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CVTA finance committee delays decision on Round 4 unallocated funds after debate over deallocation policy
Summary
Staff presented five options for handling Round 4 unallocated funds, including deallocating three projects or advancing bond candidate right‑of‑way; committee members raised concerns about jurisdictional consultation (Ashland absent) and deferred the decision to a specially called Feb. 27 finance committee meeting.
The Central Virginia Transportation Authority finance committee heard a staff presentation on options for distributing unallocated Round 4 funds and voted to defer a final recommendation to a specially called finance committee meeting on Feb. 27 to allow TAC and member localities additional time to review proposals.
Mister Parsons, presenting the staff report, described five options in the agenda packet for handling unallocated balances: leave the balance unprogrammed; allow the next project in each category to reduce its request and receive the balance; fund two projects and split the remainder among bond‑candidate projects to advance right‑of‑way; use the entire balance to advance right‑of‑way for bond candidates so they are shovel ready; or deallocate funding from three projects under the prioritization framework and use that balance to advance a different list of projects.
Parsons explained the deallocation policy had been broadened from a two‑round Smart Scale window to a four‑year window to capture other grant opportunities, which places projects allocated in December 2022 in a December 2026 review window.
Committee members debated whether jurisdictions whose projects are targeted for deallocation had been consulted. Members noted representatives from Richmond and Henrico were present but Ashland was not, and several committee members said Ashland had not been aware and would likely object to voluntary deallocation. One committee member said jurisdictions can voluntarily return funds if they choose: "So nothing present prevents a locality from ... voluntarily saying, you know what? We realized that we went through the process twice ... We're deciding to pull that funds and put it towards another project that we have."
After discussion, a committee member moved "to defer this to a special specially called finance committee meeting 20 seventh" and the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The special meeting was scheduled for Feb. 27 at 8:30 a.m. in the boardroom and will be followed by the full CVTA meeting at 9:00 a.m.
Why it matters: The committee is deciding how to treat a material unallocated balance from Round 4 that several members and TAC assumed would be available through deallocation; staff warned that the original $25,000,000 estimate may not be available and that changes to the process or voluntary jurisdictional deallocations could alter the amount available for new projects. The deferral gives TAC and local jurisdictions more time to consult and refine recommendations before the full authority acts.
Next steps: TAC will continue discussions and provide recommendations at the special finance committee meeting on Feb. 27; jurisdictions whose projects are affected will be asked to clarify positions on voluntary deallocation prior to that meeting.
