

9:10

The General Assembly at this point seems disinclined to consider the governor's amendments and has sent that back to the governor.

9:18

So uh long story short, we do not know what's going to happen with this.

9:23

And so we still probably need to keep some capacity reserve to be able to address short-term impacts will be staffing on things like legal services and labor relations.

9:33

Long term, this will be a you know very considerable impact to the city's budget.

9:37

We just don't know when that will hit.

9:39

So we will continue to monitor, but our request is that um as you know, every year in June, we bring you what we call technical amendments and then final amendments based on the the adopted state budget.

9:51

So we recommend addressing this with the June amendments.

9:54

I do want to say something about the June amendments.

9:57

Normally we are implementing the state budget.

10:00

So we get the state budget and we're making the final changes to school funding, city funding.

10:05

We are unlikely to know the outcomes of the state budget by the time you all are required to act in June.

10:10

So we're going to still be making assumptions into June, and I suspect we will have many amendments we will have to make to the budget based on that after the beginning of the fiscal year.

10:20

But all jurisdictions are in the same boat with that.

10:24

We talked about this over the past um couple of meetings, but Councilmember Smith asked that I put this back up for consideration.

10:32

The Chesapeake Care Clinic, this is one of the uh it is funded through the human services grants, but they do not apply for the grants.

10:42

There was a specific set aside that was done for fiscal year 23 for the Chesapeake Care Clinic.

10:48

As the overall human grants, human services grant program has declined over the years, their proportion of that grant has correspondingly declined.

10:58

Councilmember Smith has asked that we consider increasing the funding to Chesapeake Care Clinic.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████74%
Fiscal Sustainability███████11%
Arts And Culture████7%
Economic Development██3%
Public Safety█2%
Pending Litigation█2%
Disability Rights█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Chesapeake City Council Meeting - April 28, 2026: Budget Work Session and Regular Meeting

The Chesapeake City Council held a work session at 5:00 PM and a regular meeting at 6:30 PM on April 28, 2026, in the City Hall Council Chamber. The work session focused on the FY2027 Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Program, including potential personal property tax rate reductions and outstanding funding decisions. The regular meeting included public hearings on the budget ordinances, approval of consent and regular agenda items, citizen comments, appointments, and a closed session for litigation. Vice Mayor Ritter was excused.

Consent Calendar

  • Resignation: Shamekia Gordon from the Human Services Advisory Board was accepted.
  • City Manager Item (1): A resolution authorizing participation in the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Certified Crime Prevention Community Program (Police).
  • City Manager Item (2): A resolution accepting and appropriating $30,248 from the Virginia Crisis Intervention Team Coalition for the Chesapeake Crisis Intervention Team Program Support Grant (Integrated Behavioral Healthcare).
  • City Attorney Item (1): An ordinance amending the Emergency Management Agency code sections 2-623 and 2-624 to update the title of the Emergency Management Coordinator, extend the period for City Council to confirm a local disaster from 14 to 45 days (conforming to Virginia Code § 44-146.21), and make textual corrections.
  • Council Member Jefferies disclosed his employment with the Police Department and participation per City Attorney advice. The consent agenda was approved 8-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Public Hearing Item A (Tax Levy): Vic Nicholls (self) questioned the budget's focus on business prosperity, accountability, collective bargaining, and funding for Chesapeake Care Clinic vs. other organizations like Buffalo Family and Friends.
  • Public Hearing Item B (Appropriations): Speakers included:
    • Vic Nicholls (self) criticized Greenbrier TIF district funding, Eden Way traffic, and lack of library plans.
    • Melissa Howerton (Fine Arts Commission) supported the film grant program, noting economic benefits.
    • Nichole Davis (Endependence Center) thanked the city for the Chesapeake Thrive Initiative, reporting over 750 residents served and 60 home modifications that prevented institutional care.
    • Homer Babbitt (Fine Arts Commission) requested a $60,000 increase for arts grants (total $150,000) to fund six new Chesapeake-centric programs and avoid cuts to existing grantees.
    • Jon Berry (Fine Arts Commission) highlighted no grant increase in four years and requested $100,000 for public art.
    • Hannah Zaharia (Fine Arts Commission) noted the Spring Art Festival ranked 8th nationally and asked for increased funding.
    • Joy Naik (Fine Arts Commission) emphasized that arts grants support local talent and community events.
    • Deanna Stephens (Fine Arts Commission) advocated for arts funding citing health benefits.
  • Public Hearing Item C (Capital Improvement): Vic Nicholls (self) questioned TIF district surpluses, library replacement, Eden Way traffic management, stormwater rates, and the high-priority one-time account.
  • Citizens' Comments on Agenda Items: Vic Nicholls opposed extending disaster confirmation to 45 days and criticized $340,000 special election cost. Amanda Walker (Land of Grace Farm) was present for questions on the AFID grant.

Discussion Items

  • Work Session – FY2027 Budget: City Manager Christopher Price presented the available balance ($234,677) after council straw polls. Topics included:
    • Collective bargaining uncertainty (state budget unresolved)
    • Chesapeake Care Clinic: Council agreed to allow it to apply for competitive human services grants while retaining direct allocation (currently ~$60,000)
    • Chesapeake Airport Authority: Council approved $162,000 in year one for a vehicle and safety equipment, with future re-evaluation
    • Police unfunded requests: Administrative needs accommodated without new hires; wellness app pilot deferred
    • Personal property tax rate: Council discussed a 3-cent reduction (forgone revenue ~$30,000 negative balance) but after concerns about future unknowns (collective bargaining, paid family medical leave, capital projects), a straw poll showed 6 members preferred leaving the rate unchanged at $4.08 per $100 of assessed value. No reduction was adopted.
  • Regular Agenda – Item 4 (AFID Grant): A resolution to apply for the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Infrastructure Grant. Council Member Jefferies moved to continue the item to fall 2026 for public bidding to ensure open competition. Amanda Walker explained Land of Grace Farm (only USDA organic farm in Hampton Roads) found the grant and needs city match. After discussion, the motion carried 8-0.
  • Regular Agenda – Item 5 (Human Services): A request to appropriate $652,986 in state revenue and transfer $385,974 from General Fund non-departmental to the Interagency Consortium’s Pool Fund was approved 8-0 without discussion.
  • Unfinished Business: Council Member Newins requested that future budgets allocate additional funding for the Fine Arts Commission and that staff proactively contact Land of Grace once the grant timeline is set. Council praised the Fine Arts Commission for the Spring Art Festival’s national recognition.
  • New Business: Council Member Newins requested repair of the Council Chamber podium and noted attendance at a historical marker unveiling for Captain Don Sharer, an Iran hostage crisis survivor, and wished his wife Fran a happy 86th birthday.

Key Outcomes

  • Personal property tax rate will remain unchanged at $4.08 per $100 of assessed value for FY2027.
  • AFID infrastructure grant application continued to fall 2026 to allow public bidding.
  • $340,000 transferred from the General Fund for expenses related to the April 21, 2026 special election (General Registrar).
  • $652,986 in state revenue appropriated and $385,974 transferred to the Interagency Consortium’s Pool Fund for human services.
  • Appointments approved: Lawrence Barbrey (Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee); Council Member Ella P. Ward (Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization alternate); Miriam Goganious (Human Services Advisory Board); Wendy Tabler (Natural Event Mitigation Advisory Committee, Development and Permits representative); Council Member Les Smith and Earl Sorey (Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads reappointments).
  • Closed meeting held at 7:38 p.m. to consult with City Attorney on actual litigation (Fishing Point Healthcare, LLC vs. City of Chesapeake) pursuant to Virginia Code § 2.2-3711(A)(7); reconvened at 7:55 p.m. with certification approved 8-0.
  • Council directed staff to explore future funding increases for the Fine Arts Commission grants and public art, and to ensure Land of Grace Farm receives timely updates on the AFID grant process.

Meeting Transcript

Want to welcome everyone to our April twenty eighth, twenty twenty six city council work session. Mr. Manager. Thank you, Ms. Mayor. We want to close out the uh budget uh discussions uh today. Um, want to go through the available funding. So as you recall, um, City Manager's budget was presented about a month ago. Um, we've had a series of work sessions to go through some different alternatives and to address some issues raised by uh members of council. So we want to talk about after all of those amendments to the city manager's proposed budget what's the available funding left on the bottom line. Some pending issues and requests that still remain unaddressed. I try to get some straw polls so we can see if we can have concurrence there. If you recall last uh meeting, Councilmember Whitaker asked about some scenarios for possible reductions on personal property tax rate. Um so we've run some numbers there. Um then we have some final recommendations and then certainly um discussion of questions, all towards um hopefully being able to resolve outstanding issues today so that we're prepared on the first meeting in May to have a budget that's ready for adoption. So our current balance if you take the city manager's proposed budget and all of the things council through straw polls has has agreed to, what we're left at is um with an available balance of 234, um677 dollars. And so you'll see on this chart um kind of what's happened on on the bottom line of the budget. We left council about a half a million dollars capacity. And if you recall, we left a reserve for impacts of the General Assembly that were unknown at the time of preparing the budget, so a million dollars to address um uh those issues. And then over the course of the last several um uh meetings, work sessions, um, council members have requested that we add some things back in. So um first up was some shift safety officers. We had um uh one in the proposed budget. There are three shifts. So funding this would allow us to have a shift safety officer for all three shifts in the fire department. Um additional support for Stepping Stone. The number one requested the team for Stepping Stone was an additional staff member to help serve as the liaison between the team, the the facility, and um uh Castanabolis, the folks that are um staffing up the facility overnight. Um Councilmember Um Smith uh requested um the Fun Fridays events, so things to do, especially during the summertime for youth in the community. We talked a little bit about um um council members uh Smith and um Whittaker had uh discussed an idea about um redevelopment in and around the lanes, and we talked about some of the public safety issues there, some of the redevelopment opportunities. Um we had put an additional cost of 200,000 on that to take a look at some development scenarios. Council did ask us to meet with some potential developers that have already expressed interest and to drive that number down a little bit so we have the capacity to to do that, but we do recommend um proceeding with that project. The summer youth employment program, um 100,000 could certainly accommodate the 20 youth that we think would be good to start that program with, and um we are compiling um information for council. This is a small supplement to a larger thing that's out there that that a variety of groups do with youth employment. Um then if you recall um we had um an item in the budget to shift uh responsibility for the cost of radios to user departments. So parks, um the public works, our different operational departments. Schools is a big user of those radios, and so to shift those costs right now, the city is paying for all of them. Some departments like parks have decided to turn their radios in. They're they're not gonna use them. Um schools is still considering their options, and so given that they had a short amount of time to consider their options, we're recommending um delaying that decision by a year. And so again, that leaves an available balance of almost 235,000. Before I get into the straw poll, I just want to give you another update on collective bargaining. So as we uh discussed at the last meeting, the um the governor had uh um rejected uh many elements of the General Assembly's proposal. The governor's umendments were favorable to local governments. The General Assembly at this point seems disinclined to consider the governor's amendments and has sent that back to the governor. So uh long story short, we do not know what's going to happen with this. And so we still probably need to keep some capacity reserve to be able to address short-term impacts will be staffing on things like legal services and labor relations. Long term, this will be a you know very considerable impact to the city's budget. We just don't know when that will hit. So we will continue to monitor, but our request is that um as you know, every year in June, we bring you what we call technical amendments and then final amendments based on the the adopted state budget. So we recommend addressing this with the June amendments. I do want to say something about the June amendments.

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