Tag: fiscal 2021 budget
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A pandemic and protests have ramped up interest in city budgeting. Here’s The Citizen’s guide to Hburg’s spending
Continue with the plan for building a second high school? Reduce funding for the police department? The combination of the pandemic’s economic ripple effects and calls for social change out of this summer’s protests have sparked questions and deep-seated opinions about how the city of Harrisonburg spends its money. Residents have been bringing up budget issues in city council meetings, at rallies for racial justice and on social media.
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Facing $6m budget hit, city council makes cuts to education, public safety and public works
The city of Harrisonburg expects to take a hit of about $6 million in the next fiscal year that begins July 1, mostly in lost revenue from local taxes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the Harrisonburg City Council unanimously approved an amended budget that reduces spending for schools, public safety and public works.
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Democratic council candidates carve out slight differences over approaches toward housing, JMU and the golf course’s fate
The candidates seeking the Democratic nominations for this fall’s city council election signaled a general agreement on big-picture issues, such as supporting education and working to encourage affordable housing, although they each sought to differentiate themselves over how they’d prioritize certain approaches.
Possibly delaying the new high school by a year hints at the city’s tough financial decisions to come
Harrisonburg leaders are looking at a starkly different financial reality now than they were less than four months ago when the city council approved the $100 million needed to build and open a second high school, which has the Harrisonburg School Board considering a one-year delay of its construction.
