Roanoke finance briefing: sales tax down ~7%, cigarette tax down 21%; council requests clearer OT tracking

Roanokes finance staff reported mixed revenue signals during a Jan. 5 council briefing, noting both areas of strength and areas of concern as the city monitors FY26 performance.

Deputy Director of Finance Aquaneta Harris said penalties and interest collections are about $200,000 higher than the prior year, while sales-tax revenues are down approximately 7% compared with the prior year (monthly results through November showed near-flat year-over-year totals against FY26 actuals to date). Harris told council that cigarette-tax receipts were down about 21% and that some other taxes and charges were performing as expected. She attributed a large increase in permits, fees and licenses in part to activity related to the Carilion cancer center.

Councilmembers pressed for additional clarity. "Could you add a line here that just shows the amount of growth, like just to the slide?" Mayor Cobb asked. Members also asked whether the temporary-wages and overtime figures could be summarized to make progress easier to track; Harris said staff would add a slide and continue monitoring departmental overtime usage. Council discussed how fully staffing Fire/EMS affects overtime and noted upcoming retirements could change projections.

Separately, council approved on first reading (adopted same day) an ordinance accepting and appropriating a 2026 VSTOP grant from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services; the clerk read the ordinance title and council adopted it by roll call.

Finance staff agreed to return with additional breakdowns, a clearer overtime summary and confirmation of whether certain credits (for meal-tax rebates to restaurants) are reflected in the presented figures.