Dozens of people lined up at City Hall on Monday to urge Richmond City Council to get behind the budget proposals they support.
The speakers — ranging from top city officials to middle schoolers — were advocating, among other priorities, more money for Richmond Public Schools and after-school programs and pay raises for some of the city’s top earners.
But with little wiggle room for Richmond to make changes to a budget that is required to be balanced, many of their requests face long odds to make it into Mayor Danny Avula’s proposed $3 billion plan for fiscal year 2026. (FY26 starts July 1 and runs until June 30, 2026.)
During a Monday afternoon budget work session, 6th District Councilor Ellen Robertson said she’s faced the same budget challenge every year since joining council in 2003.
“It’s pretty hard to unwrap what has already been wrapped up and submitted to us,” Robertson said.
Since Avula’s budget presentation, councilors have been reviewing the budget and proposing amendments. City code requires the budget be balanced, meaning any additional funding needs to be matched with cuts.
Going into Monday, councilors had proposed additions to the city’s operating budget totaling $26 million and cuts of just under $2.2 million. On long-term capital improvements, the council proposed 25 changes that would cost over $35 million, with $3.7 million in corresponding reductions.
There was some agreement on the council’s budget amendments, including funding for Richmond People’s Budget priorities, traffic calming projects and the Family Crisis Fund — which gives people money for rent, bills and other needs.
But councilors pointed to the lack of overall consensus on what they want to spend on and cut in the budget, and said there’s not enough money to fund the items they agree on.
“Unless you all are coming to the table and we can get consensus to places to cut, then the discussion really is quite frivolous,” 5th District Councilor Stephanie Lynch said during the work session.
Avula’s administration proposed cutting the Richmond Resilience Initiative, a guaranteed income program, and eliminating seven city positions, including four vacant positions from the Office of Community Wealth Building, to get almost $1.1 million in funding for council’s amendments.
One point of contention during the budget process has been proposed funding for 3.25% raises for city employees. To reduce costs, two councilors proposed cutting the pay increases for non-union employees earning at least $150,000 a year.
In the afternoon work session, 4th District Councilor Sarah Abubaker — one of the councilors who proposed the amendment — questioned why the administration raised concerns of a budget shortfall, then proposed giving some of the city’s highest earners pay bumps.
“We’re either in a budget crunch or we’re not,” Abubaker said, adding that councilors are “fighting over scraps” for their districts.
Police Chief Rick Edwards, Director of Public Works Bobby Vincent and Human Resources Director Tyrome Alexander spoke in support of the pay raises during the afternoon work session.
During a public hearing Monday night, Director of Public Utilities Scott Morris, Director of Information Technology Charles Todd and Circuit Court Clerk Edward Jewett asked members to support the pay raises.
They told councilors failing to fund the raises would make recruitment difficult, leading to some workers earning more than their supervisors and others leaving for better paying jobs.
After hearing from the speakers, Robertson and 8th District Councilor Reva Trammell said they would support the pay raises.
Another focus this budget cycle has been money earmarked for local nonprofits and after-school programming. Some councilors proposed amendments to preserve funding for certain programs and groups facing cuts under Avula’s plan.
Several people spoke Monday in support of the $350,000 Robertson proposed for the UBU 100 life coaching program at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School — including a group of students.
The students, some of whom were crying, told councilors how vital the program has been in teaching them about communicating their feelings, resolving issues and maintaining good habits.
“We work with [students]. We meet with them on a regular basis,” Queen Bailey, UBU 100's chief of staff, told the council Monday. “Many of our students don’t know a school without UBU.”
Councilors praised the students for speaking and allowed attendees to defy council rules and applaud. But the budget amendment to fund the program was not one of the items council was aligned on — and UBU 100 did not submit a non-departmental grant application for FY26 funding, per council documents.
Members of the Richmond Education Association spoke Monday night to ask for more funding for Richmond Public Schools — on top of the $9.6 million increase Avula proposed. Speakers also pleaded with councilors to back additional money for eviction diversion and the Family Crisis Fund.
The council was slated to submit amendments to City Attorney Laura Drewry by a Monday deadline, but city administration said it could be pushed back because councilors did not come to an agreement on which ones to formally introduce.
The council’s budget amendments will be introduced April 28. Council is expected to adopt a final budget on May 12.
