"Our agenda is centered on a few key themes," said Mayor Danny Avula. "We have a lot of work to do together to ensure that Richmond is a city where people of all income levels and all backgrounds can thrive."
The city's top priority is asking lawmakers to give them the ability to create a program to help longtime residents who are being priced out of their homes because of rising property values known as a Longterm Owner Occupancy Program or LOOP.
the city wants to implement what's known as a Longterm Owner Occupancy Program, or LOOP, which would give Richmond the ability to provide relief to qualifying homeowners.
"We need to get some provisions to move that forward because we are drastically losing residents in the City of Richmond and we can't help them because of the state restriction," said 6th District Councilmember Ellen Robertson. "We are having a terrible displacement out of the City of Richmond because they cannot afford the escalating increase in values."
Virginia is what's known as a Dillon Rule state, where localities can only enact laws or programs that the state gives them the power to pursue. For LOOP, there is an added wrinkle: it would require a constitutional amendment a multiple-year process that requires approval by voters in a referendum.
Del. Betsy Carr (D-Richmond) has introduced legislation for LOOP in the past, but said the focus for state lawmakers was on the three constitutional amendments Virginians are voting on in the current midterms.
"I don't know what it's going to be like going forward. I do know that there are other localities that are interested in LOOP," Carr said.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Lamont Bagby did (D-Henrico) not go into specifics but said he has been working to address the issue with the Gov. Spanberger administration through a grant program.
"Making sure those individuals that have invested in our community and invested in their homes over a period of time are able to stay in those homes and pass that generational wealth on to their family," Bagby said.
Among the other legislative priorities mentioned by city officials were more tools to go after blighted or vacant properties and short-term rental properties, along with more protections for renters.
City officials also have two primary requests for state funding. The first is continued upgrades to the city's Combined Sewer Overflow system in order to meet the state mandated deadline of 2035. Officials estimate $350-million is needed to complete the work and are requesting $100-million in FY28.
The other is funding to help with the 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for the water treatment plant. Its failure in 2025 led to a multi-day water outage for the region, which led to the 2025 General Assembly session being delayed.
City officials said the full cost of the CIP is $1.3-billion. Earlier this year, the city received $33-million in state grants from the Richmond Regional Water Work Group.
"We also remain committed to a partnership with the Commonwealth to advance our infrastructure needs and you guys have been amazing champions in the Commonwealth's budget," Avula said.
Both state and city officials say they want to get on the same page well before the session starts to help get as much across the finish line as they can.
"These are things that we are already having a conversation with the administration on, the House and Senate Finance Committees and so a lot of this is possible," Bagby said.
Richmond City Council also agreed to revamp how it establishes this yearly wish list going forward, saying it wants a more transparent process that allows for more public input. In years past, the priority list has been introduced and approved in the same council meeting.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
