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Finance director outlines $5.4M FY2024 carryover; council gives preliminary support for funding FY25 CIP
Summary
Finance Director Melissa Moyers told the Staunton City Council on Jan. 9 that FY2024 carryover stands at about $5.4 million and proposed using most of those funds to support the FY2025 capital improvement program.
Melissa Moyers, director of finance, briefed council on Jan. 9 about the city’s fiscal 2024 carryover and the recommended use of those funds in the FY2025 capital improvement program (CIP).
Moyers said the FY2024 general-fund carryover is approximately $5.4 million, with major variances driven by property-tax collections. She said $2.891 million is recommended to fund the FY2025 CIP as presented, noting the city has relied on carryover funds for capital spending in recent years. Moyers identified a $3.0 million increase in designated funds, largely VDOT‑reimbursable projects, and reviewed notable proposed capital items: a multi‑year CAD/RMS investment for the police department (a $375,000 FY2025 allocation with an additional $375,000 in FY2026 in early estimates), and about $600,000 earmarked for parks and recreation public-use facilities (pool house and bathroom upgrades among the items listed).
Moyers also reviewed other priorities that council may consider or begin reserving funds for, including a new reserve for fire station No.1 renovations (a target reserve of $3–4 million noted as a planning estimate), a police department relocation reserve, and substantial increases in VDOT project cost estimates such as a recent re-estimate of the Edgewood sidewalk at roughly $4.7 million. She reviewed the city’s “safety net” fund balance (16.5% of operating expenditures) and a goal that a previous council set of 18%; increasing the safety net half-percent would, by Moyers’s calculation, cost roughly $367,516 based on the FY2025 budget.
On procedural approach, Moyers recommended council appropriate the FY2025 CIP and the three smaller items that were not encumbered previously (Valley Supportive Housing, Wharf Tree Replacement and the Entrance Corridor Overlay) on Budget Amendment No. 3 so the funds would be available within the CIP fund. Councilors indicated consensus by voice and nodding: they agreed staff should bring the CIP funding forward on the next budget amendment and reappropriate the three smaller items; the council left the remaining $2.4 million undesignated so future decisions can be made without a second public hearing.
