Virginia Beach City Council Special Formal Session on Budgets and Public Safety – April 14, 2026
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Virginia Beach City Council Special Formal Session on Budgets and Public Safety – April 14, 2026
The Virginia Beach City Council held a special formal session on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, following its regularly scheduled formal session. The meeting featured budget presentations from the Housing and Neighborhood Services, Human Services, Fire, and Schools departments. Council members also discussed public safety concerns following recent violent incidents, addressed the Nemo Church matter, and considered recommendations from the Electoral Board regarding tents at the voter registration office. The meeting concluded with a motion to recess into closed session.
Discussion Items
Housing and Neighborhood Services Budget Presentation Director Ruthie Hill presented the proposed FY 2026-27 operating budget. She noted that one in three households in Virginia Beach are housing cost‑burdened (paying 30% or more of income toward housing). The median rent in 2024 was $1,750, requiring an income of $70,000 per year. Forty percent of seniors aged 75 and over are also housing cost‑burdened. The department has 612 attainable workforce housing units in the pipeline (372 funded at Grand Lakes and Whispering Pines; 240 awaiting funding at Concord Lake Apartments and Solus Springs). A new down payment and closing cost assistance program is planned, funded with $200,000 from freed‑up federal dollars, expected to serve four to five families. The budget also includes a $110,000 pilot for City Detect, an AI‑driven platform for proactive code enforcement, using two cameras on one vehicle. Six code enforcement positions were moved from federal to general fund to free up money for homeownership programs. Council member Stacy expressed strong support for the affordable housing grant program, noting the cost to the city is about $100 per unit per month in foregone tax revenue—a “home run” program. Council member Jennifer inquired about the housing choice voucher waiting list; Director Hill reported the list is being purged from 10,000 down to a target of 2,000, with three attempts to contact before purging. Council member Amelia asked about pet‑friendly sheltering; Hill described a foster program for pets of homeless individuals being explored with animal control.
Human Services Budget Presentation Director Eileen Smith presented the Human Services budget. Key trends include opiate abatement programs funded through settlements, including a prevention van and a regional “WOW” treatment van (Wellness on Wheels) with a doctor, nurse, and clinician, expected in about six months. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) serves 28,000–34,000 city residents monthly. New federal work requirements will extend to age 64 (80 hours/month of work, training, or volunteering), effective October 2026 for SNAP and January 2027 for Medicaid expansion enrollees. The state’s error rate of 10.49% could cost $180 million if the federal cost‑share rule takes effect. Medicaid expansion covers 26,000 of the city’s 88,000 Medicaid enrollees; they will face a $35 copay per service starting 2029 and six‑month renewal assessments starting January 2027, doubling staff workload. The department requested one family support specialist (65% state‑funded) and two benefit program assistants (funded by reducing contract staff). Permanent supported housing slots increased from 142 to 202; two vacancies remain. Council members thanked the department for its essential services.
Fire Department Budget Presentation Chief Ken Privatz presented the FY 2026-27 operating budget. Key priorities: maintaining service delivery, investing in infrastructure (fleet, facilities, equipment), and investing in staff. Over 40 firefighters have cancer diagnoses; advanced health screenings have reached 60% of staff, expected completion by May. A diesel exhaust capture device was installed on Engine 19; expansion planned. Staffing lost time averages 42 firefighters annually (average 99 days each), resulting in 40,000 lost hours and $1.6 million in salary costs. Overtime is down 50% thanks to previous council approval of 60 positions. There are 35 current vacancies; 17 new firefighters just graduated, and 42 recruits are expected to start by end of April. Applications remain low. The chief requested funding to move toward a 48‑hour work week (from 56 hours). The original request was $4.7 million for a fourth shift, reduced to $3.7 million for incremental relief. Council members expressed support for studying the 48‑hour schedule. Vice Mayor Wilson noted the city has been supportive and suggested a study prior to a major policy change; City Manager Patrick Dehaney agreed that a study could be completed by the fall. Council member Rosemary praised the department. Council member Hutch suggested using any year‑end funds to hire additional recruits to stay ahead.
Schools Budget Presentation School Board Chair Brown and CFO Crystal Payton presented the FY 2026-27 budget and capital improvement program (CIP). Total additional revenue of $33.9 million is projected from state (55%), city (12.5%), and other sources. The budget includes $22.6 million for teacher compensation (average 5.23% increase) and $11.1 million for unified staff (average 4.17% increase). Health fund contributions total $14.6 million ($9.2 million for projected employer increases, $5.4 million to strengthen reserve). The CIP funds Princess Anne High School at $330 million (with a progressive design‑build process considering both replacement and renovation options), Tri‑Campus additions set to open August 2028, and system‐wide roof/HVAC replacements. The school board approved the budget. Council members asked about health insurance parity; Payton assured that schools will remain in parity with the city going forward. Council member Stacy expressed concern about the $330 million price tag; Melissa Ingram explained that the progressive design‑build process will compare costs of replacement vs. renovation. Council member Jessica questioned the timeline and noted the need for a comprehensive plan for all aging schools. Council member Michael thanked the schools for their work.
Council Comments on Public Safety Mayor Bobby Dyer opened a discussion on recent violence in the city, emphasizing that the problem is national and regional, not just local. He announced plans to reconvene the 757 Youth Violence Task Force, form a new community stakeholders task force, and seek state/federal partnerships, including expedited “pop‑up” legislation. He stated that police must be supported and not criticized unfairly. Council members Stacy, Rosemary, Josh, Amelia, Michael, and Hutch each expressed unified support for the police department and commitment to addressing violence. Council member Michael noted that violence interruptor programs should be part of the toolkit. Council member Josh said the problem is not homegrown and requires resource allocation to police and coordination with other localities. Council member Rosemary emphasized community and family involvement. Council member Hutch cautioned against unrealistic expectations and noted that the busy family season at the Oceanfront tends to dissipate problems. Several members highlighted the need for aggressive enforcement and prosecution. The mayor indicated the Commonwealth’s Attorney will be part of the task force.
Other Business Council member Rosemary requested an indefinite deferral of the Nemo Church matter (request to be removed from the historic district) until the state budget is passed, as $500,000 in state funding is tied to it. Council concurred. Council member Rosemary also raised the Electoral Board’s recommendations on tents at the voter registration office, recommending two canopies for major parties. Council member Michael requested a briefing before accepting the recommendations, saying he had concerns and wanted full council discussion. The mayor concurred with scheduling a briefing.
Key Outcomes
- Nemo Church Deferral: Council agreed to indefinitely defer the Nemo Church item pending passage of the state budget (expected April 23).
- Electoral Board Tent Recommendations: Council agreed to schedule a briefing to discuss the recommendations from the Electoral Board before taking action.
- Public Safety Task Force: The mayor will form a community stakeholders task force and reconvene the 757 Youth Violence Task Force; the Commonwealth’s Attorney will be included.
- Fire Department 48‑Hour Work Week Study: Council members expressed support for a study on moving to a 48‑hour work schedule, to be completed by fall 2026, with a report back to council.
- Closed Session: The council voted unanimously to recess into closed session to discuss legal matters (Atlantic Park, public safety, real property in District 2, and personnel appointments).
Meeting Transcript
Very much honorable members of the city council in accordance with the Virginia Beach City Code 2-21. And by the authority vested in me. I hereby call for a special formal session of the Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday April 14th, 2026. City Council Conference Room 2034. Following its regularly scheduled formal session, as was the attached agenda to convene into a closed session to consider the uh following matters. First of all legal matters, Atlantic Park and also Ocean From Public Safety, and then publicly held property in District 2, uh personal matters, uh, City Council appointments, boards, commissions, committees, authorities, agencies, task force, and appointees at the conclusion of the closed session. Uh the city will uh reconvene into open session for purposes of certifying the closed session. The special formal session will be broadcast on cable TV, Virginia Beach.gov and Facebook Live. Uh and that is ensure we uh Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer. Um I'd like to uh with your permission, council members, uh, to start off to acknowledge if we can do a moment of silence and prayer for Barbara Henley and her family. As we all know, uh her husband longtime husband Winky has passed, and uh our thoughts and prayers goes with the Henley family. So if we can do an up there okay, thank you all very much. Okay, at this point, I think we're ready to go forward. All right, so Mr. Mayor, members of the council. At this time, we'll continue with our ongoing budget conversations. The first presentation of the day will be from Housing and Neighborhood Um Services Department, reservation department director, Ruthie Hill, so give City Council overview of the proposed budget, operating budget for fiscal year 2627 for her department. Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, distinguished council members, Mr. Daney, Mr. Styles. Thank you for your time this afternoon. We are going to talk about the budget, and we're gonna start with the trends and issues that are happening um in housing at our current time. So currently we have um one in three households in the city that are considered housing cost burden, um, which means that they pay actually 30 percent or more of their income towards housing cost. We know that renters and homeowners are nearly equally um proportionally housing cost burdeners, but we burden excuse me, but we do know that renters actually um are proportionally paying more costs towards rent than homeowners. Forty percent of our seniors aged 75 or over are also housing costs burdened. In 2024, there was the median rent was 1750 dollars, which required an income of 70,000 a year to pay that. Median um home crisis have increased by five percent over the last two years, and coupled with the high interest rates. What we know is that it's more and more difficult for first-time and moderate um homeowners to purchase homes. And we're gonna talk a little bit about something that we want to do towards that this year. Um in terms of affordability, um, we help residents obtain affordable housing through a variety of ways. I want to thank you again publicly for what you did last um fall in approving the attainable workforce housing performance grant. I want to share with you that we currently have 612 units in the pipeline with that program, which is amazing. 372 of them are funded. Grand Lakes and the silos, or it's now being called Whispering Pines, are funded, and then 240 of the units, Concord Lake Apartments, and Solus Springs are awaiting funding through the Lightch project program. So we're excited about that. We also have an owner occupied rehab program that we help people that own their homes that need to have rehab done. And we also have the federal choice housing choice voucher program. And then what we'd like to do this year is take some of the funds that I'm going to tell you how we're going to use them from the federal dollars and start a down payment and closing cost assistance program for people that are looking to purchase homes, affordable homes, but don't have that money. So we're excited about that program starting. We also leverage public and private partnerships. We talked about the senior piece. They actually are going to be starting opening up in the next few weeks. They're going to have 38 units for people for 40, 50, and 60% of the area median income, and they're in District 4 in Dr. Amelia Ross Hammond's district. And so that is one way that our partnerships are working together to combat that need. That statistic is a national trend that we're seeing, but it's also happening here. Single men and women constitute 75% of all the homelessness we persons we serve here in the city of Virginia Beach. And most of that re the reason is because they're on fixed incomes and their their fixed incomes are not keeping pace with the escalating housing expenses. So when somebody loses housing, they become they they get evicted, they're not able to find another apartment to get back into. So that's a challenge that we're dealing with.
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