The smell of budget season is in the air as the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 is nearly over and as preliminary audits of fiscal year 2026 make their way through to closed books.
City Council will not adopt Charlottesville’s budget for fiscal year 2028 for another six and a half months but work on its development is already well underway behind the scenes. The elected officials have been briefed in private meetings on major drivers of the next budget.
One of the first public opportunities to weigh in on the next budget begins on October 1 when the city opens up the portal for nonprofit organizations to seek money to support their mission and serve residents. For the past several years, the city refers to this as the “Vibrant Community Fund.”
“This competitive funding process provides support to eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations offering programs and services that directly benefit City of Charlottesville residents,” reads an information release sent out on September 14.
The portal will remain open through November 11 and will use an interface called Neighborly. An orientation session for would-be applicants will be held in CitySpace from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Here’s a link to a user guide for applicants.
A separate process for arts and cultural organizations will open up on October 15. That is one of several changes in this year’s cycle and discussed at a Council work session on June 1 as I eventually reported.
There is also a separate funding mechanism for affordable housing initiatives and a notice of funding opportunity should be expected in the near future.
The adopted budget for FY2027 includes $2.3 million in competitive awards from the Vibrant Community Fund. That figures does not include amounts given to “fundamental” agencies such as the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless.
“Organizations without a regional agreement or [Memorandum of Understanding] compete for funding by submitting a VCF application, a competitive process in which funding is awarded based on review team scoring,” reads page 150 of the adopted FY2027 budget. “Organizations are allocated funds based upon the results of these review team scores.”
The results for FY27 can be found in the Vibrant Community Fund report which includes program descriptions from applicants ranging from 100 Black Men of Central Virginia to Wildrock Inc.
Another public budget discussion in the not-too-distant future will be a Planning Commission work session on the capital improvement program. That will take place in November with a public hearing in December.
Previous VCF coverage
- Council discusses additional funding for Vibrant Community process, December 31, 2022
- Sanders responds to Council questions about Vibrant Community Funds process, March 29, 2024
- Charlottesville City Council reviews process for funding nonprofit agencies, July 17, 2026
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