City of Norfolk’s FY 2023 Budget Adopted

NORFOLK, VA - On Tuesday, May 10, Norfolk City Council approved the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget. The $1.7 billion plan aims to transition the city into post-COVID operations. It continues the expansion of key services and provides city agencies with the tools and resources to effectively operationalize the plan.

The budget development included the following guiding principles:

• Fund the right services for today and tomorrow rather than focus on the pre-COVID status quo;
• Strengthen our ability to recruit and retain the employees that provide core government services;
• Build a leaner more focused government.

The Proposed FY 2023 General Fund Budget is $1.01 billion - 8.9 percent more than last year. The total operating budget is $1.36 billion - 7.4 percent more than last year. The total spending plan is more than $1.7 billion and includes $299.8 million in Capital Improvement Plan funds, $6.4 million in HUD entitlement grants, and $50.3 million in anticipated grant funding.

The budget includes:

• No tax or fee increases (except for automatic increases);
• Investing in Team Norfolk with a five percent general wage increase for all employees and increase in the city minimum wage:
  • $18/Hour for permanent employees
  • $15/Hour for temporary employees
• Enhancing public safety pay and pay plan with $2.4 million:
  • Sworn Police, Fire-Rescue or Sheriff employees with at least six years of service will receive no less than a 7.5% salary increase
  • Create a Master Police Officer (MPO) rank, automatically promoting officers with at least six years of service to MPO, which results in an average salary for officers with six or more years of experience increasing from $61,938 to $70,287
  • Create a Senior Sheriff's Deputy rank and regrade EMT-A Firefighter rank to align with regional peers and improve pay parity
• Supporting Norfolk Public Schools with a $10.6 million funding increase and $750 million over the next 30 years for new school construction. Five-year CIP (FY 2023 - FY 2027) includes funds to:
  • Design and construct a new Maury High School ($150 million)
  • Renovate Booker T. Washington High School ($40 million)
  • Construct a new Norview Elementary School ($37.5 million)
• Improving direct services to residents with $8.8 million and 85 full-time employees to provide new and expanded services and $50 million in fiscal year 2025 for a new Norfolk Fitness and Wellness Center;
• Supporting the city's most vulnerable residents with $2.8 million and 38 full-time employees to support The Center homeless shelter and to enhance the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Center and provide 24/7 mobile crisis support services;
• Improving organizational effectiveness with $9.6 million to purchase 104 vehicles/pieces of equipment and $4.0 million to improve hardware and software systems.

For more information on the budget, visit the Budget Department's webpage on www.norfolk.gov. Find City Council meetings to view there or on the City of Norfolk's YouTube channel.