After most Richmond City Council incumbents won their reelection bids last week, the governing body will get back to business Tuesday night by taking up several high-profile issues.

The council’s agenda includes seven tax-related ordinances, including the competing proposals to keep the real estate tax rate unchanged at $1.20 per $100 of value or lower the rate by 4 cents to $1.16. 

Whatever decision is made on the tax rate will also dictate the fate of Mayor Levar Stoney’s tax relief proposals. His plan calls for one-time tax rebate payments to property owners in 2025 that would be worth about $150 for the average residential homeowner. 

The mayor’s plan also includes a pair of new programs meant to give targeted relief to those who need it most. One program would freeze property tax bills in place for older and disabled homeowners, shielding them from higher bills if property values continue to increase. The other program would provide lower-income homeowners and renters with housing assistance grants worth up to $200 a month for six months.

Three members — Councilors Reva Tramell (8th District) Ellen Robertson (6th District) and Ann-Frances Lambert (3rd District) — are official sponsors of the proposal to reduce the tax rate. Lambert was the only council incumbent to lose their race Tuesday. 

Trammell, the main sponsor of the rate reduction proposal, has previously expressed confidence her plan will win enough support to pass, but it’s unclear how the vote will go now that the threat of members losing their seats has passed.

Here are the other major items on the council agenda for Tuesday.

A new space for Richmond Animal Care & Control

The city is considering allocating $2 million for a new animal adoption center and community space in the Fan District at 2310 W. Cary St.

Richmond Animal Care & Control has been pushing for more space, saying the existing shelter at 1600 Chamberlayne Ave. is inadequate for its needs, particularly more room for dog runs and dog isolation areas.

In between social media posts showing cats and dogs awaiting adoption, RACC has been asking supporters to contact the council to ensure the new shelter wins approval.

“Join this little kitten in our hope for a new space to alleviate kennel/cage stress, provide needed isolation wards, and increase community outreach!,” the agency said in a recent Facebook post accompanied by a photo of an orange kitten with its head in a cone.

The $2 million in funding for the proposed building purchase would come from money previously allocated for improvements to Commerce Road. The money redirected from the road project is expected to be replaced by additional federal funds, according to city documents.

Purchase of the former casino site

After city voters rejected the plan to build a resort casino in an industrial area in South Richmond, officials have put things in motion to buy the site anyway for economic revitalization purposes.

An ordinance on Tuesday’s agenda would authorize the $5.5 million purchase of nearly 95 acres from Philip Morris USA. The two parcels involved are at 2001 Walmsley Blvd. and 4700 Trenton Ave. 

About half of the land can’t be developed due to wetlands, according to city documents, but officials are planning to use some of the property for a public park. The city’s plans also call for extending Walmsley to create more traffic connectivity between Richmond Highway and Commerce Road.

City officials have said they expect to spend another $4 million to demolish the vacant laboratory and office building on the site.

“The city intends to demolish the vacant operations building and create a viable economic development site to attract new private investment to this part of the city that will bring activity and good paying jobs,” a staff report on the proposal says.

Cemetery designation for Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground

To continue its efforts to preserve a historic burial site for free and enslaved people of African descent, Stoney’s administration has proposed officially designating part of the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground as a cemetery.

The site hasn’t been actively treated as a cemetery since 1879, allowing other development to encroach on the area. An official cemetery designation, a city staff report says, will “add another layer of protection for this sacred ground, memorializing the remains of the intact graves and honoring the graves of those disturbed or lost by years of infrastructure and commercial development.”

Stoney told The Washington Post the cemetery designation could specifically strengthen the city’s hand as it tries to get rid of an advertising billboard on the site.

“Advertising is prohibited at any cemetery site, so this allows those individuals who are buried underneath to have full rest once again,” Stoney told the paper.