Mayor Danny Avula presented the proposed budget to City Council during a special meeting Thursday. (Screenshot)
Mayor Avula presents $3B budget plan for Richmond for FY26
Mayor Danny Avula presented his administration’s budget for fiscal year 2026. The $3 billion spending plan would keep real estate taxes at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value and includes a $1.05 billion general fund, a 5.5% increase over the current general fund.
The budget, which is subject to revisions by City Council, would raise salaries for eligible general employees by 3.25% or more. It also would put over $18 million toward investments in city staff, such as transitioning to the Virginia Retirement System, requiring living wages, engaging with organized labor and improving benefit packages. The city’s minimum wage would stand at $20 an hour.
Funding for Richmond Public Schools would increase by $9.6 million to nearly $249 million, a 4% year-to-year increase that the city said contributes to a 64% increase since FY17. The school system’s overall FY26 spending plan, which includes funding from federal and other sources, totals $524 million, down from $529 million this year.
The city’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan would total nearly $550 million, with more than $60 million to fund improvements to the city’s water treatment plant, which had a failure in January that caused a dayslong service outage across the city and elsewhere in the region.
In light of that outage, $38 million in improvements are proposed for next year specifically, which the city described as a “significant increase in funding.” Another $207 million is planned in the CIP for water transmission and distribution system improvements.
The full budget proposal can be viewed on the city’s website. City Council will review the document in depth over the next several weeks in a series of workshops, leading up to an initial public hearing April 14. Initial amendments from council are due April 16, and amendments are to be finalized in an April 21 work session, setting the stage for a second public hearing May 12.
Hanover supervisors approve 41-unit residential project near airport
Rogers-Chenault received approval for a 41-unit residential project near Hanover airport. (County documents)
The Hanover Board of Supervisors last week approved a 41-unit residential project on Ashcake Road.
Developer Rogers-Chenault is planning to build the development on a 7-acre site at 10009 Ashcake Road, just north of the county airport.
The project is planned for primarily townhouses that would be built in clusters of two to four units. Four new detached homes and an existing single-family home on the project site are also part of the project. Units would be in one- and two-story configurations, per a staff report.
The development would have a 50-foot buffer on Ashcake Road and a 25-foot buffer on Virginia Crane Drive. There would be a 5-foot-wide asphalt pedestrian trail within the development’s nearly 3-acre open space area to connect a multipurpose ballfield and exercise stations.
Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a rezoning request for the project. The approval changed the land’s designation from Agricultural District (A-1) to Multi-Family Residential District (RM) with conditions.
In a separate vote, supervisors also approved an amendment to Hanover’s comprehensive plan that increased the recommended residential density of the project site, bringing the development in line with the county’s long-range land-use planning document.
The original amendment proposal was for a 20-acre area that included the 7-acre site for the Rogers-Chenault project. The board decided at Wednesday’s meeting to reduce the area subject to the amendment to the project site specifically.
A staff report stated the project would achieve the overall intent of the comprehensive plan’s goal for the area, which is to provide attached and detached homes in developments that feature amenities, and is consistent with existing goals for buffers and open spaces.
Goochland EDA provides grants to support 3 businesses
The Goochland Economic Development Authority has approved a total of $60,000 in performance-based incentives to three companies under a relatively new business support program.
Dover Hall Experiences, Strickland Manufacturing and R-Tec Services are teed up for performance-based awards to support their plans to grow their operations in Goochland, according to a county news release.
Dover Hall is expanding its winemaking arm, 7 Lady Vineyards, with a new tasting room on the grounds of the estate in the Manakin-Sabot area. Dover Hall hopes to open the tasting room later this year. Strickland and R-Tec also have plans to expand with new facilities.
“Goochland County Economic Development is proud to be supporting these existing businesses and their expansions. We look forward to seeing their continued growth and the positive impact they will have on Goochland’s economy,” Economic Development Director Sara Worley said in a prepared statement.
Each business is slated to receive $20,000 through the Goochland County Small Business Expansion Incentive Program, which was launched in 2024. The county funds would be disbursed after the projects are completed.
The EDA voted to approve the incentives to each business at its Feb. 25 meeting. The county announced the awards last week.
First RIC parking fee hike in 20 years to help fund new parking decks
The terminal lobby at Richmond International Airport. (Courtesy Todd Wright/RIC)
The Capital Region Airport Commission voted to approve increasing Richmond International Airport’s daily parking rates and its rental car fee.
As of July 1, daily parking at the garages nearest the terminal at RIC will be increased from $12 to $15, and daily rates at the economy lots west of Airport Drive will go from $7 to $10.
The price hikes are being implemented to help finance two new parking decks the airport is planning: a 5,500-spot deck for the general public that would be built at the current Economy A lot, and an additional two-story deck for rental cars.
The commission voted unanimously to approve the changes at its meeting Tuesday.
The changes were outlined in a committee meeting earlier this month, where studies showed that facilities like the current rental car garage are already at capacity, and RIC’s parking rates are much lower than those of its competitors.
Mayor Danny Avula presented the proposed budget to City Council during a special meeting Thursday. (Screenshot)
Mayor Avula presents $3B budget plan for Richmond for FY26
Mayor Danny Avula presented his administration’s budget for fiscal year 2026. The $3 billion spending plan would keep real estate taxes at $1.20 per $100 of assessed value and includes a $1.05 billion general fund, a 5.5% increase over the current general fund.
The budget, which is subject to revisions by City Council, would raise salaries for eligible general employees by 3.25% or more. It also would put over $18 million toward investments in city staff, such as transitioning to the Virginia Retirement System, requiring living wages, engaging with organized labor and improving benefit packages. The city’s minimum wage would stand at $20 an hour.
Funding for Richmond Public Schools would increase by $9.6 million to nearly $249 million, a 4% year-to-year increase that the city said contributes to a 64% increase since FY17. The school system’s overall FY26 spending plan, which includes funding from federal and other sources, totals $524 million, down from $529 million this year.
The city’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan would total nearly $550 million, with more than $60 million to fund improvements to the city’s water treatment plant, which had a failure in January that caused a dayslong service outage across the city and elsewhere in the region.
In light of that outage, $38 million in improvements are proposed for next year specifically, which the city described as a “significant increase in funding.” Another $207 million is planned in the CIP for water transmission and distribution system improvements.
The full budget proposal can be viewed on the city’s website. City Council will review the document in depth over the next several weeks in a series of workshops, leading up to an initial public hearing April 14. Initial amendments from council are due April 16, and amendments are to be finalized in an April 21 work session, setting the stage for a second public hearing May 12.
Hanover supervisors approve 41-unit residential project near airport
Rogers-Chenault received approval for a 41-unit residential project near Hanover airport. (County documents)
The Hanover Board of Supervisors last week approved a 41-unit residential project on Ashcake Road.
Developer Rogers-Chenault is planning to build the development on a 7-acre site at 10009 Ashcake Road, just north of the county airport.
The project is planned for primarily townhouses that would be built in clusters of two to four units. Four new detached homes and an existing single-family home on the project site are also part of the project. Units would be in one- and two-story configurations, per a staff report.
The development would have a 50-foot buffer on Ashcake Road and a 25-foot buffer on Virginia Crane Drive. There would be a 5-foot-wide asphalt pedestrian trail within the development’s nearly 3-acre open space area to connect a multipurpose ballfield and exercise stations.
Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a rezoning request for the project. The approval changed the land’s designation from Agricultural District (A-1) to Multi-Family Residential District (RM) with conditions.
In a separate vote, supervisors also approved an amendment to Hanover’s comprehensive plan that increased the recommended residential density of the project site, bringing the development in line with the county’s long-range land-use planning document.
The original amendment proposal was for a 20-acre area that included the 7-acre site for the Rogers-Chenault project. The board decided at Wednesday’s meeting to reduce the area subject to the amendment to the project site specifically.
A staff report stated the project would achieve the overall intent of the comprehensive plan’s goal for the area, which is to provide attached and detached homes in developments that feature amenities, and is consistent with existing goals for buffers and open spaces.
Goochland EDA provides grants to support 3 businesses
The Goochland Economic Development Authority has approved a total of $60,000 in performance-based incentives to three companies under a relatively new business support program.
Dover Hall Experiences, Strickland Manufacturing and R-Tec Services are teed up for performance-based awards to support their plans to grow their operations in Goochland, according to a county news release.
Dover Hall is expanding its winemaking arm, 7 Lady Vineyards, with a new tasting room on the grounds of the estate in the Manakin-Sabot area. Dover Hall hopes to open the tasting room later this year. Strickland and R-Tec also have plans to expand with new facilities.
“Goochland County Economic Development is proud to be supporting these existing businesses and their expansions. We look forward to seeing their continued growth and the positive impact they will have on Goochland’s economy,” Economic Development Director Sara Worley said in a prepared statement.
Each business is slated to receive $20,000 through the Goochland County Small Business Expansion Incentive Program, which was launched in 2024. The county funds would be disbursed after the projects are completed.
The EDA voted to approve the incentives to each business at its Feb. 25 meeting. The county announced the awards last week.
First RIC parking fee hike in 20 years to help fund new parking decks
The terminal lobby at Richmond International Airport. (Courtesy Todd Wright/RIC)
The Capital Region Airport Commission voted to approve increasing Richmond International Airport’s daily parking rates and its rental car fee.
As of July 1, daily parking at the garages nearest the terminal at RIC will be increased from $12 to $15, and daily rates at the economy lots west of Airport Drive will go from $7 to $10.
The price hikes are being implemented to help finance two new parking decks the airport is planning: a 5,500-spot deck for the general public that would be built at the current Economy A lot, and an additional two-story deck for rental cars.
The commission voted unanimously to approve the changes at its meeting Tuesday.
The changes were outlined in a committee meeting earlier this month, where studies showed that facilities like the current rental car garage are already at capacity, and RIC’s parking rates are much lower than those of its competitors.
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