City Council Special Formal Meeting,6:00p ,5/12/2026

Well, welcome all.

Honorable members of City Council, in accordance with Virginia Beach City Code 2-21 and the authority vested in me as mayor of the city of Virginia Beach, I hereby call for a special formal session of the Virginia Beach City Council Tuesday, May 12th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.

City Council Chamber, Building 1, 2nd Floor, 2401 Courthouse Drive. The purpose of the special formal session is to allow council members to consider the adoption of the fiscal year 2026-2027 recent operating budget, capital improvement, and related ordinances as listed in the public agenda.

If you wish to make comments during the meeting, please follow the two-step process provided below.

What register for the WebEx here or register for the City Council office by calling 757-385-4303 prior to 5:00 p.m. on May 5th, 2026.

This special formal session will be broadcast on cable TV, virginiabeach.gov, and Facebook Live.

Citizens are encouraged to submit their comments to the council prior to the special formal session by email at [email protected].

Um, Madam Clerk, do we have a roll call?

All present. Council member Cummings is participating virtually.

All present, sir.

Okay, great.

At this point, I understand we have a speaker, but we'll have the reading of the uh uh you know, first and we'll call the speaker up. Okay, Rosemary?

Good evening, everyone.

Um, this is a little bit lengthy, so just bear with me.

Uh This is under This is for the um 2026-27 resource management plan uh reconciled proposal.

A is a FY 2026-27 operating budget.

Number one is the orders to appropriate $3,961,944,885 consisting of $724,902,416 in interfund transfer, $350,466,956 from internal service funds, and $2,886,575,513 in dollars in operations for fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2027. Number two is the ordinance to establish a tax levy on real estate for FY 2027.

Number three is the ordinance to establish the tax levy on the personal property and machinery and tools tax for calendar year 2027.

Number [clears throat] four is the ordinance to authorize the city manager to submit the FY 2026-27 annual funding plan to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD.

Number five is the ordinance to amend city code sections 35-64 and 35-67 re exemption for deferral [clears throat] of real estate taxes for elderly or disabled persons.

Number six is the ordinance to amend city code sections 28-4 and 28 uh 4.1 re sewer capital recovery fees. Number seven is the ordinance to amend city code section 37-7.1 rate water capital recovery fees. Number eight is the ordinance to amend city code section 31-15 and 31-35 rate pricing and automated refuse receptacle and yard waste containers. Number nine is the ordinance to amend the boundaries rate

of town center special services district the SSD.

Number 10 is the ordinance to establish Pembroke Square special service service district establish for the tax levy for real estate and dedicate real estate tax revenue from properties within Pembroke Square special service district rate public facilities and parking garages.

Number 11 is the ordinance to declare a surplus of 1 million of funding within the central business district with South tax increment enhanced financing and town center TIF FY2025-26 operating budget.

Number 12 is the resolution to extend the city's school revenue sharing formula policy to June 30th, 2027.

Number 13 is the ordinance to add the city council sections 2-500 and 2-501 rate department of emergency communications and citizen services.

Number 14 is the ordinance to amend city code sections 2.7 and office of volunteer resources. Number 15 is the ordinance to amend city code sections 2-187.1 and 2-199 rate budget amendment procedures.

Number 16 is the ordinance to amend the city code sections 20-320 and 21-321 rate parking and parking meters. Number 17 is the ordinance to amend the code section 2-83 rate holidays. That's fun the one the capital budget of the city.

B is FY2026-27 capital budget. Number one is the ordinance to accept the FY2026-27 through to FY2031-2032 capital improvement projects CIP and appropriate $417,716,343 for the FY26-27 capital budget subject to funds being provided from various sources and from hereon. Number two is the ordinance to authorize the issuance of a general obligation public improvement bonds in the maximum amount of 66,927,365

for a various public facilities and general improvements.

Number three is the ordinance to authorize the issuance of general obligation public improvement funds in the maximum amount of 5,900,000 rate flood protection. Number four is the ordinance to support the to authorize the issuance of storm water utility system revenue bonds in the maximum amount of 721 million 57,315.

Number five is the ordinance to authorize the issuance of water and sewer system revenue bonds in the maximum amounts of 22,506,000.

And number six is a resolution to affirm the city's commitment to fund the locality share of projects and provide signature authority for projects under agreement within the Virginia Department of Transportation VDOT. I move for approval.

Okay, do we have a second?

Second.

Second.

Okay, at this point do we have a speaker?

Yes.

I want to remind everyone that the city council speaker policy that allows certain representatives of groups to speak for 10 minutes applies only to planning items. All other speakers, whether speaking individually or on behalf of the group, will have up to 3 minutes to speak on a single item.

Speakers are reminded that comments during the formal session of the meeting must be limited to the subject of the item that is being considered by by the council at the time you are called. For items placed on the consent agenda, a speaker will have up to 3 minutes to address any single item. If a speaker wishes to address multiple consent items, the speaker will have a cumulative total of 6 minutes to address

those items. Again, the speaker must limit his or her comments to the subject matter of the items they signed up to address.

And finally, I call upon all speakers and all persons in the chamber to be civil in their discussion and decorum.

Whatever views you hold and wish to express, the city council wants to hear from you and ensure that all viewpoints and all persons are respected. The best way to do this is for all of us to strive for civility and respect. And Madam Clerk, could you call the speaker, please?

Holly Marchioro.

Good evening.

Good evening. It seems I'm the only speaker tonight, and I don't know why there's not more people here. I think everybody thought about the real estate taxes back a few weeks ago or a month or so.

I am It's despicable to raise them. Like I said last time, I'm a single mom. I barely survive. I'm working part-time.

One job ended. I didn't get fired. It's It's a joke. You better be back. Tax season's over.

So, now I only have one part-time job, and I don't want to have to get three to pay more taxes. The real estate taxes, it's high enough.

I'm barely surviving as it is cuz the stupid fees with the water. I mean, I think you should pay them. I think I sent them in, and I know I did cuz I did certified mail. So, I'm I know City Council got it.

And um the fees are too high for that. So, between that, if I have to pay more in real estate, are you trying to make me lose my home and be foreclosed? I just The taxes are high enough, and I barely survive paying what I pay now.

And I think it's despicable, you know, it's like a disgrace to the human race to even think of raising it. Okay? It's horrible. It's Unless you want to pay them for me cuz I really don't have it.

I have to struggle. I'm going to have to get three jobs if you're going to raise it again. I'm going to have to get two more. Luckily, I have this one that I have but I barely make enough. Dominion, I had to do a payment plan. I can't even afford that.

So, we almost had electric turned off today.

So, I just I just can't. A single mom, I don't have anybody else helping me.

Unfortunately, my son just lost his job, so I have nobody. So, unless you're going to help pay my my way, don't raise the taxes cuz it's a way to vote yourselves out. That's all that's going to do. And I believe the last time it was voted, only two people voted no, and I believe Barbara Henley was one of them. She's a decent person.

If she wasn't in my district, I might run for city council, but thank God I have someone decent in my district. But, I'm just so disgusted that everybody want to raise, raise, raise, but they don't want to help.

So, and I couldn't even get assistance from my Dominion. I tried to.

And I'm having issues getting assistance for the water bill.

So, I just can't do it, and I think it's horrible of you if you're going to raise the taxes because that's a vote to vote you out. You know, whoever votes to raise taxes, raise fee raise fees, anything. The stupid um the [snorts] extra tax with the uh you know, with the food at the restaurants. It's ridiculous. We don't need that tax.

Okay? I know there's a surplus. It's ridiculous. You don't need that tax.

I try to avoid going out. I went out last night because my friends wanted to, but I avoid going out. I usually cook at home. I do not want to give the restaurants any business, and I want to give the restaurants business, but I don't want to pay that additional tax.

And it's hurting the restaurants cuz a lot of people are doing that now.

So, you're hurting the restaurants, you're hurting the people in Virginia Beach, and you're supposed to be you're supposed to be working for us, not against us.

Thank you, Holly.

That's all the speakers, sir.

Okay, any comment? Barbara.

Uh yes, I think that of course we've been looking at this budget for some time now, and it's not perfect. It's not what everybody likes. There are some things in here that um I'm sure most anybody can find something that they're not real pleased about. Uh taxes are something that we just have to deal with. Uh so, by and large, um you know, I I will support the budget because I think it generally does pretty

well, but there were a couple that as we were going through, I mentioned that I had problems with and so I do want to go on record as having concerns with those particular items. One, we had two reconciliation letters. The one that was done by the mayor and vice mayor, the item 10, which has to do with the cross country track.

I thought we had agreed that we would within this first year put money in to do to begin the design of that track and the trail system.

I think we think that the figure that I had been given by parks and rec that they needed was 600,000.

However, this does what I didn't want it to do and that is in this next year we'll just continue to study it and look at the cost estimates and the design and so forth and then in year two we will fund the um some programming to to start the project. So I just want people who followed it and thought that we were going to be starting the design this year know that that's not going to

happen. It won't be until year two when we'll get the program funding to begin that and that has to and that's tied to the approval of this ITA master plan and that has a lot of issues. So I'm I'm kind of concerned that this project is tied to that because that's got a long way to go to um to to reach agreement with all the concerns that are for that. So I am

concerned that that we aren't doing what I had thought we were doing.

Also we a another reconciliation letter. This one was from the city manager and the city administration. This one was not read, so the public did not hear that.

This one contained, among other things, uh some concerns about some of the road projects, which I certainly have concerns with. I know one of the earliest things we saw was a memo from public utilities or from public works about the number of road projects that are on hold. And included in those were uh I was particularly looking at the Indian River Road Phase 7 projects um that are on hold. Uh it gives me a

lot of concern that we have uh a lot of problems with our roads. And in looking in this other reconciliation letter, we see the uh I see here Centerville Turnpike Phase 3.

And of course, we deleted that project in last year's CIP, and this this one just uh moves the federal earmark of $6 million to something else.

Um but, the Centerville Turnpike Phase 3 uh will not be done, and Phase 2, we are just hoping that we are going to continue to fully fully fund it.

Ironically, last night when I was looking through some other papers, I came across this little booklet. We used to do these, which were really nifty.

But, this was a budget 10 years ago.

This was from the CIP of fiscal year 2016-2017.

And the very first project in the CIP list is Centerville Turnpike Phase 3 at $30 million.

And then, two down is the Indian River Road Phase 7.

Both of those projects are still sitting doing nothing.

And this gives me a whole lot of concern. This is 10 years that these projects have not moved forward. And these are very important road projects that we can't seem to move along.

However, and going back to this ITA plan that I was just talking about, in that we have done $25 million for Hudome Way, which serves two businesses.

We managed to find that and get that done, and we're looking at extending Hudome Way some more if we go forward with that. And I think it's pretty ironic that we managed to find money for projects that aren't even in our transportation plan, but we've got these projects that have been sitting there for 10 years and can't seem to get off uh the mark. So, I really think we need to give some attention to our road

projects. I'm just very concerned about these. I look at um Centerville Turnpike and some of these others that are here like Holland Road phase one and Independence Hedwin Drive traffic safety improvements and so forth. So, I really ask that we uh get some more information from public works about where we stand with these road projects and see if we can get some of them moving along to where we are

actually building something. I think of this Indian River Road phase seven.

That's a section of Indian River Road that goes along Stumpy Lake, that two-lane road.

And that's an extremely important road uh that for the whole city, not just the southern part of the city, but I I would really like to see us have as a one of our goals this year to look at these road projects and see if we can move them along a little bit more. Uh another thing that I noticed in in this um uh uh reconciliation request was the additional hours for council aides going

to 30 of a week instead of 20. Uh council has not discussed this, and I think this might need some discussion before we spend this $145,000.

But I did want to mention those two things as well as others. I I think by and large this is a good budget. I will support it, but I do think there are some things that we need to work on. And thank you for the time.

Thank you. Okay, anybody else?

Okay, let's open the vote.

The vote is open.

You don't have it, Councilmember Hutchinson.

Mhm. Um I.

I You I can take a verbal vote, but thank you. Councilmember Cummings, may I have your vote?

By vote of 11 to 0 with Councilmember Cummings' and Councilmember Hutchinson's verbal I votes, you have passed the operating and CIP budgets.

Okay, thank you all. At this point we are adjourned. Thank you.