After weeks of discussion, Richmond City Council adopted a $3 billion budget for the City’s 2026 fiscal year in a 6-2 vote during its meeting Monday evening.

The approved budget is mostly unchanged from the proposal first introduced by Mayor Danny Avula in March, with key priorities including a 3.25% salary increase for City employees and a $9.6 million increase in Richmond Public Schools funding. A five-year, $50 million affordable housing investment and over $60 million for water treatment plant projects also are part of the budget.

Council members made notable changes by restoring partial or full funding for programs reduced or omitted in the original proposal, including right-to-counsel and eviction diversion efforts, as well as the Richmond People’s Budget.

“This budget reflects our community’s shared vision for building a stronger, more equitable Richmond,” Avula and Council President Cynthia Newbille said in a joint statement released after the meeting.

“With investments in Richmond Public Schools, housing affordability, and government efficiency, we continue to build on our city’s belief that every resident can thrive.”

The budget’s approval followed weeks of meetings in April, where council members and residents questioned its priorities and the development process. Those issues were raised again leading up to its approval.

“A budget is not just numbers, it’s a moral document,” said Dennis Holley, a deacon and member of Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities (RISC), during the public comment period.

“If this budget passes as is, you’re choosing to turn your backs on the very people you promised to lift up.”

As signs with messages such as “Healthy Homes Now” and “Follow the Law” were held up in the audience, more members of RISC, New Virginia Majority and residents urged council members to vote against the budget. 

Speakers shared stories of poor living conditions, criticisms of promises made by Avula before the budget’s introduction, and concerns about underfunded needs such as housing and a living wage for city-contracted workers during the 40-minute public comment period.

Council members also expressed reservations about the budget, with Kenya Gibson, 3rd District, and Sarah Abubaker, 4th District, voting against it.

 Councilmember Kenya Gibson listens during a Richmond City Council meeting on March 3.
 Photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press  

“My vote today is not a rejection of the good in this budget, it is a rejection of the process and the system of this budget,” Abubaker said.

Council members who voted to approve the budget acknowledged not everything they wanted to address was included or fully supported, with some sharing Abubaker and Gibson’s concerns over the process.

“The city did make some modest concessions to the original budget. But as it stands now, this budget falls short,” Gibson said.

The budget will go into effect July 1 through June 30, 2026.