CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Charleston City Council members voted unanimously Monday night to pass the city’s budget for fiscal year 2026.

The $113 million budget will see that all critical services and operations in the city be maintained and does not include any new taxes or increases to current city taxes. The budget also maintains active employee PEIA benefit offerings at the 80/20 share. The city currently projects a 16% rate PEIA rate increase, which comes out to approximately $1.5 million.

Amy Shuler Goodwin

Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin says this year’s budget was extremely difficult to get ready to present to council.

“Everything costs more. It costs more to buy things, it costs more to build things. Out of the six years of being mayor, this was the most difficult budget to put together, but I’m very proud of this budget that we put together,” Goodwin said. “It’s fiscally conservative and it focuses on the things cities should be focusing on, and that’s infrastructure, jobs and a commitment to our city workers.”

Charleston will be committing an extra $0.50 per hour to all full-time city employees, continuing efforts to achieve a $15 per hour starting wage. The city has a goal of full implementation for fiscal year 2027.

“We have to be competitive, and we have to be competitive about the jobs and the job market,” Goodwin said. “Every single job in the City of Charleston is an essential employee. The folks that we have working for us, they’re salting and scrapping your roads, they’re paving your roadways, they’re fixing your lights, they’re coming to your house on an ambulance, so we have to be very competitive with the salaries of our employees because the job market is very challenging right now, and we want highly skilled employees.”

Earlier in the month, Goodwin told Dave Allen on “580 Live” that the budget would be geared towards “safety, health and wellness and infrastructure.” Part of that effort includes a sixth consecutive year of $3 million going towards paving throughout the city.

Goodwin says the taxpayers’ money will be going directly to making their city safe, up-to-date, and drivable.

“You’ll see money where we need to be putting it in. Roads, infrastructure, dilapidated housing, making sure that if you call for an ambulance, they are getting there and they have state-of-the-art equipment. If you have snow on the roads, we’re coming out to plow,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin also stressed the continued need for tearing down the hazardous dilapidated structures, as $500,000 will be going towards demolitions. Goodwin says over 600 structures have been torn down since she took office, and it’s a needed process to keep the city safe and sightly.

“We’ve needed to do this for a very long period of time. Taking down a dilapidated structure is not something that we want to do, but we have to do,” Goodwin said. “If we’re going to have vibrant and thriving neighborhoods, and thus, a vibrant and thriving city, we have to get down these unsafe and unsightly structures.”

A small portion of the budget, Goodwin says, will be left to put towards things outside of the standard essential city services, such as events the city will be hosting. Charleston will host the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships for the second straight year from May 20-25. The races generated an estimated $4.6 million in economic revenue last year. Charleston will also be putting on the Sternwheel Regatta for the 4th consecutive year. The 2024 edition of the Regatta saw 235,000 visitors come through Haddad Riverfront Park, with an overall economic impact of $38.8 million.

Goodwin says it’s a small, but important part of the overall budget.

“To have those type of events, we have to invest to ensure that we are at the top of our game when we’re hosting those things,” Goodwin said. “You’ll see a small section of the budget, but a very critical section of the budget that focuses on the things that give us a big return on investment.”

The budget goes into effect on July 1.