NEWS: Former Williamsburg Mayor Questions Proposed Budget Priorities
Critique raises potential need for a ‘change in city management’
In a recent letter to the editor published in the Daily Press, former Williamsburg Mayor Clyde Haulman laid out a litany of perceived issues with the City’s spending priorities. Dr. Haulman served as Williamsburg’s mayor for six years, and a total of 16 years on the City Council. His term as Mayor ended in June 2016, when he decided not to seek reelection. Haulman, a longtime professor at the College of William and Mary, is listed by the school’s website as Professor Emeritus/Adjunct Lecturer of Economics.
According to Haulman’s letter, the City should consider several steps to increase their spending in critical services and decrease spending on what he indicates are unnecessary capital improvement projects. “In the city’s current budget discussions, maybe some thought could be given to reevaluating priorities. The city might consider a moratorium on new capital improvements — a roundabout, a splash park and more — and pivot toward addressing critical community needs, particularly in light of the uncertainty in federal funding and the possibility of recession,” he wrote in his letter to the Daily Press. “If the city is unwilling to undertake such a reevaluation, maybe it is time for a change in city management,” he finished. The City’s Director of Communications, Nicole Trifone, did not respond to a request for comment regarding the former Mayor’s letter.
In his letter, Haulman claims that his real estate property tax increased over 90% during the past decade, and questions how the City has spent the added revenue. The former Mayor notes that despite the rapidly rising property assessments, important aspects of City spending have not increased accordingly. “How has the city used the significant increase in revenues over that time to benefit the people of our community?” Haulman’s letter asked. Information provided to the Williamsburg Independent indicates that some City residents have seen their tax bills increase by more than 20% over the past two years alone.
Haulman compares the increase in the capital improvement budget — which is used to fund new structures like the recently completed fire station and the proposed new library — with lesser increases in education and health & welfare programs. “[T]he city took the exceptional increases [in] revenue and spent it mostly on buildings rather than on its youth or community members in need or even reducing the tax burden on property owners,” Haulman stated.
The City’s total proposed capital expenditure from the General Fund for fiscal year 2026 is approximately $38.1M million, representing more than a 160% increase since FY21. Meanwhile, the City’s proposed FY26 contribution to the joint school operating budget is approximately $12.7M, an increase of around 24.6% since FY21.
Recently, Williamsburg City Manager Andrew Trivette mailed his own letter to residents concerning the FY26 budget that noted that the City does not intend to raise the current property tax rate — which the City often touts as being one of the lowest in the State. Yet, Trivette indicates that the City is considering raising meal taxes by 2%, lodging taxes by 3%, and levy a 10% event admissions tax. Trivette claims that the proposed tax increases are preferable to raising the property tax, as they will “also be paid by millions of our visitors.” The City Manager commented in his letter that residents “may choose whether to go out to eat, reserve a hotel room, or buy tickets to an event.” Trivette’s letter also highlighted a proposal to “reassign $5.5M in COVID relief funds – previously designated for affordable housing, public housing, and economic development projects.”
According to Trivette, “spending reductions alone are not sufficient to solve our immediate and long-term deficiencies as we try to meet the operational and capital requirements for education.” The current joint funding agreement for schools is based on a ratio of the number of students from each jurisdiction. The Williamsburg City Council recently commissioned a study that determined students from Williamsburg likely need a disproportionate amount of additional support services to close performance gaps relative to students from James City County. Though a new joint-operating contract between the jurisdictions has not yet been announced, the FY26 budget recently approved by the Williamsburg-James City County School Board noted that a new funding agreement is being considered. The new formula could incorporate a weighted system based on the amount of needed services and State funding in order to determine the contribution from each jurisdiction. Such a change would likely increase the City’s required contribution. The City Manager claims in his letter that increasing the sales and lodging taxes “solves our revenue issue in the long term.”
Williamsburg residents will have opportunity to comment on the proposed city budget next week. According to the City’s website, the public can address the City Council at meetings scheduled for Monday, April 7 and Thursday, April 10. The City can also be emailed at citymanager@williamsburgva.gov or council@williamsburgva.gov. The budget will be considered for adoption on May 8, 2025.
Editor’s Note: A Google AI tool called NotebookLM was used to research, compile and calculate budget data presented in this article.
George Arbogust is Founder and Editor of the Williamsburg Independent. He gets up early, so please consider buying him a cup of coffee.