The Roanoke City Council approved the 2026-27 municipal budget during a meeting that ended in about 30 minutes on Monday afternoon, after months of long discussions about the implications of proposed cuts.
The budget included several cost-cutting measures to close an $18 million deficit, including cutting about 30 positions and reducing $50.4 million in projects from the capital improvement program.
The council voted 5-2 to approve the $421.5 million budget, with Vice Mayor Terry McGuire and Councilman Nick Hagen voting no. Hagen also voted no on the real estate tax rate, which will remain at $1.22 per $100 of assessed value.
Hagen said after the meeting that his opposition came from a “moral” standpoint — he said he’s opposed to the council salary raises that started last year, which is why he said he voted no on the budget. On the city’s tax rate, Hagen said it’s relatively high compared to other localities in the region.
McGuire, who also voted no on the capital improvement program and the payment plan for employees, said Monday evening that he has concerns about the city’s ability to “stay on top of and manage this budget.” He said he doesn’t feel like he had enough information throughout the budget process, and that the council and city manager should not have taken pay raises this year.
“I think that it is up to all of the council to demand accountability from ourselves and the city manager,” he said. “We don’t run the day to day operations. I’m looking to see greater accountability across the organization.”
What was cut?
Finance staff told the city during previous budget presentations that fiscal year 2027 would be the first in recent history when expenditures are expected to outpace revenues. The city is also expecting its smallest revenue increase in the last six years, at $6.9 million.
Another consideration in the approved budget is that the city will issue about three years’ worth of debt — $79 million — in the next year, to convert short-term financing to long-term financing for capital projects. That debt was supposed to be issued previously, but due to staff turnover, that never happened, said Tanya Catron, the city’s capital improvement finance manager, during a council meeting in late March.
Of more than 1,600 total jobs, there were 201 vacant positions across municipal departments, according to an email from the city’s communications staff in late March. Of those, 29 jobs are being eliminated in the new budget, 80 to 95 will be frozen and 70 to 85 will be reassessed during the fiscal year. The city will also bring average salary increases from 3% down to 2%.
More than $50 million was cut from the capital improvement program for projects, including upgrading Fire Station #2 on Williamson Road, renovating the Fallon Park Pool and expanding the Belmont Branch Library.
A number of other requests went unfunded and cuts were made in the upcoming year’s budget, including public safety departments and parks and recreation, which will have no funds for maintenance after fiscal year 2027.
At least $21 million remains available
At a budget study session last week, City Manager Valmarie Turner told the council it has about $21 million in funding available to use on a number of capital improvement projects, and the city discussed using those funds on Fire Station #2, the Belmont Branch Library, and various parks projects.
Mayor Joe Cobb told reporters after the budget adoption that the council is still considering how best to use those millions. He said a decision could potentially be made in June.
The city also has millions in American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funding that it must use before December, but Turner told the council during the budget study that staff was working out exactly how much is available. Cobb said Monday that information has not been shared with the council yet.
Cobb said after the meeting that this budget was the toughest one he’s dealt with in eight years on the council, and he’s seen the most community engagement this time around.
Much of that engagement has come from advocates for school funding and the Roanoke City Council of PTAs/PTSAs. The city changed its longstanding funding formula with the schools in 2025 and required the division to return its fund balance to the city, which it is now considering using for the city’s needs.
Emily Casey, with the RCCPTA, said after the meeting that she did not expect the city to change anything in the budget with regard to the schools, but that continuing to show up to meetings is important, and that this is the most involved she’s ever been with the city’s budget process.
Rebekah Murphy, also with the RCCPTA, said she attended Monday’s meeting because she “personally wanted to look [the council] in the face” during the budget vote.
The schools can ask to keep the $4.3 million that the city returned to the division for learning cottages at the city’s two high schools, Cobb said. The division decided not to go through with the cottages due to budget constraints.
Cobb said moving forward, the council will be looking to get more in-depth budget updates from departments to monitor spending.
He said the major cuts from the last two years don’t necessarily mean that next year’s budget will be easier for the city. Proposed cuts on a federal level might lower the amount of Housing and Urban Development funding the city receives for permanent supportive housing and other housing-related programs, which Cobb said have “proven very effective” in Roanoke.
“If that money goes away, then we have to find that money somewhere, and that might be something we have to consider adding on, which means we would have to reduce other things in the budget or in the capital budget,” Cobb told reporters after the meeting. “That kind of feels like a moving target right now.”
