Charlottesville City Council fixes underpayment to CACVB

The consent agenda for a government body is one filled with resolutions and actions that clerks and presiding officers believe will not be opposed by any of its members, but meeting rules allow for an item to be removed.

That was the case on December 1 as City Councilor Michael Payne asked for a separate vote on an amendment on the city’s contribution to the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau. That agency is charged with promoting tourism and attracting visitors to the community.

Both Albemarle County and Charlottesville contribute funding to the CACVB using a portion of the transient lodging tax. According to the agreement between the city and CACVB, the tourism agency is entitled to a certain portion of what the city collects per a formula that depends on the right variables being entered.

The budget adopted by City Council in April anticipated that Charlottesville would transfer $1,342,939 in fiscal year 2026, an 11.78 percent decrease from FY2025.

However, the wrong numbers were used in that calculation because the wrong tax rate was used.

“Revising the formula to use the correct tax rate of 8 percent indicates the City’s contribution amount for FY26 should be $1,510,806,” reads a staff report for the item.

That meant an additional payment of $167,967.

Payne pointed out that the amount was higher than the city spends on climate action initiatives with $1 million a year in the city’s capital improvement program.

“That amount of money would almost double our vibrant community nonprofit funding,” Payne said.

Page 66 of the adopted budget notes that $2.3 million went to a competitive process known as the Vibrant Community Fund. This amount does not include payments to agencies considered to be essential and known as “fundamental” agencies.

Nonprofit groups apply for funding and their applications are scored by a panel. Their recommendations for FY2026 are listed in a report but the adopted budget does not indicate what line items come from the VCF beginning on page 176.

In response to a question, Budget Director Krisy Hammill supplied a list of the recipients of VCF funding. In all, 55 organizations were awarded funding ranging from Empowered Players at $1,400 to $176,000 for the New Hill Development Corporation. The total amount of funding is $2,341,885, higher than the amount that will be distributed to CACVB.

Council increased the lodging tax from eight percent to nine percent effective FY2025 which began on July 1, 2024. CACVB is only entitled to 30 percent of five percent of the city’s total collection. The city anticipates $9.1 million from the lodging tax in FY2026 with most of that revenue going into the general fund except for what goes to the CACVB.

Payne questioned whether the CACVB was accomplishing its goals and if they were able to demonstrate how.

“There’s no metrics about [whether] the CACVB actually increasing tourism or actually increasing tax revenue,” Payne said. “We just give it money.”

Mayor Juandiego Wade serves on the CACVB Board and voted with three of his colleagues to approve the additional funding to comply with the formula.

“It does bring revenue to the city,” Wade said. “You know, when I’m giving welcomes and things, I tell, you know, the money we get from people to stay in hotels and have dinners, it does make a difference.”

City Council has had two briefings from CACVB in the last two years as I reported:

• Charlottesville City Council gets briefing on how tourism bureau works, May 11, 2024
• Charlottesville City Council briefed on regional tourism efforts, August 22, 2025

The CACVB’s Board of Directors next meets on December 15.

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