Public Hearings, Online Options for Residents to Provide Budget Input

Virginia Beach residents have multiple methods to provide input on the city manager’s proposed FY 2026-27 budget that was presented to City Council on March 24. 

The Virginia Beach City Council uses feedback from residents, in addition to information from City departments and other resources, to finalize the budget on May 12. Before that, the public has opportunities to provide feedback in person and online. 

The proposed budget is available for residents to view at public libraries, in the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall and online at VirginiaBeach.gov/ProposedBudget. In addition, answers to City Council questions about the budget are answered by Budget and Management Services and posted weekly. 

Public hearings 

Special formal sessions of City Council for public hearings on the proposed budget will be 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 15, at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, and 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 21, at Council Chamber, City Hall, Bldg. 1. 

Residents wishing to make comments in person or virtually must register with the City Clerk’s Office by calling 757-385-4303 prior to 5 p.m. on the day of the hearing. Residents also may speak virtually, using WebEx, with a good Internet connection and a device with a working microphone. To do so, residents would register with the WebEx link for the meeting they want to attend:  

• April 15 WebEx

• April 21 WebEx

Speakers who register in advance are called to speak in the order they registered and may speak for three minutes on any topic related to the budget. More information on speaking before City Council is available online.

Online methods 

Residents who are not able to attend the public hearings in person or virtually have other options to give feedback: 

• Send specific budget questions to budget@vbgov.com. 

• Share comments and sample budget through the interactive online Balancing Act tool. 

• Submit input now through 11:59 p.m. on May 5 via the City’s official public engagement platform, SpeakUpVB.com.  

Those who submit input through SpeakUpVB.com are requested to provide demographic data to ensure input is received from a wide range of Virginia Beach residents. Users are encouraged to create a SpeakUpVB.com profile to provide input on multiple projects without having to re-enter personal information. Users who already have a profile may be prompted to reset their password, because the site has been recently refreshed. Read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about SpeakUpVB.com for more information. 

Next steps 

City Council will ask questions of City departments on their departmental budgets during workshops on April 7, April 14, April 21 and April 28. The reconciliation workshop is May 5 for the City Council to finalize the budget, and City Council votes to adopt it on May 12.