Radford City Council confronts audit findings and budget shortfall; schedules work session and moves to closed session on personnel

Radford City Council on March 1 heard from interim city manager Mr. Meadows about ongoing work to reconcile audit findings and tightening revenues and directed staff to refine current-year revenue projections before further budget decisions.

Mr. Meadows, interim city manager, said, "I'm almost wrapping up my second month as your interim city manager. The last 2 weeks have been pretty much all budget, all the time." He told council that budget materials were delivered to department directors that day and that staff will compile updated revenue information to show the city’s current starting point, since the audit reflects a snapshot from months earlier.

Why it matters: council members said the audit and updated revenue numbers will determine whether the city must raise revenue or defer programs. Council members warned the process could span multiple budget cycles.

Discussion: Council members repeatedly emphasized the need for urgent action and shared concerns about the revenue outlook. Seth, council member, said, "We have to stabilize and stop the bleeding and re look at how we wanna do things in the future." Jesse, council member, told residents to expect possible rate increases and temporary suspension of some nonessential services, saying, "We are going to be looking at a lot of different things. 1 is, obviously, we're going to have to raise revenue."

Staff directions and next steps: The council set a follow-up work session for next Monday at 5:30 p.m. to continue budget discussions and asked staff to compile and return revenue projections and program cost details. Mr. Meadows said staff will be "very aggressive with following up with FEMA on any expenses" related to storm recovery and identified Charlie (staff) as a resource for disaster-recovery coordination.

Formal action: The council voted to convene a closed meeting for personnel matters. Seth made the motion to convene a closed meeting under Virginia Code §2.2-3711(A)(1) (discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for employment, assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion, salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees), the motion was seconded, and the council voted in favor.

Ending: Council leaders said the work ahead will be difficult and could take two to three budget cycles to fully resolve. They invited residents to join work sessions and public meetings to offer ideas and priorities as the city develops its revenue and expense plan.