Richmond to revive public spending tracker after 7 years

Driving the news: City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to loosen a 2015 transparency law requiring Richmond to publish its spending records online.

• The city stopped regularly doing so in 2019, citing staffing demands and concerns about releasing sensitive information and exposing the city to legal risk.

The latest: The revamped tracker will show who the city pays, how much and when — but it won't include detailed purchase descriptions or payments to settle lawsuits and legal claims, per city documents.

• The city must also publish each month's records within 60 days.

Catch up quick: Mayor Danny Avula proposed the changes in April to reduce the workload of reviewing records for sensitive information while restoring consistent public access to the data.

• The city in July said preparing nearly 232,000 spending records from fiscal 2025 required 1,000 staff hours, even though just 1.2% needed manual redactions.

Friction point: Councilwoman Kenya Gibson, who voted against the ordinance, warned Tuesday that the changes would create loopholes in public disclosure.

• Council rejected Gibson's proposal to investigate why the city stopped publishing the records.

What's next: Richmond expects to publish its fiscal year 2026 spending records by Dec. 27 and monthly data dating back to July by year's end.