Norfolk’s budget plan focuses on four areas
$1.85 billion proposal includes raises, infrastructure repairs
NORFOLK — The city’s proposed $1.85 billion operating and capital funding budget will pay for priorities including raising city employee wages, maintaining the city’s assets, setting the stage for new development and bolstering response to citizen complaints.
City Manager Pat Roberts presented his spending proposal, which includes a $1.53 billion operating budget and $323 million Capital Improvement Plan, during Tuesday’s City Council work session.
The budget has four focus areas: improving neighborhood quality of life; addressing homelessness, substance abuse and mental illness; maintaining and repairing city infrastructure; and enhancing city organizational effectiveness, according to Roberts.
Fast rising revenues made the spending plan possible, according to Roberts. The budget includes a 3.5% raise for city employees, raises between 3.5% and 6% for police, and retention bonuses for 911 Call Center staff.
Revenue estimates have grown by $63 million, almost 8% from the current fiscal year — from $795.1 million to $858.2 million, according to budget documents.
The city’s fastest growing revenue has been through its consumption-based taxes, such as the sales tax and the 6.5% food and beverage tax at restaurants, where revenues grew by $18.6 million this fiscal year. Real estate tax revenues grew by $9.1 million. Over the past five years, tax assessments in the city have grown by almost 24%, according to Roberts.
To help offset the rising assessments, the proposed budget would decrease the real estate tax rate by 2 cents to $1.23 per $100 of assessed value. This would result in a roughly $53.36 tax savings annually for the median home, valued at $266,800. Each cent in the tax rate represents about $2.5 million in city tax revenue, according to Roberts.
The budget also keeps in place the personal property tax rate. Vehicles are taxed at $4.33 per $100 of assessed value, but the city has a 51% reduction for vehicles valued between $1,000 and $20,000 and full tax relief for vehicles valued under $1,000.
Roberts said the proposed budget would also include some funding earmarked to start a housing trust fund, though an amount has not been set, and staff expect to propose an amount to City Council for a vote later this calendar year. Consultants recommended earlier this month that the city establish a housing trust fund and invest $3 million to $5 million annually.
A homelessness task force would also be convened, with $1.7 million and 14 fulltime employees to help with street level intervention and working with groups to help those who are chronically homeless. The budget also calls for $1.5 million to be in the CIP for improvements to the Center, the city’s homeless shelter off Tidewater Drive.
Also on housing, the city recommends site work on the former JT West school in Olde Huntersville and the Moton Circle site in Bruce’s Park to prepare the properties for residential development. Other real estate improvements include around the NEON District such as for underground water systems.
Smaller amounts of money set aside for other projects would appease recent public appeals for funding. The budget funds reopening the Ingleside Recreational Center, which has been closed for a couple years and community members recently called on City Council to reopen it. Another $31,000 would be set aside for development of a park at the former Lamberts Point Golf Course, another development item community residents made clear they wanted from the city.
However, some residents were already voicing concerns about the proposed budget. About two dozen Berkley and Campostella residents spoke at Tuesday’s meeting about a lack of city outreach to their neighborhoods, staffing issues at the aquatic center, and the closed Berkley Neighborhood Service Center.
The budget does include funding for studies for recreational facilities in Berkley and in east Norfolk.
Earlier this year, Roberts moved Norfolk Cares Center, which handles city service requests, under the City Manager’s office to increase accountability for timely responses. The Norfolk Cares will be renamed Citizen Services and five new positions will be added as part of a $2.2 million spend on organization effectiveness across the city, that also includes enhancing zoning inspections to crack down on issues raised by residents, according to Roberts.
The city will also hire another seven full-time employees to help bring capital improvements plans to fruition, according to the budget proposal.
The city is still devising next steps for its MacArthur Center and Military Circle Mall sites.
One spending proposal included in the five-year CIP is $10 million allocated toward construction of new Maury High School. The building is expected to cost $187 million. Another proposed CIP spend would be $1.3 million for the St. Paul’s Blue/Greenway.
Other large projects outlined in CIP are renovations of the Scope and Chrysler Hall, which will get $4.5 million and $1.5 million respectively in the next fiscal year. Additionally, there’s $10 million over two years for the sand replenishment in East Ocean View.
The budget calls for almost $224 million for various infrastructure repairs including on the Hague bulkhead and reviewing and fixing other bulkheads across the city. The seawall continues to be a big ticket for the city budget as well, with the city allocating $73.8 million in the budget. Robert emphasized the city cannot meet the federal match on its own and building the seawall relies on state funds helping.
The City Council will have a work session about the budget on April 9, followed by an April 10 public meeting at Granby High School at 6 pm. City Council will discuss the budget again April 23 and later hold a public hearing on the real estate tax rate. The budget is expected to be voted on May 14.