Richmond City Council Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee Meeting - May 20, 2026
Richmond City Council Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee Meeting - May 20, 2026
The Richmond City Council Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee met on May 20, 2026, at 7:00 PM. The committee addressed several items including ordinances related to payment transparency, collective bargaining, Main Street Station fees, enterprise zones, and affordable housing registration. Multiple continuances were granted to allow for further fiscal analysis and stakeholder input.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approved: The minutes from the April 16, 2026, meeting were approved as presented without amendments or corrections.
Public Comments & Testimony
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Payment Register Ordinance (Item 2):
- Angela Warner (opposition) questioned why the city does not include the same accounts as Chesterfield County and expressed concern that internal auditors and public accounting firms cannot review the data for fraud trends. She referenced a documentary about a municipality losing $53 million due to lack of transparency.
- Christine Gibson (support) urged the committee to include all persons and departments without exceptions, citing a case in Rocky Mount, North Carolina where $80 million in public funds was unaccounted for.
- Leah Whitehurst Gibson (support) spoke as a foster parent and nonprofit leader, emphasizing the need to protect individuals such as foster families from having their addresses disclosed, while still fostering government transparency.
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Collective Bargaining Ordinance (Item 3):
- Bill Pantley (Richmond Coalition of Police) supported the amendment, explaining that the 2022 ordinance was intended to allow unions to negotiate over promotions, transfers, and vacancies, but the city refused to negotiate those items. He argued the amendment clarifies the original intent.
- Christine Gibson (resident) supported the amendment, stating that agreements must be honored and that employees, including custodial staff, deserve fair treatment.
- Brendan Levy (President, Richmond Coalition of Police) supported the amendment, stating that the current management rights interpretation prevents discussion of promotions and transfers, which fosters favoritism. He noted that the amendment does not give the union unilateral authority.
- Keith Andes (President, Richmond Professional Firefighters Association Local 995) expressed support for the amendment.
Discussion Items
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Agenda Revisions & Continuances: Chair Robinson proposed continuances for several items to allow for further fiscal analysis and stakeholder review. After discussion with patrons, the following actions were taken:
- Item 2 (Ordinance 2026-081, Payment Register): Initially continued by a vote (Ms. Lynch, Vice Chair Jones, Chair Robinson – all ayes) to June 17, 2026. The administration did not request the continuance, but the committee voted to continue.
- Item 7 (Resolution 2026 R019, Investigation into Payment Register Failure): Continued to June 17, 2026, by unanimous vote (Ms. Lynch, Vice Chair Jones, Chair Robertson – all ayes). Councilmember Gibson expressed desire to ask questions but was asked to submit them ahead of the next meeting.
- Item 3 (Ordinance 2026-090, Collective Bargaining Procedures): The administration requested a 45-day continuance, citing need for fiscal and administrative impact analysis. Councilmember Trammell and others argued for a quicker timeline to align with upcoming negotiations. The committee voted to forward the ordinance to the June 8, 2026 council meeting with a recommendation to approve with amendments, and then refer back to committee on June 17, 2026. Motion passed (Ms. Lynch, Vice Chair Jones, Chair Robinson – all ayes).
- Items 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 were heard and voted on as described below.
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Item 1 – Real Estate Tax Deferral Program (Ordinance 2025-282): The committee forwarded the ordinance to council with a recommendation to approve with an amendment (unanimous ayes: Ms. Lynch, Vice Chair Jones, Chair Robertson). No public comment.
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Item 2 – Payment Register (Ordinance 2026-081): After a public hearing and discussion, the committee voted to continue to June 17, 2026 (all ayes). The administration (Ms. Lawson) presented the proposed changes to proactively disclose vendor names, amounts, cost centers, and departments while protecting confidential information. They cited privacy concerns and noted that the current code requires manual redaction. Councilmember Gibson noted that the payment register was not updated after May 2019, and that the archive was removed in August 2024 following media reports on spending violations. She asked whether full social security numbers were disclosed in the archived register but was not permitted to continue questioning due to the continuance.
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Item 3 – Collective Bargaining (Ordinance 2026-090): After a public hearing and discussion, the committee voted to forward the ordinance to the June 8, 2026 council meeting with a recommendation to approve with an amendment (all ayes). The amendment aims to clarify that unions may negotiate over promotions, transfers, and vacancies, and to include binding arbitration for non-economic issues. The committee also directed staff to develop specific amendments by June 8 and return the amended version to the committee on June 17.
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Item 4 – Main Street Station Fees (Ordinance 2026-110): The committee forwarded the ordinance to council for approval (unanimous ayes). The proposal reduces rental rates for the first floor shed (due to loss of leaseable space), offers a package fee for kitchen and square, groups North Plaza and parking, increases the square fee slightly, and creates a new rentable space (T space). Staff projects at least $90,000 in new annual revenue.
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Items 5 & 6 – Downtown Special Service and Assessment Districts (Ordinances 2026-114 and 2026-115): The committee forwarded both ordinances to council for approval (unanimous ayes). These items approve the FY2027 work plan and budget and authorize an eighth amendment to extend the services agreement with Venture Richmond Inc. through June 30, 2031.
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Item 8 – Enterprise Zone Boundary Amendments (Resolution 2026 R020): The committee forwarded the resolution to council for approval (unanimous ayes). The proposal amends boundaries of Enterprise Zones 19 and 28A, removes parcels unlikely to benefit (e.g., institutional properties), adds areas like Stony Point Fashion Park and parts of downtown, and modifies incentives: discontinues three underutilized rebates, adds a Business Investment Grant for tenant improvements, expands machinery/equipment rebate, and increases the employee assistance grant from $400 to $1,000 per new job.
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Item 9 – Nonprofit Housing Provider Registration Study (Resolution 2026 R021): The committee forwarded the resolution to council with a recommendation to approve with an amendment (unanimous ayes). The amendment aligns the study with the update to the One Richmond strategic housing plan, due December 16, 2026.
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Discussion Item – Third Quarter APA Report: The city expended $7.1 million in Q3, reaching 89% of the $154 million obligation, with $17.6 million remaining. Most projects are on track except the down payment assistance program, which has seen a 50% increase in applications after being opened to public school employees. Staff engaged Delivery Results Solutions (DRS) to ensure compliance readiness.
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Discussion Item – Financial Reporting Update: Staff presented a sample quarterly financial report and noted ongoing work to improve reporting culture and tools (e.g., Splash BI). They committed to providing more narrative analysis and will engage council for feedback within 30 days.
Key Outcomes
- Continuances Granted:
- Item 2 (Ordinance 2026-081) continued to June 17, 2026.
- Item 7 (Resolution 2026 R019) continued to June 17, 2026.
- Items Forwarded to Council:
- Item 1 (Ordinance 2025-282) with amendment.
- Item 3 (Ordinance 2026-090) with amendment (further work by June 8).
- Item 4 (Ordinance 2026-110) without amendment.
- Items 5 & 6 (Ordinances 2026-114 and 2026-115) without amendment.
- Item 8 (Resolution 2026 R020) without amendment.
- Item 9 (Resolution 2026 R021) with amendment to align with December 16, 2026 housing plan update.
- No Votes: No items were defeated or tabled without a scheduled return.
- Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned after all agenda items and discussion items were completed.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. Okay, Madame Clark. Um, we're ready. We're gonna call this meeting to order. Thank you everyone for attending the city council finance and economic development. Standing committee. Upon activation and the mercy, along with no all person should even exit the building. Please use the exits to the left or right front of the council chamber or the east or west stairwell outside of the doors of the chamber. Do not use elevators or escalators. At the exit in the building, security will direct every down everyone down 9th Street to the assembly area located inside the former public safety building parking lot. Able persons should assist visually in hearing impair visitors with exiting the building. Persons wishing to speak during the public comment period and or public hearings are generally allowed three minutes to speak. Persons appearing before the committee are not allowed to campaign for public office, promote private business ventures, use language or personal nature, which is also demeans any person, including comments directed at public officials or staff members that are not related to their official duties or just to question staff members directly. All questions need be directed to the committee chair. Failure to adhere to the guidelines may result in speakers forfeiting any many time and further disciplinary action as necessary, which could include bar from attendance at future meetings of the committee for a period of six months. Madam Chair, this concludes the announcements. Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll move to the public comment period. Is there anyone that would like to speak about items not on today's agenda that would like to adjust the committee for items not on today's agenda? Seeing none, the public comment period is now closed. There's no one online, Madam Clerk. No, ma'am. No one signed up before the 10 a.m. deadline. Thank you very much. We'll move to the approval of the minutes. The minutes to be approved from the April 16th, 2026, finance and economic development stay in the committee meeting. If there are no amendments or corrections, then those meeting minutes stand approved as presented. Those minutes have been approved. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Okay, we'll move to the uh papers that are before the committee, and we've gotten some special requests to make some changes to the agenda. Um, which I would like to mention at this time, and attempt to get consensus on the revision to the agenda. So agenda item number one, we will hear that and have a public hearing on that item. Um agenda item number two, and agenda item number seven. Um have a request for continuance on both of those papers to get more fiscal analysis and review, and there's a request to continue both of those for 30 days. Ums Gibson is the patron on agenda item number seven. Agenda item number two, the minute administration. And I'll go through the others that have been asked to be continued as well, and then we can have a discussion on that in the vote on continuing. Number agenda item number three, which deals with um the labor union. There's been a request for fiscal analysis, uh, an opportunity to discuss with um the patrons as well as what kind of impact uh this legislation. Very supportive of the legislation. Let me make sure we're clear on that. Um, the information I've got back is very supportive of it. Just need asking for 30 days for review uh to get a better clearance on the impact. So that paper has been asked to be continued for 30 days as well. Agenda item number five and six. We'll take as a block. And agenda number eight. Um we will hear that paper and agenda item number seven has been requested to be uh recommendation for an amendment and to be continued. Uh so those are the items that are on the docket at the present time, madam clerk, that we would like to as to how we would like to take action on those.
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