VIRGINIA BEACH — New funding for the arts, the hiring of 30 firefighters and financial support for a community football league are among some of the recommended additions to the city’s proposed fiscal year 2025 budget announced at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The last-minute changes came after the City Council weighed feedback from city department heads and residents in the weeks since the city manager presented the $2.6 billion proposed budget . The proposals include increases to the operational budget and modifications to the six-year Capital Improvement Program, which are expected to be voted on next week.

But some council members said Tuesday they’re disappointed in the process known as reconciliation, which also included Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson reaching out by phone to council members to discuss their individual budget priorities before staff drafted the document.

“There’s disparity in this process,” said Councilman Chris Taylor. “I hope next year we can actually be more collaborative.”

Amendments made as a part of reconciliation fully reflect Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ budget . An estimated $17 million for schools from the state budget, which hasn’t been approved yet, is included.

The City Council has recommended an additional 13 firefighters on top of the 17 included in the proposed budget, for a total of 30 new firefighters . The department has been dealing with burnout as a result of overtime shifts due to low staffing. A reserve of $250,000 would also be set aside for an updated salary market survey to be conducted.

A plan to use 20% of the amusement tax , or $1.6 million, would be redirected from the Tourism Investment Program fund to a dedicated fund for art initiatives. The amusement tax is an admission tax on concert, theater and other entertainment tickets collected citywide.

Taylor had asked for support of the Great Neck Athletic Association’s youth tackle football program. It could receive a one-time contribution of $36,858, along with $30,000 for Men of Faith’s basketball camp. Taylor had also requested additional funding for other youth sports programs affiliated with city parks and recreation, but it was not included.

“With any budget, there’s give and take,” said Councilman Joash Schulman.

Money would be allocated for two 2025 festivals, $100,000 to the LAMBS Foundation for its Juneteenth festival and $90,000 to Hampton Roads Pride for its Pride at the Beach Festival. But future funding would be contingent on further direction from the City Council following a report from the city’s Festival Task Force . The report is scheduled to be released at the end of this month.

Several other City Council requests were outlined in the reconciliation process including a report from the city manager for new tax revenue sources and modifications on personal property tax rates to “ensure relief is provided to the people who need it most.”

The proposed budget includes a 2 cent reduction in the real estate tax rate, which is currently 99 cents per $100 of assessed value. But some community and council members have recently questioned how far-reaching the reduction would be, particularly for people who rent and won’t likely benefit from it. Councilwoman Jennifer Rouse had asked the city manager to explore ways to provide tax relief for residents who don’t own their homes.

Also, given that the proposed budget also includes a 2% reduction for most regional grants, those entities would be notified that additional cuts could be forthcoming as the City Council continues to assess its partnerships with nonprofit agencies, according to the reconciliation process.

In addition, the council has asked the city manager to look into ways to fund the purchase of ambulances for the city’s nonprofit rescue squads. Virginia Beach has has provided zero-interest loans to the squads to purchase ambulances in the past, but the cost of ambulances has significantly increased, and the squads are having trouble paying back the loans, according to the city.

The letter also instructs the city manager to provide a plan for the tree mitigation funds received from Dominion Energy for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

One future budget amendment will be needed to account for a reduction of revenue from a proposed new grace period for penalties and interest on real estate and personal property taxes.

A vote to adopt the final budget will be held May 14.

Other big ticket items previously announced in the proposed budget include the transfer of $60 million from a resort area parking fund to build a park at Rudee Loop .

City workers will receive a roughly 3.5% pay increase as part of the step pay raise program approved in 2022. Fees for water, sewer and curbside recycling will increase. Per month, water would increase by $2.70; sewer by 79 cents; and recycling by $3.05.