Hampton City Council Work Session - February 12, 2025: Assessments, School Project, Federal Funding Impacts
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Hampton City Council Work Session – February 12, 2025
The Hampton City Council held a work session on February 12, 2025, from 1:01 PM to 5:40 PM. The meeting featured three main presentations: a briefing on FY2026 real estate assessments, an update on the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind (VSDB) project, and a briefing on the impacts of federal funding changes due to executive orders. Council also entered a closed session for real property discussions and personnel matters. All seven council members were present.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar was presented; all items were discussed individually.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were scheduled or recorded during the work session.
Discussion Items
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Budget Briefings – City Real Estate Assessments (Item 24-0521)
- City Manager Mary Bunting introduced City Assessor Libby Griebel, who presented the FY2026 assessment roll. The total assessed value is over $22 billion, a significant increase from FY2025. Residential assessments rose 7.7%, with a mean value increase of $19,000 and a median increase of $17,100. The taxable value overall increased 5.7%.
- Griebel explained that assessment notices were mailed on February 7, 2025, to 44,438 properties (fewer than last year due to no change in some values). Deadline for office review is March 10, 2025; appeals to the Board of Review must be filed by April 10, 2025. The Assessor’s Office received its second Certificate of Excellence from the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO).
- Council members discussed market conditions: inventory is low (2.23 months of supply), mortgage rates hover around 7%, and the area was named a top 10 hottest real estate market by MSN. Vice Mayor Brown noted potential downsizing trends; Griebel confirmed some homeowners are selling and downsizing. Mayor Gray asked about commercial vs. residential value impacts; Griebel explained commercial is valued via income approach and does not generally depress residential values.
- Councilwoman Mugler requested detailed breakdowns of exemption categories; Manager Bunting confirmed interim Commissioner of Revenue Karen Bever will present full data in March.
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Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind Project Update (Item 25-0016)
- Community Engagement Manager Monica Meharg presented the engagement process for the 10-acre retained parcel of the former VSDB site in the Greater Wythe area. Since taking ownership in 2008-2010, the city has engaged 110 of 647 homes in the target area (now 155), plus alumni and neighborhood groups.
- Desired uses from community feedback include greenspace (preferably accessible park honoring the deaf/blind legacy), museum, community garden, living classroom, neighborhood center, sporting facility, and senior housing. Priority neighborhood needs were drainage/stormwater improvements, safer roads, lighting, and public safety.
- An advisory steering group recommended moving forward with a mix of uses. Quick wins already underway: traffic safety enhancements at Shell Road and Greenbrier Avenue (reflective tape, flashing signs, LED streetlights by March 31, 2025), sidewalk improvements, and a lived history project with the Hampton History Museum including braille panels. An unveiling ceremony is set for March 1, 2025, at 6 PM.
- The city has $1.5 million from the sale proceeds for the site. Additional funding will be sought through historic preservation and accessible playground grants. Council members Vice Mayor Brown and Councilwoman Ferebee asked about honoring notable alumni (Mr. Ritter, Delegate Houston, Ralph Shellman) – Meharg confirmed historical pavers and markers are planned. Councilwoman Harper urged continued outreach beyond the initial 155 contacts.
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Briefing on Impacts to Federal Funding (Item 25-0025)
- City Manager Bunting emphasized this was a factual, non-political briefing. Interim Assistant City Manager Hui-Shan Walker outlined the effects of multiple executive orders on federal grants and the local economy. The OMB memo of January 27, 2025, temporarily paused federal assistance, but after legal challenges it was rescinded on January 29, though the White House stated the freeze review continues.
- High-risk grants include EPA and FEMA-funded programs. Other affected agencies: DOJ, HUD, HHS, Department of Education, DOT, NASA Langley, etc. The city has 81 federally funded grant positions. Outside agencies receiving federal funds total over $81 million (e.g., Boys & Girls Club, CHKD, Food Bank).
- Walker detailed the city’s actions: tracking directives, inventorying grants, expediting reimbursements, reviewing contracts, assessing risk. Staff is seeking written assurance from agencies. The city manager recommended continuing to fund critical positions (victim witness, domestic violence, special education) using fund balance in the short term, while being cautious on capital projects – especially the $20 million EPA grant for Aberdeen Gardens flood resilience (risky due to “Green New Deal” associations).
- Vice Mayor Brown asked about reimbursement timeliness; Finance Director Karl Daughtrey reported CDBG and HOME payments have been received, but some late January/early February submissions haven’t been reimbursed yet. The firing range project at Fort Monroe received confirmation from DOD that spending and reimbursement are safe. No update was available on Hampton Roads Transit federal funding.
Key Outcomes
- Real Estate Assessments: Council received the briefing. No vote; the information will inform budget discussions in May. The deadline to appeal assessments is April 10, 2025.
- Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind Project: Council endorsed the recommended approach. Staff will continue community engagement, apply for grants, and proceed with quick-win improvements. The unveiling ceremony is March 1, 2025.
- Federal Funding Impacts: Council supported the city manager’s suggested approach – continue federally funded grant positions using fund balance if needed, and use a risk-based approach for capital projects (small reimbursements first, pause high-risk spending like EPA grant until legal clarity). No formal vote; direction given to staff.
- Closed Session (Item 25-0023): Council voted unanimously (7-0) to enter closed session at 3:10 PM to discuss real property acquisition in the Downtown and North King Street/Gosnold's Hope Park areas, investment in LaSalle Corridor, and performance evaluations. The meeting reconvened at 5:40 PM, and Council unanimously (7-0) approved a resolution certifying the closed session.
- Appointments (Item 24-0396): Council considered appointments to the Hampton Animal Response Team Advisory Committee (HARTAC) during closed session; no further details provided in open session.
- The meeting adjourned at 5:40 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Hampton City Council work session. And with that, I'm going to ask the clerk to uh call the roll. Councilman Bowman. Present. Vice Mayor Brown. Here. Councilwoman Campbell. Present. Councilwoman Fairby here. Councilwoman Harper. Councilwoman Muggler. Present. Mayor Greg. Present. And we have three items on the agenda for presentations this afternoon. And so I'm going to ask the city manager to introduce the first item. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. First off, today we're going to have a briefing on the city assessment process and a recap of the fiscal 2026 assessment roles. We were going to do this last month before the notice cards went out to the public, but as everyone will recall last month when we had our regular scheduled meeting, we had snowstorm, and it wasn't safe to bring everybody out. So we postponed the meeting. As she's coming up to do the presentation, I do want to note that the assessment process is a legal process that really looks at market value of properties. And it must legislatively be divorced from any political consideration about what tax bills are ultimately. Like, wow, this is this is going up quite a bit. Zero transfers, we capture all the transfers that come from the courthouse, whether they're zero transfers, whether they're foreclosures, whatever they may be, the to that's that's involved in the total transfer. Our arm's length sales are the sales that we use to really hone in on the market value of the property. Foreclosures we do not use in determining value or other non-qualifying sales like related parties. If there's incorrect data, if they're had the houses as an example, 5,000 square feet, and we have 3,000 square feet and it sells, and all of a sudden we find that out, then that would be a non-qualifying sale because of the incorrect data. It would not correspond to the actual sale price. So we look at primarily the qualifying arm length sales. We do look at what the listings are doing as well. We are members of the multiple listing system, and so we gather a lot of information from the MLS, which has improved itself as well because most of the properties that are going on the market today that go into multiple listing. We can they take pictures of everything in the house. So you can really see the quality of pretty much the finishes on the interior of the house. So that that's been a big uh resource for us. Um from 2799. So our median sale price has jumped considerably. Any questions on that slide? No. Uh this is the grand total of assessed value. Um as you can see, the total was 22 billion, 144 million 949,400. Um, and so this is the grand total of assessed value, which as you can see is about uh quite a bit of difference between that and last year. Any questions on that? That just gives you an idea. The residential makes up 56% of that, and exempt as you can see, is a quite a large portion uh in the city uh for of assessed value is an exempt category of 21%. Excuse me, uh Libby, so what types of property makes up the exempt category? I mean, we have we have federal property in the city, we have state, federal, city um all of those schools, all of those are exempt properties from taxation. Does this also include the exemption for the uh disabled veterans and those those kinds of things? Yeah, we I've got a slide on that. We'll take a look at that so that you can actually see what what that is.
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