City Council Budget Work Session - Outside and Nonprofit Agencies   3/12/2026

There's a lot of scenes where I'm still waiting for my virus, I just don't know what I'm talking about.

There's a lot of scenes where I'm still waiting for my virus,

I'm so serious.

I'm so serious.

I'm so serious.

I'm so serious.

Thank you so much

I had no gloves.

Get ready.

I'm not the only one who expects to forget.

He tracks the governor in the past because he's half of his team.

I think that's it.

I mean, I mean, there's a lot of people.

I said, well, should I have this ready?

It sounds like it.

But simply hope.

and Natalie Oschrin.

I call the Charlottesville City Council work session to order.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Here, Wade?

Here.

Councilor Vang?

Here.

And Councilor Snook is traveling.

City Manager, Sanders.

So I'll turn it over to Ms. Hamlin.

And so with that, I will turn it over to Hunter Smith.

Thank you.

Do you want to talk about arts and culture?

And then the percent change is just something from this year.

From the request.

Right.

I would have a flex fund to do things like this.

How much is in the Quality of Life Fund?

We're working towards it being a three-year project before we settle on what it comes in at for a recurring amount.

So it came in through VCF, it was flagged?

And then it comes to miles.

So that review team never saw these, it just went straight years.

So intergovernmental, everybody comes through that same thing.

Moving on, we'll move on to Madeline who will talk about HOPPS.

So that was why we made the corrections to those percentages.

And that's Hope House or Pocham?

So that keeps all of the hops allocations at $575,000 total, but maintains the same funding tiers, but it does result in a little bit less funding for those tier two and tier three applicants.

So since they're getting awarded the formula-based x percentage of requests, does the request have to be specifically tied to certain things that are outlined or can they just request whatever money they would like and hope to get x amount funded?

And I know that if it were to go away, we would have an even larger crowd here tonight because all of the recipients of this award are really appreciative of what the city contributes.

I'm available.

Thank you.

So it is showing an increase here, but that was actually about a $10,000 decrease in that program in the funding, but it does add about $50,000 to the funding in the general fund.

Chrissy, sorry, you said for CRHA and BAR, they had requested X money, but it looks like BAR got funded above their request.

Is that right?

There's a switch.

That looks like an error.

There's a lot of boxes on these.

They understand every once in a while they're being switched.

The intergovernmental agencies, most of these are agreements or MOUs that the city has.

So this reminds me of the bottom one, the 4500, this part of the central Shenandoah.

But it is a fun, we do treat it like a fundamental agency.

Yeah.

Excuse me.

We'll confirm.

A lot of these, we have board members on the boards for these agencies, and they're the result of contractual changes.

Oh, excuse me.

Saying for this slide,

It's both.

Although it is operations and most of the increase that you see here is related to the debt service for the renovations.

Excuse me.

And so overall, there was about 20.7 million that was requested, 20.4 that was funded, and that resulted in about a $1.4 million or 7.4% change over the last year.

So may I ask a question?

Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

And then we'll be moving towards adoption on April 9th.

So we can just chime in if you have questions.

Before we do that, the community budget forum that's here next week is like the different stations with staff that people can walk around or so.

Yeah.

Cause those were called that same thing.

Okay.

Thank you.

So did you have any comments on just in general?

There's not a space for that.

And then if there is a desire to go beyond through your discretionary fund, you would make those determinations based on how you strategize about that because you have a limited amount of funding that is available.

and that's it for the year.

$150,000 for the rest of the year.

And if anything came in between March and July, it would be held until July to begin the new budget cycle.

Do you want to know how much we have left in our current fiscal year?

It's 365, I think.

How much did we hang on for a rainy day versus spend?

Yeah, you were able to reach the 1st of March with 365,000 available.

Okay, so we held on to a bit.

A little bit.

And thanks again for the review team for all their contributions and performance.

Yeah.

So do you have any questions now or comments?

I anticipate we will have things to talk about, so if we could get this resolved sooner, then that would mean that that meeting would actually go as needed, because the 9th is coming fast, and that's all we got.

So before we get comments from the public, do we have any clarification questions from council or anything right now?

I kind of want to hear.

30 slots in a few minutes, that'll give us some time at the end still to chat.

Okay.

Our first speaker is Sakina Al-Khatif.

Remember it's two minutes and if you could tell that the next person on today can be ready so we can, they can be ready.

Good evening.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Adam Nemecz, Paula Vigination Bradford, and Kathy Boyd.

We'd love to be considering the 91% level in the future, and thanks so much for your time.

Thank you.

Good evening, my name is East Johnson and I'm in the seven.

Good evening.

Programs like this help kids like myself feel more confident about our future and hopefully help us grow into adults who are smart and confident with harmony.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Great job.

I'm the Executive Director of Relief Seagull and this is the Green Team.

Good evening, I'm Sanju Subba.

We are growing up here in people called Charlottesville City of Trees, but this is really true.

It's like losing a massive forest right under our nose.

We're here to ask you guys to fully fund and reduce trees on trees, planting prevention, and education programs because there are generations, this city is going to be livable.

I want to talk about equity for a second.

On a summer day, those neighborhoods can be 20 degrees hotter than the shaded ones.

While some kids are playing in the shades, others are quite literally burning their hands on playground equipment and are stuck inside because their families cannot afford massive AC bills, called high-to-sun beating boundaries.

You're giving families a break on their bills and cooling down the streets where we live.

A huge old oak tree lumber store provides air, shade, and beauty right now.

Our preservation program helps people keep those legacy trees alive, especially for neighbors who can't afford $2,000 to hire an army.

In four years, since Green Seaville started, we planted 452 trees, preserved 100 trees, and over 600 young people like us have learned about trees.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you.

Nancy Littlefield, Lauren Brondike, and Douglas Stu.

I want to give you confidence that the resources that you provide for us will continue to help all residents of City of Charlottesville to make sure we have end-of-life care support in all regions of the city.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your time.

So bold is coming up again, I think I heard $1.5 million and I know that they have a small

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

Thank you, Amanda.

Cara McCorkin, Herb Dickerson, and Anthony.

We value our partnership with the City and remain committed to working together to bring this inclusive community play space to reality.

Kevin Parks and Shante Davis.

And this is the program manager that runs the outreach team.

I think it's so successful.

Thank you.

Amen to that.

Thank you for your time.

And so as we, the next person, Kena, who is it?

Jane Mills followed by Molly Jackson and Carrie Clemons.

I'm sorry.

Thank you for your continued support and for hearing my concerns.

Thank you.

Holly Jackson, Gary Clemens, and Daniella Pretzer.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Harry Clements, Daniela Kretzer, and I think this is Joseph Chaney.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Mr. Chaney, Brian McKay, Suzanne Bowers.

It's not just one race of people.

I'm a coordinator at the bridge line and I took that opportunity.

I'm very grateful for the bridge line.

Thank you.

Ronnie McKay, Suzanne Bowers, and Kate Lambert.

Thank you for our continued partnership and your thoughtful consideration of our request.

That's a local

Thank you.

Suzanne Bowers, Kate Lambert, Caleb Nelson,

And I have my contact information.

It is.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Caleb Nelson, Dina Duke, Lindsay Hedlund.

Thank you for your time and all I need to speak.

Thank you.

Deanna, Lindsay, and then Courtney Paul.

Counselors, many of you have attended our events in the past few years, and I just really want to say thank you for your time out of your busy schedules.

Thank you.

Cindy Hepler, Courtney Cole, Doreen Bonner.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Courtney Polk, Dorton Bonnet, Megan Gildig.

Greg, good evening.

Good evening.

Thank you for your time and for your consideration.

It was good work.

Doreen Bonnet, Megan Wheelie, Tim Basil-Wood.

We served 54 families.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

We got you, we understand.

Megan Gilday, Kim Basilwood, Melissa Stepp.

Thank you for being our partners in that work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Melissa Stever, Kate Chirico and Quentin Correll.

Yeah.

I look forward to reading them.

Thank you.

Paige Charicos, Clinton Harrell, and Ashley Sonellis Matthews.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Quentin Harrell, Ashley Sonelly Matthews, George and Matt.

So that is an investment in our local business opportunity and the food economy that serves us all in this committee.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ashley Sinelli Matthews, George Annette, or the mayor.

Has this already been addressed or should I bring it up?

I've got to get back to you.

OK, it's all good.

It was really just the flipping of the numbers.

Thank you all so much for your support.

Thank you.

George and Matt, Morgan Hugh, Marissa Williamson,

I do my work from the heart, so I'm going to speak from the heart.

I want to appreciate y'all for everything that y'all have given us.

All right.

Those are our final speakers.

Thank you for the work.

Bellamy Brown.

Thank you for your time and your commitment to a more inclusive Charlottesville.

Derek Rush is our final speaker.

We actually have a gentleman that's one of our tenants in our house and just give him a second to speak as well, if that's okay.

So if you want to be Nick, sir, you have your whole two names on it.

You look great today.

No, it was kind of a long night.

Anyone else like to speak?

And then that kind of cuts a little bit of the money and I'm gone.

That's exactly what I was going to say.

Don't forget about my parking spot.

Silos, Admissions, it's not pretty, but I'm not saying it can't be done, but you're not the first to talk to them.

Maybe they might want to do it themselves.

Did we want to discuss this tonight?

So we can take some time to digest, make notes in our spreadsheets and circulate those.

So I want to make sure that he has nothing to advise us of as we start to go through this process, because strengthening it is what I'm always after.

the council has to decide as a group which groups get additional funding so it's important as you're being approached by members of the community you're having conversations with these lovely folks who have shown up that we're not promising things because only the only the council can act for the council that's about all I've got just on the spot but I'm sure as Miss Ford might have at the conclusion maybe I can do a post-op and we can that will happen I promise you but I just wanted to make sure he had a chance to advise you in this this activity

So I think that what I heard, I'm sorry, Mike, you were there in a second.

Just to people have a sense of even ballpark, the total amount they're looking to change at this point, not the specific agencies, but

That is your single source.

I will always remind you of that.

before we come up, before I come up with a number.

So, yes, I may have some additional thoughts.

Michael, did you have a number you were working with?

Thinking about years past, I don't have specific agency recommendations in mind, but if we're going to make changes, I was seeing kind of in the ballpark of like $100,000 or so, just because we know there are going to be requests throughout the year, especially if our year-end surplus is kind of soft earmarked for a lot of other things.

So yeah, I'll be discussing.

And so, yeah.

And depending on the turnout next week, we'll have an opportunity to do some additional work as well.

So every Thursday of this month.

Back here.

Any other questions or comments?

So thank you all so much for everything you do.

May I get a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

All in favor, please say yes.

Yes.

All opposed, please say no.

Thank you.