Lynchburg’s city manager will present the city’s proposed 2027 fiscal year budget this week, kicking off a months-long process of work sessions and public engagement opportunities leading up to a scheduled budget adoption in late May.
Residents’ first opportunity to hear about the budget is set for 6 p.m.Thursday, during a city council meeting in city hall. The budget presentation will include proposals for the city’s general operating budget, water and stormwater rates, and capital improvement program for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and runs through June 30, 2027.
Thursday’s presentation is the first of many budget meetings scheduled for this spring. The city council’s budget retreat is set for April 3, followed by two work sessions on April 14 — one with the school board and one with the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company.
The first time residents can weigh in on the proposed budget will be during a public hearing scheduled for 6 p.m. April 23.
From there, the city council is scheduled to hold a budget work session on April 28, a first reading of the budget on May 12 and a second reading of the budget on May 26. The city has historically adopted its budget during the second reading meeting.
Public budget information sessions
Lynchburg residents can learn about the proposed budget at a series of information sessions next month. The informal drop-in meetings are scheduled for:
- April 16, 3 to 5 p.m., Bruster’s in Ward 4
- April 17, 10 a.m. to noon, River Ridge Mall in Ward 3
- April 17, 3 to 5 p.m., MayLynn’s Creamery Boonsboro in Ward 1
- April 18, 10 a.m. to noon, Lynchburg Community Market in Ward 2
Specific meeting information and additional budget resources, including a capital improvement project dashboard, can be found on the city’s budget webpage. As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, budget documents had not yet been posted to the city’s website.
City department heads were asked to submit flat budgets for Lynchburg’s proposed 2027 fiscal year budget, said Chief Financial Officer Donna Witt at a January work session.
“They couldn’t turn in a budget that exceeded their ’26 budget allocations. … So if anything was contractual or inflationary, they had to be absorbed within that allocation. That’s not happy people,” Witt said, referencing department heads who struggle to keep their budgets flat as prices rise. “And then, if you have a new program or a service that you wanted to do, you had to figure out how to do it within that flat budget. So maybe you stop doing something to do something else.”
Last year, Lynchburg’s budget season stretched from March 11, when the city manager first presented the proposed budget, to June 30, when the 2026 budget was adopted on the last day of the 2025 fiscal year. It made significant investments in city initiatives, including a cost-of-living adjustment for general city employees, a pay progression plan for sworn police and fire personnel, and a contribution of more than $80 million to the capital improvement program, which includes $60 million to maintain aging school infrastructure, $12.5 million to renovate the library and $10.4 million to improve Miller Park Pool.
Last year’s budget discussions often centered on the city’s real estate tax rate, which was reevaluated as city council members wrestled with the reality of an uncharacteristically high real estate assessment.
The approved 84-cent rate in effect today represents a decrease in the tax rate from 2025 but an increase in tax payments for most residents due to the reassessment that upped the value of real estate. City department heads made cuts last budget season to adjust their spending levels to the lowered city revenue, resulting in the closure of the city’s environmental learning center called the Nature Zone, reduced operating hours for the Lynchburg Visitor Center and Museum and the loss of some staff positions and other services.
Real estate reassessments happen every other year in Lynchburg, meaning real estate values will hold steady during this budget season.