CBTA finance committee: lifetime tax receipts near $986 million; $18 million reserve and $15 million interest income highlighted

Central Virginia Transportation Authority finance committee members heard a financial update Sept. 10 showing lifetime CBTA tax receipts of $986,000,000 and investment income that staff said has returned to roughly $15,000,000.

Mr. Parsons, a CBTA staff member presenting the packet, said: "Total receipt of taxes, lifetime to date now is $986,000,000." He told members the working capital reserve is "topped off at $18,000,000" and that interest income "is already back up to $15,000,000." Parsons said those figures reflect collections and accruals reported for April as of July 31.

Why it matters: the figures shape how local allocations and future project funding decisions are timed. Committee members pressed staff for clarity about what funds are immediately investable and for a clearer at-a-glance reporting tool to show uncommitted balances.

Most available CBTA funds are invested in pooled funds, Parsons said, and those pooled funds are currently paying over 4.4%. He said negotiable certificates of deposit that previously produced yields of 5.3%–5.6% matured over the past year and their proceeds were redeployed into pooled funds because they offered better current yields. "Significant increase in interest earnings in July 2025 compared to July 2024 is due to increased balances in pooled funds, which are paying over 4.4%," Parsons said.

Parsons said CBTA is working with PFM, the authority's financial adviser, to develop a reporting tool that would show at any time how much money is not committed to active reimbursement requests and therefore could be invested for six, nine or 12 months. "We have had requests from Chesterfield County, in terms of how much is available and for what time periods," Parsons said.

Committee members raised two practical points. One member asked whether prior interest earnings had been used to fund projects; Parsons confirmed that, at the finance committee's direction in the past, "just over $11,600,000" of interest income had been moved into projects. Another member asked about a cumulative-interest chart; Parsons said the chart displays the month of July for each fiscal year, which explained why monthly values did not sum to the larger cumulative figures displayed elsewhere in the packet.

Members also discussed whether to set a threshold for when interest income should be moved into projects; a committee member suggested earmarking excess interest for projects when interest income reaches $20,000,000.

The presentation was part of a broader move to a new quarterly deep-dive reporting format; Parsons said this meeting was an off-month for that deeper report and that the next comprehensive update will be presented after the close of the books in November.

No formal action was taken on investments at the Sept. 10 meeting. The committee will consider any proposed reporting-tool scope or policy changes in future meetings.