GUEST COMMENTARY: Cooling Property Assessments, Increased Costs Push Williamsburg Budget

City considers raising food & hotel taxes and water rates to close funding gaps

(Editor’s Note: This piece contains guest commentary. The opinions expressed below are the authors and not necessarily those of the Williamsburg Independent.)

The City of Williamsburg recently released its proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which is generally organized into two major components, the Operating Plan and the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). This article will focus on the proposed Operating Plan and related Fund Budgets for FY26.

The Operating Plan provides for budgeting annual revenue (income) and expenses, which generally fund City staff, services, programs etc. The City’s accounting is organized into multiple funds or pools of money, each of which is designed for a separate purpose. The General Fund is the principal fund for governmental activities and includes most of the City’s expenditures, such as schools and public safety. It is funded principally by our taxes. The two other principal funds are the Utility Fund which consists of annual activities of the water and sewe…