On March 23, 2026, the Richmond City Council held a budget work session focused on the proposed FY2027 budget for the Finance and Administration portfolio, which includes Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, Information Technology, 311, Minority Business Development (MBD), and Risk Management. The session also covered constitutional officers: the Richmond Sheriff's Office, Commonwealth Attorney, City Treasurer, General Registrar, and Circuit Court Clerk. Council members asked questions in a single five-minute round, with the timer paused for responses.
Council Chief of Staff RJ Warren explained the session protocol: each council member had five minutes to ask questions, with the timer stopping during responses. DCAO Jackson led the presentation and could call up department directors as needed.
DCAO Jackson presented the FY2027 budget for the Finance and Administration portfolio, highlighting several accomplishments:
Proposed budget changes by department:
DCAO Jackson emphasized that the budget reflects actions already taken to stabilize operations and improve processes, and that the portfolio is focused on continued stabilization, clearer reporting, and workforce investment.
Councilmember Tramell asked about 311 integration with code enforcement and tracking of calls by district. DCAO Jackson confirmed separate departments but new integration underway. Reports and a dashboard are available; training for council members can be provided.
Councilmember Robertson raised several issues:
Councilmember Breton asked:
Councilmember Abubaker questioned:
Councilmember Gibson questioned:
Councilmember Jones asked:
Vice President Jordan commented:
Good afternoon, everyone. The Richmond City Council budget work session will now come to order. And I will ask our council chief of staff after the chamber evacuation plan announcement to come forward and provide our protocol for the meeting. Madam Clerk, if you would provide a chamber emergency evacuation plan announcement. Upon activation of the emergency alum signal, all persons should immediately exit the building. Please use the SIS to the left or right front of the council chamber or the east or west stairware outside the rear doors of the chamber. Do not use elevators or escalators. After exiting the building, security will direct everyone down 9th Street to the assembly area located inside the former public safety building parking lot. Able persons should should assist visually in hearing the pair of visitors with exiting the building. Madam President, all members of council are present with the exception of Councillor Robertson and Lynch. You do have a core. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Mr. Warren, if you would provide the overview in terms of the protocol for the meeting. Yes, ma'am, please. Council RJ Warren, Council Chief of Staff. Um, try to be concise here. Um, you have a busy schedule today. You have this work session at one o'clock, uh, followed by uh an informal meeting at four o'clock, where you will have Docker review, an act for presentation from the CAO, and a closed session, followed by a formal meeting at six o'clock tonight, which will consist of the first initial budget public hearing. Uh, due to today's full schedule and to make sure you all have a break in between this meeting and the four o'clock meeting, um, we're only going to do one round of five-minute questions today. Um, and just as a reminder, your timer is only running when you are asking the question or providing comments to lead up to your question. So if you effectively use your time, you can ask uh several questions within that five minutes. The timer gets paused when city administration or an individual provides you a response. Um city administration has asked me to share that the DCAO for this portfolio finance administration will be the one present at the podium, and that they will lead uh the facilitation of all questions. So if you have questions about specific departments, please provide that to the DCAO to provide a response, and they will call up directors as necessary to provide uh expert testimony. Uh before you today will be the finance and administration portfolio. The presentation that's about to go up on the screen is for finance and administration. Um, but also on your docker today is the constitutional officers, which consists of the Richmond Sheriff's Office, uh the Office of the Commonwealth Attorney, uh, Office of the City Treasurer, the General Registrar, and the Office of the Circuit Clerk Court. And uh, even though they won't be presenting, they are in the chamber to uh answer any questions you may have. So if you have a question for those uh those constitutional officers leadership during your five minutes, feel free to ask those. And I believe that was the um information I need to share with you today. Thank you, Mr. Warren. With that, we will get underway. DCAO. OD Donald, I thought would be our first up. Is that no? It's gonna be me, DCO Jackson. Just want to make sure. Yes. Thank you. No problem. DCO Jackson in charge of the finance and administration portfolio. Good afternoon, esteemed members of council. On behalf of Mayor Vula and CAO Donnell, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to present the finance and administration portfolio for the FY2020 uh 27 proposed budget. We what I want to share with you today reflects not just numbers, but the people systems and decisions that keep the city running every day. We recognize that there are challenges and we are actively looking for them, finding them, and most importantly, we are fixing them. What you will see today reflects actions already taken, already taken to address those challenges and strengthen how our portfolio operates. Thank you. Today I'll walk you through our alignment with the mayor's seven pillars, highlight a few key accomplishments from this past year, provide a review of the proposed budget, and close out with what you can expect moving forward.