Richmond City Council passed the city’s 2012-2013 Biennial Fiscal Plan and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) during its formal meeting tonight. Mayor Dwight C. Jones has provided the following comments on the budget’s passage: "I thank Richmond City Council for working with my team in reviewing and passing the city’s 2012-2013 biennial budget. Richmond City Council has kept changes to my proposed budget to about 1/10 of one percent for the third year in a row; representative of how we are working together to benefit City residents. This budget is sustainable and is structurally balanced. The enormous costs of the country's financial crisis and lagging economy have continued to force hard choices, but for the third consecutive year, we have not raised taxes, there have been no furloughs or layoffs, and we have not interrupted core services. “This budget continues our commitment to education as $124 million is included for schools, plus an agreement that the School System will keep...

~ Launches city's master planning process for sustainability ~ Mayor Dwight C. Jones today issued a Green Government Order calling for City agencies and employees to take actions to create more efficiency and less waste in city government and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from government operations. The Mayor also announced the launch of the City's comprehensive sustainability planning process and shared that a Community Forum is scheduled for Thursday, June 9 at the Carillon in Byrd Park. "We've made great strides as a city since I announced the Green Richmond Initiative last year," said Mayor Jones. "But there is more that we can do." Since the Green Richmond Initiative was announced, the City built its first green roof on a City facility, launched a community garden program, became the first city in Virginia to build a new compressed natural gas fueling station to service an all new fleet of compressed natural gas refuse trucks, and established t...

~Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of Finance and Administration, Director of Economic Development, and Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Named~ Mayor Dwight C. Jones today announced the following city appointments; Eric M. Tucker to the position of deputy chief administrative officer of finance and administration; Lee Downey to the position of director of economic development; and Dr. Norman Merrifield to the position of director of parks, recreation and community facilities. Tucker begins city service on April 25, Downey begins work on May 2, and Merrifield will start on May 21. During today’s announcement Mayor Dwight C. Jones stated that, “Eric Tucker’s accomplishments and comprehension of government finance and management reforms will prove to be a tremendous resource for the city of Richmond as we continue to position ourselves for future growth. Lee Downey and Norman Merrifield both possess a wealth of knowledge and experience as indicated in their many un...

The city of Richmond has been named the Best Small American City of the Future by Foreign Direct Investment (fDi) magazine. Richmond was also ranked as the third Top Small Cities FDI Strategy, and fifth overall for Small Cities Business Friendliness. According to the judging panel, the city of Richmond and Huntsville (Alabama) had the best FDI strategy amongst the small cities. The rankings are based on each city’s population range, with that of small cities being from 100,000 to 250,000 residents. Mayor Dwight C. Jones said, “Rankings such as this provide reassurance that we are moving in the right direction. As a location of the future and one that reaches full FDI potential, we have embraced economic development as a core foundational service and we are committed to maintaining an international focus. Our plan for success includes making strategic investments to develop tomorrow’s workforce; partnering with our nationally renowned universities; developing innovative business program...

~Proposal includes bonus for City employees, assumes no tax increases, and covers employee and retiree health care cost increases~ Mayor Dwight C. Jones today submitted his 2012-2013 Biennial Fiscal Plan and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The two-year plan for the general fund budget totals $1.4 billion. For the first fiscal year, FY 2012, the planned spending totals $656.6 million with the remainder dedicated to the Rainy Day fund balance. For the second year, FY 2013, the planned spending totals $657.2 million with the balance falling to fund balance. One of the key goals of the Fiscal Plan is to increase the City's fund balance with an eye towards a ten percent rainy-day fund balance. The five-year Capital Improvement Plan totals $807.1 million with FY 2012 including $193.8 million in capital improvements. The construction of the four new schools and Justice Center consume $63.1 million or 61 percent of the FY 2012 General Fund projects. The Biennial Fiscal Plan includes no t...

Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ proposed ordinance of offering City property to non-profit organizations, civic associations, community groups, and other eligible entities to be developed into community gardens was unanimously approved by Richmond City Council last night. The new ordinance requires the creation of a permit process to enable certain parcels of City-owned real estate to be used for community gardens. “This program allows the City to offer its residents something with immeasurable value – the opportunity to grow healthy food in their own neighborhoods,” said Mayor Jones. “This in turn creates a cycle of healthy behavior throughout the community. Neighbors will not only become healthier through the foods they eat, they will also get to know each other, strengthening community ties. Children will get to see where food comes from and be more excited about eating a healthy diet. Residents will take back vacant lots from possible criminal behavior and businesses will want to locate to...

Click here to view a video of the Launch Event. Mayor Dwight C. Jones launched the City’s Neighbor-To-Neighbor (N2N) High-Impact Service Plan yesterday, to promote a new era of collaborative service and volunteerism in the City of Richmond. The Plan is the product of an extensive three-month landscape assessment and consultation process led by the City’s Chief Service Officer, Paul A. Manning. The N2N Service Plan was launched during a kick-off event on March 24 at the Arthur Ashe Center. The creation of this innovative plan was made possible through a $200,000 Cities of Service Leadership Grant awarded to the City last June, funded jointly by the Rockefeller Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies. The N2N High-Impact Service Plan seeks to match community volunteers with six key service initiatives that align with the City’s Balanced Scorecard and Anti-Poverty Initiative and address critical issues affecting the high-risk populations of youth and the elderly who reside in the City of ...