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Amelia County finance director reports roughly $1.9 million shortfall, staff to pursue cuts and shifts to balance FY26 budget
Summary
County finance staff told the Board of Supervisors the county currently projects a roughly $1.9 million gap for FY26 and has about $10.8 million remaining in the capital improvements fund; staff will work daily to find reductions and use existing CIP funds before presenting a balanced budget in April.
Amelia County finance staff told the Board of Supervisors on March 18 that preliminary estimates for the fiscal 2026 budget show an estimated shortfall of about $1,900,000 and that the county has roughly $10.8 million remaining in its capital improvements fund.
Finance Director Pauline Youssef said the county's FY26 revenue estimate remains at $26,600,000 and that staff have been refining revenue and expenditure assumptions since the last meeting. "We are short by about 1,900,000.0," Youssef said during her presentation.
The presentation mapped how the county's CIP (capital improvements program) balance was formed and how prior-year commitments were spent. Based on audited FY24 figures and more recent activity through March, Youssef reported approximately $10.8 million remaining in CIP and about $1.2 million in other dedicated funds for a combined total approaching $12 million.
Youssef told the board she and county leadership are reviewing debt-service schedules and identified two smaller debt issues scheduled to retire in FY26, and that staff removed duplicate records and adjusted prior-year appropriations in the budget model. She also said workers' compensation and dispatcher pay adjustments had been incorporated into the FY26 model.
Interim County Administrator Clarence Mundy and Youssef said they will step up daily budget work to reduce the deficit without raising taxes if possible. "Starting next week, we will get together on a more daily basis to take a relook at our budget 26 on how best we can bounce the budget without raising taxes," Youssef said. Mundy added that staff aim to lock the budget near the end of the week before formal presentation to the board.
Board members asked for additional detail on personnel lines and the list of positions that are held or newly requested; Youssef said staff are finalizing position-level personnel sheets and will provide them to supervisors. The board agreed staff should present a proposed balanced FY26 budget at a public meeting in April.
The finance update also noted the county received a smaller-than-expected school breakfast incentive figure from the state, which reduced the school division's total funding request by $1,467. The school division's proposed local request to the county remains aligned with the Department of Education's required local match calculations, Youssef said.
The presentation and follow-up questions consumed the largest substantive portion of the March meeting; staff said they will continue refining the model and bring options for balancing the FY26 budget in the coming weeks.
