CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Charlottesville City Council at Monday night’s meeting will begin the process of considering a 2-cent real estate tax rate hike as proposed in the City Manager’s budget with a public hearing about advertising that rate hike.

It’s the first of two public hearings on setting the advertised rate that City Council cannot exceed but can accept or even lower if it chooses.

A second public hearing will be held at its April 6 regular meeting after which Council will likely hold the actual vote approving the tax rate advertisement.

Although he may or may not support advertising that tax rate, Councilor Lloyd Snook told The Schilling Show earlier this month he wants to propose using some of the 2026 $10-million surplus to supply the needed $2.4-million additional revenue City Manager Sam Sanders proposed to balance the 2027 budget.

Snook said Sanders proposed the hike under constraints of city policy that has prohibited use of a previous year’s surplus to balance the next year’s budget.

“I think we need to relax at least for this year the policy that says we don’t take our last year’s budget surplus and apply it to a budget shortfall in the coming year,” Snook told The Schilling Show.

“I’ve always looked at it as everything that government does is subject to the same cost-of-living pressures that all of us are experiencing, and what I’m looking for in terms of what the assessed value is and in terms of what the rate is, I’m really reluctant to raise the rate because that implies that we’re not making due with the same amount of a sort of cost-of-living adjustment that all our residents are having to deal with.”

The hike would raise Charlottesville real estate tax rate from the current 98-cents-per-$100 assessed to one dollar.

Other action items include some ordinance changes that includes repealing a portion of the city code around City Council establishing a standing finance committee to consider city finances.

“The finance committee described in these provisions is no longer utilized, and the responsibilities described in these sections are carried out through other established administrative and governance processes,” according to the policy briefing summary.

Another change to city code Council will consider pertains to appointed school board members while Charlottesville has elected its school board members since 2006.

The policy briefing summary said, “The proposed ordinance repeals those obsolete provisions and recodifies the remaining reporting provision to maintain clarity and consistency within the Code.”

The third city code change would allow the City Manager to appoint a Deputy City Manager to sit on the Retirement Plan Commission.

“The amendment allows the City Manager to designate the most appropriate senior staff member to participate in Commission meetings, ensure continued representation from the City Manager’s Office, and provide administrative flexibility without altering the responsibilities or authority of the Commission,” according to the policy  briefing.

Council will also start the process of establishing a Charlottsville Public Art Program in an ordinance, and consider appropriating at its next meetings $100,000 funding for the initiative.

In the afternoon report session that begins the meeting, Council will hear about how collective bargaining is expected to impact future budgets.

According to the policy briefing, “The City of Charlottesville is one a few municipalities to have approved Collective Bargaining Ordinances and negotiated contracts with segments of their employees. Charlottesville City Schools also approved collective bargaining and now have to union contracts, one active and one pending budget approval with an effective date of July 1, 2026.”

The briefing continued, “The increased costs resulting from these contracts is a solid indication of the value placed on the existing workforce and prioritizing their needs. The issue now facing both operating budgets is the reconciliation of increasing compensation and benefits costs and how to address other needs and priorities.”

“This Work Session is intended to visualize the impacts of collective bargaining as a priority of both City and Schools workforce groups and the unintentional structural imbalances that must be recognized and resolved within the production and management of balanced operating budgets.”

City Manager Sam Sanders noted at the last meeting there are four current collective bargaining contracts in regard to city staff, and Council in 2023’s enabling ordinance approved up to six bargaining units.