Richmond officials are launching a revamped budget process that starts earlier, adds more public input and reorganizes work sessions to improve efficiency.

The changes were highlighted during a budget kickoff event last Thursday at Maymont’s Westover Meeting Room, where city leaders marked the start of the new process and celebrated the work of a joint Budget Task Force that developed six recommendations over the summer to improve how the city prepares its spending plan. 

“This process is not just about the dollars and cents of the issue, but it really is about priorities,” Mayor Danny Avula said during the kickoff event. 

The kickoff followed a tense 2026 budget cycle, when City Council members complained about too little time to ask questions and review changes. 

Along with calling for earlier collaboration between the city and council, the Budget Task Force urged the mayor to submit the budget proposal sooner and to reorganize work sessions around Human Services, Finance and Administration, Planning and Economic Development, and Operations. The panel also recommended a standardized amendment process, more public hearings on the mayor’s plan and council changes, and annual reviews to keep improving the process. 

Despite ongoing challenges and concerns about federal funding, officials said they were pleased with the results and level of cooperation so far. 

“Together we can make this the kind of budget that is responsive to our community,” Council President Cynthia Newbille said, “that also incorporates its input, the priorities, the needs for the entirety, not some, but the entirety of our city.” 

The new process will also have increased transparency, courtesy of an ordinance approved during last week’s Council meeting, by requiring city departments and agencies to post their budget requests on the city’s website by Jan. 15 each year, alongside the mayor’s proposed budget. 

“All we’re asking in this paper is to level the playing field so that we have an understanding of the true need of our departments,” 5th District Council member Stephanie Lynch said during the meeting. 

Council members voted 7-2 last week to approve the change through an ordinance sponsored by Lynch and introduced in April, despite the Task Force’s recommendations and concerns from Avula and other city officials. 

Following the budget kickoff, officials are seeking community input to help set priorities across the city’s districts. A meeting in December will establish five to seven shared priorities for Avula’s administration and the council, with public hearings required. Additional input will be gathered through town halls in January and February. 

“The fight for our people doesn’t end once you bang the gavel and close us out,” Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald said. “That just starts the process all over again so we get better the next time over and over, and I think that’s what our citizens expect.”