Despite calls to increase funding for Richmond Public Schools and address capital improvement issues, Richmond City Council delayed adopting its proposed $2.9 billion 2025 budget until May 6.

In a unanimous vote, City Council members opted to postpone a vote on six ordinances focused on economic concerns, including Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s proposed budget for 2025, the adoption of a Capital Budget for the fiscal year starting

July 1 and to determine how it will be financed, and a series of capital improvement proposals for the next five years.

Other ordinances continued until May include a new pay plan for the 2024-25 fiscal year, and issuance of public improvement bonds to the city government for school projects, public utilities, buildings and facilities.

The decision and vote came after over 40 minutes of comments from several Richmond residents. Funding Richmond Public Schools was a constant refrain among speakers who begged city council to tackle needed repairs and other crucial needs.

Mayor Stoney’s proposed budget would allocate $2.5 million in Capital Improvements Plan funding to RPS, more than $237 million in operating costs and $31 million for the special fund, with a total fiscal amount of more than $271 million. Yet, the amount is about half of the $534.5 million budget that the School Board approved in February.

“We’re facing issues with wear and tear, we have tiles that are buckling, we have bathrooms without soap dispensers, there are water pipes in the ceiling that have burst,” said Steven Strauss, a seventh-grade English teacher at the four-year-old River City Middle School and treasurer for the Richmond Education Association.

“I just wonder what our school is going to look like in five or 10 years if some of these maintenance issues aren’t addressed,” he said. I’m asking you all to fully fund the budget.”

The capital improvement funding plan drew sharp criticism from several speakers who compared it to other proposed budget items such as improvements to Brown’s Island and funding for

The Richmond Police Department. Council members, in response, thanked the audience for their advocacy and emphasized their belief in the importance of a fully funded school system, while making clear that the development of the annual budget was still very much in progress.

“I want you all to understand that the budget comes to us and it is our job as council members to look at that budget and present amendments,” Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch said.

“Every year the RPS budget has gone up $10 million, $20 million, $30 million above and beyond its operating budget and every year, we have found a way to fully fund it, because our children are our future and they are the most important and precious assets that we have in this community.”

Ms. Lynch also said City Council is working to support amendments members agreed on when they met with the group Richmond Involved to Strengthen Our Communities during its Nehemiah Action Assembly, in addition to an amendment giving the right to counsel for those facing eviction.

However, she was clear that Monday’s meeting was only the start of a long decision-making process for some of the most critical aspects of Richmond.

“The ballgame is not over,” Ms. Lynch said. “This process really starts now. Amendments are due for council members on Wednesday, and we’re not done with this budget yet.”

City Council also approved ordinances and resolutions focused on infrastructure, an application to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternatives Program to fund Safe Routes to School programs at certain schools in the city, and a grant contract for the to continue operating the Health Equity Trust Fund.

City Council’s public hearings on ordinances regarding a collective bargaining agreement between the Richmond government and the Richmond Firefighters Association, the special use of properties for family housing and a Diamond District stadium, and relocating polling places will take place Monday, May 13, at 6 p.m., Tuesday, May 28, at 6 p.m. and Monday, June 10, at 6 p.m., respectively.