Staunton finance director recommends appropriating FY24 carryover to FY25 CIP; council gives direction to hold remainder in undesignated CIP

Finance Director Melissa Moyers presented a year-end general fund overview to Staunton City Council on Jan. 9 and recommended appropriating carryover funds to the city’s FY2025 capital improvement program (CIP).

Moyers said the FY24 carryover is roughly $5.4 million, with the largest portion attributable to property-tax variances. She recommended allocating $2.891 million to the FY25 CIP and reappropriating several smaller FY23 carryover amounts that did not get encumbered: Valley Supportive Housing, Wharf Tree Replacement and Entrance Corridor Overlay. Moyers also said a designated parks-and-rec public-use reserve will be approximately $4 million after the FY25 appropriation and projected interest earnings; that reserve is slated to fund pool-house and bathrooms work at Gypsy Hill and Montgomery Hall among other park improvements.

Moyers explained the city’s fund-balance “safety net” sits at about 16.5% of operating expenditures. The Government Finance Officers Association suggests roughly two months (about 16.67%), and council discussed whether to raise the target to 18%. Moyers said each half-percent increase would cost an estimated $367,516 based on the FY25 budget.

On several other capital priorities — including Fire Station No. 1 roof and renovation, a police relocation reserve, and VDOT projects such as a Richmond Road roundabout and Edgewood sidewalk — Moyers recommended beginning targeted reserves but noted costs remain preliminary until bid estimates are obtained. She said the Edgewood sidewalk project’s latest estimate is about $4.7 million for approximately one-third of a mile, up from an earlier, lower figure.

Moyers asked council for direction. Councilors expressed interest in keeping Shelburne Phase 2 and other major priorities on the list. Council gave staff consensus direction to fund the FY25 CIP on Budget Amendment 3 — which staff will introduce at the next council meeting — to reappropriate the three smaller items into the CIP fund, and to place the remaining carryover (about $2.4 million) into an undesignated CIP reserve that would require council approval to spend later. Moyers said keeping funds undesignated provides flexibility and avoids the need for two meetings and a public hearing later on specific appropriations.

Moyers and councilors asked staff to return with additional bid estimates and to coordinate CIP priorities with the Planning Commission schedule. Moyers warned that interest earnings used to seed park projects are declining compared with FY24 levels but estimated approximately $650,000 in interest into the CIP fund through March.