Increased meals tax, leveled school board budget highlight changes to Roanoke city's fiscal budget
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Roanoke City Council looks much closer to having its budget set for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, but it came at a cost for Roanoke residents and visitors.
Your next dinner out in the star city could cost you a little extra, as council boosted the city's prepared food and beverage tax one percent, bringing it to 6.5 percent overall.
With that ordinance comes a 1.5 percent discount for business owners who pay the taxes on time, and a surprise vote in favor of a two-year sunset clause, which can lower the tax back to 5.5 percent in 2027. Texas Tavern owner Matt Bullington was in attendance, and while he didn't call the decision a win, he was pleased with those modifications.
'I feel that when I reached out to individual council members and had a lot of conversations with them, they were receptive and they understood that they're in a financial fix,' Bullington said. 'Let's hope that they figure that out, then it sunsets and we can go back to at least where we were.'
Mayor Joe Cobb was frustrated with the sunset amendment because he felt like it wasn't the right time to make a change like that.
Roanoke restaurants speak out on city council's proposed meals tax increase
'We have the provision of reviewing it annually,' he said. 'I'm concerned that we box ourselves in, and limit ourselves.'
Another tough call for leaders today: revising the school board budget. Council voted 5-1 in favor of leveling the budget from last year, leaving the school board almost $7 million short of what it was hoping for.
Councilman Nick Hagen was the one No vote on both issues, and he believes this can be harmful to the schools.
'I think one of the concerns that they will see is that they're going to have to make some very hard decisions about looking at classes that are being cut,' Hagen said. 'That's one of the concerns I have.'
Mayor Cobb had different thoughts.
'I don't buy this idea that we don't support the schools,' he said. 'I don't agree with it, and I think there's a narrative that's being cast out there that are trying to make us look like the bad guys and we are not.'
Mayor Cobb mentioned the school board still gets the most money from the city of any entity, along with an annual $5 million from the Capital Improvement plan.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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