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Middleburg manager proposes ‘option 2’ budget that pauses two police hires amid revenue uncertainty
Summary
Town manager Danny Davis presented a revised budget option that holds meals and occupancy tax at current-year levels and removes funding for two proposed police positions, increasing the contingency by roughly $150,000 to protect against possible revenue declines.
Town Manager Danny Davis presented council members with an alternate fiscal 2026 draft — described as “option 2” — that reduces revenue assumptions and removes two proposed police-department positions to increase the town’s contingency amid uncertain receipts from meals tax and transient occupancy tax (TOT).
Davis said the town’s year-to-date TOT and meals-tax receipts that had been running above budget earlier in the fiscal year have softened: February receipts fell significantly year over year and March also showed declines. To reduce risk, staff proposed holding meals and TOT at current fiscal‑year levels for the FY2026 budget, a step that reduces projected revenues by about $240,000.
“If the council were to remove the two additional positions in the police department, that’s a savings in the draft budget of about $264,000,” Davis said. He noted additional expected savings from cancelling a millennial event that likely will not occur this year (about $75,000 net after related revenues), bringing aggregate net savings near $150,000 and moving the contingency up to roughly $275,000 for FY2026.
Council members said they were generally supportive of a cautious approach. “Given the current uncertainty of the market … I rather on the side of caution. I like option 2,” Council member Kevin (surname not stated in transcript) said. Council member Peter (surname not stated) and others praised the police department’s work but agreed it was reasonable to delay hiring until revenue trends clarify.
Council discussed alternatives such as authorizing positions without funding (so job slots exist but are unfunded) and the option of approving positions midyear if revenue trends improve; staff noted that filling new positions would still take several months.
Davis recommended returning to the council for another look later in the year and suggested a possible midyear reconsideration in November–December if revenues improve. No formal vote was taken tonight to adopt option 2; the discussion produced direction for staff to prepare revised budget sheets and bring updated information back to a future meeting.
Ending: Council members asked staff to continue budget prudence, to track revenue trends monthly, and to prepare materials showing the budget impact and timing for restoring the police positions if revenue conditions permit. Davis said staff will provide revised departmental sheets and revisit the issue in the fall or at midyear if warranted.
