CITY OF RICHMOND

Richmond mayor proposes budget with increased fees for some services, flat funding for schools

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones proposed a budget Friday that maintains the city’s real estate and meals tax rates but calls for increasing a slate of fees for city services, including street parking, refuse collection, vehicle licenses and business licenses. The $709 million spending plan calls for level funding for the city’s school system, which had asked for an $18 million budget increase to pay for raises for teachers and its academic improvement plan. Jones said the fee increases, which will generate an estimated $9.8 million in new revenue, are necessary to maintain the $11 million funding increase the school system received last year.

The 10 Trendiest US Cities That You Can Still Afford to Buy In (Spoiler alert: Richmond is #2)

Some of us still remember the old Williamsburg, Brooklyn—a sketchy area a stone’s throw from Manhattan, best known for one famous steak house (Peter Luger’s), a large Orthodox Jewish enclave … and lots of empty buildings and random crime. Ah, memories. Then the artists started moving in. And the hipsters. And the boutiques, the uber-cool bars, the European beard–grooming salons, the artisanal pickle joints. And along with it all, the outrageous prices—the ones forcing out the very people who made the place famous. How do you know when a New York City hipster mecca is over? When the median home price is $1,275,000, a one-bedroom rental runs $3,300 (or way more), and tourists clog the streets like water bugs in a pre-gentrified tenement. So what’s a  craft beer–drinking, bike-commuting, EDM-loving, would-be home buyer to do?

Richmond school officials propose closing six schools to bridge budget gap

Richmond Public Schools officials are suggesting closing six schools and reducing bus service in order to bridge the gap between their budget request and what Mayor Dwight C. Jones has provided in his proposed spending plan. The school district had asked for an $18 million increase in funding in the fiscal year that begins in July while Jones proposed giving the district level funding in the budget he delivered Friday. At the School Board’s meeting Monday night, the district’s assistant superintendent for financial services, Ralph Westbay, said the cuts are necessary for the district to continue pursuing its academic improvement plan and offer salary increases to longtime teachers, whose pay became compressed during the recession.

College students drive up poverty rates – but not in Richmond

College students push poverty rates significantly higher in some Virginia cities, according to researchers, but Richmond’s share of poor residents remains high whether its students are factored into the equation or not. Researchers with the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service found that because of the way the federal government identifies those in poverty, college students who don’t live in dormitories artificially inflate the rates. They often report little to no income, but typically have other resources keeping them afloat, such as supportive parents and student loans.

CHESTERFIELD

Chesterfield board to vote on ending GRTC Route 81 Express bus service to downtown

Commuters using GRTC Transit System’s Route 81 Express running from Chesterfield Plaza on Midlothian Turnpike to downtown Richmond might soon have to look for alternative transportation. The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors will vote today on a proposal to discontinue the route by July 1 because of its high cost and low ridership. The daily average number of people using the 81 Express since March 2015 has been 16.

HENRICO

Henrico budget includes full funding for schools, raises

Henrico County Manager John A. Vithoulkas on Tuesday presented a budget that would fully fund public schools and provide a 2.4 percent raise to all county employees, and that proposes reducing aircraft personal property tax rates and water and sewer connection fees. The budget is based on a 3.2 percent increase in the general fund to $810.9 million, up from $785.8 million in the current fiscal year. If approved after a series of hearings next week, the budget would go in effect in July. “As we continue to find ourselves in an economic environment that continues to produce moderate revenue growth for the county, every additional dollar of revenue must be stretched farther to best serve Henrico citizens and address core service demands,” Vithoulkas wrote in his preface to the budget.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

State Senate resolution could help with study on biosolids

The often controversial subject of biosolids will be the subject of a two-year study by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), thanks to a House Joint Resolution passed Feb. 23 by the Senate. Resolution HJ120, introduced by Del. R. Steven Landes (R-25), asks JLARC, among other tasks, to study scientific findings on the health effects of biosolids and industrial residuals. The study is expected to be completed on Nov. 30, 2017.

State budget deal: 3% raise for state employees, faculty; 2% for teachers

Virginia budget negotiators have agreed on a plan that in one grand stroke provides a 3 percent raise this year for state employees and higher education faculty, saves money by paying off an old debt on state pensions, and reduces operating costs for public colleges and universities to help them keep down tuition. The agreement, pending approval by the Senate and the House of Delegates on Friday, also would provide a 2 percent pay raise for teachers and state-supported local employees this year, help sheriff’s departments and state police keep veteran pay at pace with new hires, and allow constitutional officers to offer incentives for employee career development.

ELECTIONS

GOP’s Vogel running for lieutenant governor

State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier, is entering the race to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor. “I’m running,” she told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “I’ve had a lot of people from all around the state engage me and ask me to run, and I’m incredibly flattered and incredibly humbled.” “I think this is an awesome opportunity,” added the 45-year-old lawyer, a working, married mother of six.

State Sen. Reeves announces GOP run for lieutenant governor

State Sen. Bryce E. Reeves, R-Spotsylvania on Monday officially joined the 2017 race for lieutenant governor. The announcement by the former Army Ranger and Prince William County narcotics officer, came at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond. Reeves spoke just 48 hours after his state Senate colleague, Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier, surprised many in the party by declaring her intentions to seek the GOP nomination for the same office. “Public service is in my blood,” Reeves told a gathering of four dozen supporters and family members, including several fellow Republican senators and a half dozen members of the House of Delegates.

Delegate Davis of Va. Beach joins GOP contest for lieutenant governor

The Republican field in the race to be Virginia’s next lieutenant governor is getting more crowded by the day. On Thursday, Del. Glenn R. Davis Jr., R-Virginia Beach, formally joined the 2017 fray, promising a “Virginia turnaround” of the state’s economy. “I’m running because too many Virginians are unemployed, underemployed or stuck in part-time jobs desperate for full-time work,” Davis, 42, said in a statement announcing his campaign. “It’s time for a Virginia turnaround so we can start creating jobs and growing our economy once again.”