Lynchburg City Council to adopt budget on last day of the fiscal year
The first of a series of newsletters this week
If the end of last week had been a quiet one, I would have loved to have spent more writing out the situation in Lynchburg where the City Council has so far been unable to agree to a municipal budget. This is an elected body that has had quite a lot of drama in recent years and documenting what’s happened would be valuable to future historians.
The same could be said about Charlottesville, a locality that went through several City Managers from 2018 to 2022 in the wake of the events of 2017. There was a time when organized groups took over meetings to make political points.
Should government be so contentious? Has it always been? Are humans more like cats than dogs? I think a lot about these questions at a time when the federal government now can force out a University president, creating more division and controversy in my community. How do these actions measure up the fundamental ideals in our country’s founding documents? Does this matter? Who gets to ask questions?
I ask questions because I’m curious. I’m not a partisan and my journalism is fueled by my story as a first generation American who moved to Campbell County at the age of six after living in the suburbs of Chicago. I became a reporter because I wanted to understand things better and I’m still not any closer to any conclusions.
I’ve managed to sustain myself as an independent journalist because I’ve got a record of writing stories from a perspective that seeks to explain from multiple points of view where possible. I had good mentors in journalism and I’ve put their lessons into practice. I do not write stories to confirm pre-established answers. That’s a different kind of job.
I created this newsletter to expand my horizon beyond Charlottesville and I’m glad to have done so. In July, I may be skipping a few editions here and there as I have another project in mind that I want to explore. And at all times, I have my city to keep an eye on as the world revolves at the same speed it always has.
Now, let’s take a look at Lynchburg.
Lynchburg City Council to adopt budget on last day of the fiscal year
I do not have a subscription to the Lynchburg News and Advance because I object to paying Lee Enterprises for multiple publications. I pay $44 a month for the print version of the Charlottesville Daily Progress, a newspaper I wrote stories for from 2009 to 2018. It now comes out three days a week.
The same goes for the Danville Register & Bee, another Lee Enterprises paper. If I subscribed to all three, I’d likely be paying about $100 a month.
Now, it is possible as this newsletter continues I will go ahead and make the investment. I cannot cover meetings outside of Charlottesville at this time other than these preview pieces.
I’ve already described the situation facing Lynchburg City Council tomorrow, but let’s start from scratch. Usually, the first place I go when I’m looking to write these summaries is the City Council agenda page.
But today I’ll quote from an email sent out by the City of Lynchburg through their media advisory list.
“On Monday, June 30, at 9:30 a.m., the Lynchburg City Council will hold a special called meeting for the purpose of setting the FY 2026 Real Property Tax Rate and conducting a second reading of the FY 2026 Budget,” reads the email. “This meeting will take place in Council Chamber, City Hall, 900 Church Street.”
When that meeting is over, the Lynchburg City Council will meet in a second special called meeting.
There’s very little information to be gleaned from the agenda for the 9:30 meeting. The agenda is very spare for the 9:30 a.m. meeting but they have to set a real property tax rate and then hold a second reading on the budget.
There’s much more on the agenda for the next meeting. That begins with a consent agenda that has two items on it that are crucial to the overall budget.
Consideration of adopting Ordinance #O-25-048 appropriating the FY 2026 Discretionary External Service Providers Budget.
Consideration of adopting Ordinance #O-25-050 appropriating the FY 2026 Schools Operating Budget by major classification
There’s no information for either of these items.
The first item under general business is adoption of a personal property tax rate of $3.00 per $100 of assessed value effective January 1, 2026.
The next item has the second reading on the adoption of the budget. The budget recommended by City Manager Wynter C. Benda totaled $252,790,282 but the one that will be adopted will be $250,318,113, a $2.47 million difference. Of that amount, $2.34 million consists of cuts to operations.
The Agenda Item Summary lists all of the meetings that have taken place from the January 9, 2025 work session, the March 11 budget introduction, the April 22 public hearing, the May 27 lodging tax public hearing, the June 10 lodging tax public hearing, the June 23 real property tax public hearing, and the first reading of the budget on June 24. There was also a public hearing scheduled that night which was canceled soon after adjournment.
There is also a document titled “Details of Budget Decisions FY202 Revised” which describes some of the steps taken. I’ll attempt to summarize.
The real property tax rate will remain at $0.89 per $100 of assessed value. This brings in an additional $785,356 in revenue because the tate is above the equalized rate.
The proposed budget was based on revenues of $242,314,644 and the use of $10,475,638 from the city’s fund balance.
There had been a proposal to lower the real property tax rate to $0.84 that would have meant an additional $4.5 million in spending cuts. This did not have a majority of votes.
Council did agree to a proposal to waive motor vehicle license fees for FY2026 which means a loss of $1.55 million in revenue.
The city will bring in an additional $300,000 in interest.
The personal property tax rate reduction from $3.80 to $3.00 will mean a loss of $4.4 million in revenue, but the city will still receive $2.2 million from the higher rate that will remain in effect for the rest of the calendar year.
A program in Neighborhood Services called the “Cars, Weeds, and Trash” program has been eliminated, which means $25,000 in revenue will not be collected.
There is an extensive list of specific cuts to government services including elimination of several positions in groundskeeping, property assessment, tourism, museums, juvenile services, social services.
Take Your Kids to Work Day has been eliminated saving $1,000.
The Downtown Library branch will be closed but there’s no dollar figure associated with this line item.
The Jackson Heights Arts Studio run by the Parks and Recreation department will be closed saving $68,499.
The Templeton Senior Center run by the Parks and Recreation department will be closed saving $92,860.
There are several specific resolutions associated with the budget adoption.
Consideration of adopting Ordinance #O-25-047 appropriating the FY 2026 General Fund Operating Budget (excluding Discretionary External Service Providers and Schools Operating Budget) (view the resolution)
Consideration of adopting Ordinance #O-25-049 appropriating the FY 2026 Operating Fund Budgets for all other funds (view the resolution)
Consideration of adopting Ordinance #O-25-051 adopting the FY 2026 - 2030 Capital Improvement Program and appropriating the FY 2026 Capital Budget (view the resolution)
Consideration of adopting Ordinance #O-25-052 appropriating $50,000 of the FY 2026 Reserve for Contingencies for use by the City Manager (view the resolution)
First Reading: Consideration of adopting Ordinance #O-25-___ setting the Personal Property Tax Relief Rate at 40.25% for January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. This Resolution shall apply retroactively as of January 1, 2025 (view the resolution)
The Lynchburg City Council next meets on July 8.
Other stories about Lynchburg:
Lynchburg budget proposal sends dozens of jobs, three centers to chopping block, Rachel Tillapaugh, WSET, June 26, 2025
Lynchburg Police celebrate grand opening of new headquarters, Leila Mitchell, WDBJ-7, June 27, 2025
Residents wage last-minute campaign to save art studio, downtown library, Mark Hand, Lynchburg News and Advance (paywall), June 29, 2025