NORFOLK, Va. — The city of Norfolk has $154 million in spending money and city leaders want you to help them decide what to do with it.
This week, officials are holding two community input sessions.
“We want to make sure that we are spending this money wisely,” said Norfolk Councilwoman Andria McClellan.
This big pot of money is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. McClellan said city leaders don’t plan to spend it all in one place.
“The goal is to provide stability for the city to ideally continue growth, to invest in areas that not only provide a return of investment in the city, but also areas where we need better services for a social safety net,” McClellan said.
City Manager Dr. Chip Filer presented a draft to the council in October, including 20 possible projects driven by council priorities.
The biggest investment is $48 million to offset revenue loss, maintain continuity of services and keep taxes from rising.
“Essentially: fill in that hole that got created from the pandemic,” Filer said.
Another $40 million would go towards Chrysler Hall renovations. That's an investment that McClellan and Filer said would keep on giving.
“It is a revenue-producing engine for the city of Norfolk,” McClellan said. “For example, in 2019 when Hamilton was here the city saw $3 million in revenue. That was for one month.”
There is $10 million to provide social safety net programming. That could be funding for flooding mitigation, park improvements, and much more.
But most importantly, the city wants to hear from you.
“We have our ideas, and our department heads have their ideas, but this is really where we are looking for community input,” Filer said. “What do residents see as high priority needs?”
There are two community input meetings this week. People can also go online to pick which projects they like and submit new ideas.
“We can’t read people’s minds, we need them to come out and tell us what they are thinking and where they want us to be prioritizing these dollars,” McClellan said.
If you can’t attend a community forum, submit your thoughts online.
November 15th at 6:30 p.m. at the Pretlow Library
November 18th at 6:45 p.m. at the Norview Community Center