The Richmond City Council Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee convened on May 21, 2026, at 2:30 PM to consider several ordinances and resolutions. The meeting included public hearings, discussions, and votes on tax deferral, a payment register, collective bargaining, Main Street Station fees, downtown special service districts, enterprise zone amendments, and an affordable housing study. The committee also received updates on ARPA spending and financial reporting improvements.
Thank you everyone for attending the City Council Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee. Madam Clerk, if you would take care of the chamber emergency evacuation, and then we'll move to the public hearing. Upon activation and emergency alarm to ignore all persons should immediately 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 impaired 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 prior 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 the question staff members directly. All questions to 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 barring from attendance at future meetings of the committee for a period of six months. Madam Chair, this concludes 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 standing committee meeting. If there are no amendments or corrections, then those meeting minutes can approve 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. Um Ms. Gibson is the patron on agenda item number seven, agenda item number two. Um, 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 a 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 uh 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. Would you like me to proceed with reading item one? I'm sorry. Would you like me to proceed with reading item one? Uh, or did you want to do we need a vote on the continuation of the papers that I've mentioned?