CHESAPEAKE — The city’s proposed $1.65 billion operating budget for next year includes funding to cover pay increases, staff additional fire personnel, replace a fire and police facility and implement the Greenbrier Area Plan.
With a host of unfunded staffing and equipment needs for the city’s police and fire departments, City Manager Chris Price presented the budget this week with a few proposed options for covering the additional requests, including a potential 2-cent increase on the real estate tax rate.
The proposed operating budget, which will span July 1 to June 30, 2026, is $1.65 billion, while the multi-year capital improvement plan allocates $239.9 million in fiscal 2026.
The city will hold additional work sessions and residents can weigh in during council meetings throughout April, with budget adoption slated for May.
Fire Chief Simone “Sam” Gulisano and Police Chief Mark Solesky recently briefed council members on staffing and equipment needs they say will help fill critical vacancies and enhance overall public safety. Among the biggest needs are additional personnel for both departments, additional fire turnout gear, a rural water tanker and more technology for police operations.
Though the city is required to advertise a potential tax increase if considered, council members ultimately set the rate and can choose to keep it the same. Real estate taxes on land and property assessments provide the bulk of revenue for the city’s general fund. Chesapeake levies a tax of $1.01 per $100 of assessed value, which is among the lowest rates in the region.
Council members are now considering a tax increase to $1.03 per $100 of value. A tax rate of $1.01 would cover advanced health screenings for firefighters, increase operational budget for Animal Services and create 12 new firefighter positions. But at $1.03, the city could fund 24 new firefighters, a fire data analyst, a second set of turnout gear, a rural water tanker, the replacement of Stations 4 and 14 and the 5th precinct, additional positions for Animal Services and the requested police technology.
Excess revenue in some special revenue funds, such as mosquito control, allows for some options for council members to consider to fund the public safety requests. One option increases the real estate tax rate by 2 cents, maintains the existing personal property tax rate of $4.08 per $100 of assessed value and redirects 8 cents of the existing personal property tax rate from Mosquito Control — generating $10 million per year to fund the additional public safety requests.
Another option: enact the 2-cent real estate tax increase and reduce the personal property tax rate by 8 cents, which will generate $7.4 million annually for public safety.
And a third option that generates $2.5 million annually would maintain the existing real estate and personal property tax rates while redirecting 8 cents of the latter from Mosquito Control.
Cuts to programs and services could also be considered. The proposed budget includes a $1 per night increase to the hotel tax, bringing it to $2.
The fiscal 2026 budget estimates $415.8 million in real estate tax revenue, up 6.5% over fiscal 2025. Meanwhile, Chesapeake is seeing a slight decline in personal property tax revenue, estimating $75.9 million compared to fiscal 2025’s $76.1 million. Sales tax revenue also decreased by 1.3% to $59.8 million.
Budget Director Jonathan Hobbs said the $1.03 tax rate would amount to an additional $6.60 per month to the average residential real estate tax bill — calculated using the average home value of $395,892 following reassessments.
The operating budget increases the city’s contribution to schools by 3% at $290.1 million, which will help fund pay raises for teachers, raise the starting pay to $56,012 and increase nutrition and textbook funds.
Hobbs said while the city’s budget is increasing overall by 3%, local schools’ budgets are decreasing by 1.4% due to cuts in state and federal funding.
The budget includes $47.8 million for fire and police facility replacement and $22 million for Greenbrier Area Plan implementation. It proposes $3.4 million for general employee pay competitiveness and $6.6 million for public safety employee pay competitiveness, particularly to position Chesapeake among the top three highest paying cities in the region.
The budget also funds a few positions for the Sheriff’s Office and local courts due to the addition of a sixth circuit court judge.
Funding is also included for the Sail 2026 Virginia at Battlefield Park to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, invest in site readiness and economic development programs and add resources for Small, Women-, Minority- and Veteran-Owned (SWaM/V) business development. The budget uses $3.7 million to fully fund the South Norfolk Municipal Building.
Some capital projects are no longer funded, including a South Central water and sewer transmission project and the George Washington Highway (U.S. Route 17) widening.
Citing Old Dominion University’s Quality of Life Survey, Price said Chesapeake continues to see high marks in citizen satisfaction thanks to maintaining among the lowest tax and fee burdens in the region.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com
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