Lynchburg’s recent budget process wasn’t just chaotic. It exposed deeper problems that should concern every Virginian who values transparency, fiscal responsibility and representative government. When unelected staffers guide major policy decisions behind the scenes and elected leaders follow scripts instead of leading, accountability disappears. That’s exactly what happened during our city’s FY2026 budget cycle.
What unfolded in Lynchburg is a case study in how government can grow unchecked, how the public’s voice can be sidelined and how legal safeguards meant to protect taxpayers can be manipulated. If we want public spending to reflect public values, we need to confront what went wrong — and fix it.
A scripted process to insulate bureaucrats
The city manager’s proposed FY2026 budget was presented with across-the-board tax and fee increases, restoring previously waived fees and offering no meaningful relief to the families, individuals and businesses of Lynchburg. As finance committee chair, I pushed for a new policy that would require justification for every tax dollar spent. It passed in committee 2-1 and would have required council to begin the process at equalization or another agreed-upon rate and vote transparently to spend more or less.
But that effort was quickly blocked. Staff consulted with the mayor, and Vice Mayor Curt Diemer was abruptly removed from the committee and replaced by Councilmember Stephanie Reed with no explanation. Soon after, council suspended the rules of procedure during a work session to reverse the reform, putting unelected bureaucrats right back in control of your tax dollars.
Throughout the process, I worked with Councilwoman Jacqueline Timmer and Vice Mayor Diemer to equalize the real estate tax, then Councilman Chris Faraldi proposed a reckless $1.025 per $100 proposal. The best we could secure four votes for was $0.84. That compromise, demanded by Mayor Larry Taylor, came despite persistent obstruction from city staff and the refusal of Faraldi, Reed and City Manager Wynter Benda to address the real issue — excessive spending on wants, not needs.
Legal safeguards subverted
Virginia Code §58.1-3321 is clear. After reassessments, localities must calculate a “lowered tax rate” that holds real estate tax revenue flat, excluding new construction. If the proposed rate exceeds that equalization rate by more than one percent, a separate public hearing is required.
For FY2026, Lynchburg’s equalized rate was $0.767. But city ordinance undermines this by locking in the tax rate each year unless council votes to change it. This allows automatic tax hikes with every reassessment, provided a public hearing is advertised and held. The result has been recurring surpluses, driven not by public need but by bureaucratic autopilot.
Should government really be growing its savings by digging deeper into citizens’ wallets?
Public hearing games
On April 22, 2025, city staff scheduled the real estate tax hearing, the water and sewer rate hearing, and the budget hearing in rapid succession. That timing contradicts the spirit — and arguably the letter — of state law, which states in §58.1-3321 the real estate tax hearing “shall not be held at the same time as the annual budget hearing.”
At the conclusion of the real estate hearing, I made a motion to set the rate at $0.767. Councilwoman Timmer seconded. But the mayor, reading from a staff-provided script, ruled the motion out of order and recessed the meeting. When council reconvened, we simply moved on to the next hearing.
This wasn’t how things operated in 2023, when the rate was adopted right after the public hearing. What changed?
Just before the April 22 hearing, I personally observed Assistant City Manager Kent White escort the mayor to the council-manager’s office, where he received an updated script and was ushered back to White’s office behind closed doors. Few citizens realize the mayor of Lynchburg reads from a word-for-word script prepared by staff. That may not violate the law, but it certainly undermines the public’s expectation of deliberative leadership.
We didn’t fully understand how tightly controlled the mayor’s role was until Reed and Faraldi were removed from leadership. With Vice Mayor Diemer now involved, we’re learning just how deeply the bureaucracy influences the agenda, the messaging and the decisions made behind closed doors.
Gimmicks to distract from overspending
Faraldi, Reed and Wilder introduced policies that only made the situation worse. Faraldi proposed raising the lodging tax to the highest rate in Virginia — even higher than New York City — with no supporting market study. Staff backed this plan, but it ignored basic economic principles like supply and demand. Local business leaders, including a CEO from a top nuclear technology firm, warned they could relocate major conferences elsewhere over the measure.
Faraldi branded it a “Lynchburg tariff,” claiming visitors would bear the cost. But he failed to acknowledge the price sensitivity of the short-term rental and lodging industries or the potential downstream impacts on restaurants and tourism. No evidence was offered to show this wouldn’t harm our economy.
When council tried to explore additional ways to cut spending, the big spenders simply walked out of the work session.
Then came another distraction: Faraldi’s proposal to eliminate the car tax in exchange for a massive increase to the real estate tax. His $1.025 proposal represented a 34% hike over the equalized rate and would have shifted the burden to homeowners. It also risked disqualifying Lynchburg from future state aid, especially if the General Assembly revises the Personal Property Tax Relief Act as both gubernatorial candidates have proposed.
There was no fiscal analysis. No staff study. Just another political stunt with potentially devastating economic consequences.
Citizens rise up, and the house of cards falls
When a final public hearing was scheduled on Faraldi’s plan, public opposition was overwhelming. I received over 100 emails against it, and fewer than 10 in support. Nearly 140 voicemails were submitted, more than 75% of which opposed the proposal. Rather than listen to the citizens, they canceled the hearing.
Mayor Taylor, Wilder, Reed and Faraldi left the meeting without even voting to adjourn. Vice Mayor Diemer, Councilwoman Timmer and I stayed and listened to the voices of our citizens.
Throughout the process, Benda largely sat silent, leaving direction to his deputy and the CFO. Meanwhile, his office received a 10% salary and benefit increase above the standard cost-of-living adjustment. No effort was made to reduce this excess to protect services for citizens. Staff also blocked or delayed access to key information. In one case, I personally watched the press get denied access to film asbestos-containing floors in a fire station — floors the fire chief falsely claimed were intact.
The narrative control must end. The citizens of Lynchburg deserve the truth.
Budget gimmicks, political theater and real consequences
Faraldi and Reed ultimately folded before Benda’s bloated budget. They failed to grasp how revenue and spending are linked. Council didn’t receive a full line-item reconciliation until the night of the first reading — delaying transparency while hoping the $0.89 rate would default into place, delivering an $11.2 million tax hike without a recorded vote.
On June 24, Faraldi even made a motion to exclude the real estate rate from the budget’s second reading — just one week after walking out on the public hearing. His intention was clear: let the tax hike pass silently.
When council finally considered the $0.84 rate, Benda retaliated by proposing $630,000 in cuts to police and criminal justice funding. It was a blatant attempt to pressure council into supporting higher taxes. Thankfully, Mayor Taylor joined fiscal conservatives in restoring the funding. Reed and Faraldi voted against funding police and fire, EMS, 911 dispatchers and our criminal justice system.
While we succeeded in stopping the most extreme tax hike, the $0.84 rate came at a cost. Benda pushed cuts to the Templeton Senior Center, Jackson Heights Art Studio, Downtown Library branch and some social services positions. Timmer, Diemer and I proposed balanced alternatives that staff confirmed would work, but Council adopted the budget as-is, then added $483,414 in spending without identifying where the money would come from. They claimed they would “figure it out in August.”
That’s not budgeting. That’s fiction — and it may have violated our financial management policies. But the narrative being pushed now asks you to forget the numbers and move on.
A dangerous effort to silence dissent
As if that weren’t enough, city staff recently proposed a change to council’s rules of procedure, allowing a majority to permanently block any item from being discussed. This is a blatant attempt to silence dissent and consolidate power behind unelected staff and a compliant council majority.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” Right now, Lynchburg’s staff is working to disarm the lamb. They want to silence the fiscal conservative minority elected to challenge reckless spending.
This isn’t about efficiency. It’s about control.
Real reform is still needed
The system is broken. Lynchburg’s ordinance must be brought into compliance with Virginia law. Council should be required to vote every year to set the real estate tax rate after reassessments to protect the citizens from magic tax increases. Spending should follow policy, not the other way around.
At our first meeting of FY2026, Faraldi, Reed, Wilder and Mayor Taylor blocked an effort to align our ordinance with §58.1-3321. They voted to keep the automatic increase language and once again followed flawed legal advice from the city attorney, even after he allowed an earlier violation of the public hearing requirement.
This raises a serious question: Can Lynchburg’s tax increase be challenged in court for failing to comply with state law?
Lynchburg taxpayers deserve real leadership, not scripted theater. Reform the ordinance. Rein in the spending. Demand transparency.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s time the mayor tears up the script being handed to him on the third floor of City Hall — and replace the people writing it.
Our future depends on it.
Misjuns is a member of Lynchburg City Council, elected at-large. He is a Republican.
