ROANOKE, Va. – After months of debate, disagreements and tough decisions, Roanoke City Council passed the budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
Council approved a $421.5 million spending plan, but only after making major cuts citywide.
The final budget eliminates more than 100 positions, reduces annual pay raises, and cuts more than $50 million from capital improvement projects.
The city’s largest expenditures are personnel costs, which make up $172.6 million of all General Fund expenditures. The next highest is Roanoke City Public Schools, with $108 million allocated.
Just a few weeks ago, the city was facing a nearly $19 million shortfall. City leaders were able to balance the budget without raising taxes, but some departments took big hits.
One of the most impacted departments was Roanoke City Public Schools. The school district was left with a $14 million shortfall, largely due to changes to the district’s funding formula. As a result, the district announced cuts including 170 positions, eliminating activity buses, and potentially phasing out the PLATO program for gifted students.
10 News spoke with two members of the Roanoke City Council of Parent Teacher Associations, Rebekah Murphy and Emily Casey.
“Frustration. Frustration for this year, certainly,” said Casey. “Hopeful for continued talks and hopefully we can develop something in the interim year and come out in a better place for the next budget cycle.”
“Upset. We’re upset,” said Murphy of her initial gut reaction. “We’re disappointed. We know that the city has misspent money. We also know that Roanoke City Public Schools have been very responsible stewards of the money given to them.”
“We also have three council seats that are up for re-election in November,” Murphy added. I think that it’s important for people to watch what happened today, look at where our city’s current priorities are—because it’s not education—and remember that in November."
Mayor Cobb said that this has been the toughest budget season he’s had during his eight years on council.
“Budgets are tough,” said Cobb. “I equate this to, you know, our house has a budget, but this is a household of 100,000 people. And we have a lot of people with very important needs and priorities. And it’s really incumbent upon us to identify what are the most essential priorities and how do we fund those.”
Tensions rose between council members before the voted.
“Any vote nay is only of political expedience,” said Councilman Peter Volosin.
When it came time to vote to adopt the budget as a whole, Vice Mayor S. Terry McGuire and Councilman Nick Hagen voted no.
“I know that some people will believe it’s politically motivated, it was moral for me,” Hagen said after the vote, citing his disagreement with a 2024 decision to increase council pay by 15 percent.
Cobb emphasized the budget challenges posed by decreased sales tax revenue, future reduced federal funding for HUD and statewide collective bargaining agreements. He also highlighted how the city’s transition to a new financial software posed
Cobb added that the city is looking ahead and closely monitoring spending and revenue on a monthly basis to avoid getting in the same situation again.
The city did identify $21.56 million in funding available for reallocation and identified several potential ways to spend that money, including Roanoke City Fire-EMS Station #2, an expansion at the Belmont Library, Fishburn Mansion and the Caretaker’s Cottage at Washington Park.
“We’re still considering how best to utilize that [money],” said Cobb. “We haven’t made any decisions on that yet.”
City leaders are also still waiting to find out how much leftover American Rescue Plan Act funding is available to spend.
To see the full budget, click here.