VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WABY) – The Virginia Beach City Council voted Tuesday night to spend millions of dollars to improve four of the city's sports facilities and approve the creation of a dedicated arts fund in the city.
The resolution, which passed on a 9-1 vote, directed City Manager Patrick Duhany to allocate $18.5 million for sports infrastructure as part of the city's capital improvement program. This follows recommendations from a study by consultants Victus Advisors.
The entire capital project (#100629) has already been allocated just over $6.9 million, leveraging proceeds from the city's Tourism Investment Program (TIP).
Of the $18.5 million outlined in Tuesday's resolution, $10 million will go to the Hampton Roads Soccer Complex to construct six new artificial turf fields with lights and renovate two existing fields. It is planned to be paved.
Other funds will go toward improvements to the Princess Anne Athletic Complex, Virginia Beach Sportsplex and Field Hockey Training Center, and Pickleball Virginia Beach, the latter including championship court improvements and $2.1 million will be awarded for other short-term venue needs.
The resolution, approved Tuesday, directed the city manager to establish a dedicated funding source for arts and culture in the city. That part of the resolution had some supporters.
Arts funding would have to come not from the city's general fund but from cuts to existing programs such as the city's open space and agricultural preserve initiatives, which face cuts in Duhaney's 2024-25 budget.
Councilwoman Barbara Henry, the lone no vote, said she didn't want to cut existing programs and said the city council could use general fund resources.
“I'm one of those people who voted for very important projects in the past, and now they're going to have their money taken away from them to do this very good thing,” Henry said. “And that's my problem with this issue. I'm certainly in favor of establishing a dedicated funding source for the arts, but the money for that is taken away from other very worthy programs.” I don’t think you should.”
“We're really hoping that part of the funding for this is to leverage the money that we currently have in the general fund that supports the arts,” Henry added.
But councilor Amelia Ross-Hammond said the cuts were “modest”.
“Those dedicated funds have been around for a long time. It's time to change something. We're not saying we're raising a lot of money from these dedicated funds. But modestly. It will make a big difference for all the artists out there…”
This came up after the council meeting. I had a briefing session on Tuesday afternoon. Regarding the city's proposed $2.6 billion operating and capital improvement budget for fiscal year 2024-25.
Highlights include a proposed 2-cent real estate tax reduction (to 97 cents per $100 of assessed value), new positions for fire personnel (17 full-time) and EMS (4 full-time), and the city's curve Includes maintenance of side recycling programs (tax increases). $3.05 per household.
Some cuts have also been made due to Congressional demands to lower that tax rate and other factors, such as lower and slower growth in general tax revenues than in recent years.
Overall, homeowners with a median home value of just over $388,000 will see their taxes and waste management, sewer and water bills increase by $18.62 per month. However, a 2 cent decrease will save you about $6.50 per month.
However, the budget presented on Tuesday is still preliminary. Congress will hold public hearings on the budget in April, and a vote will not be taken until May 14.
WAVY takes a closer look at the upcoming budget.You can watch Click here for the budget presentation and Read here.
