Central Virginia Transportation Authority finance committee approves administrative accounting changes, recommends FY27 budget

On April 8, the Central Virginia Transportation Authority finance committee voted to approve administrative adjustments to its FY2026 budget that apply an indirect cost rate to CVTA staff compensation and a 10% managed‑services fee to certain executive salaries, and recommended the FY2027 administrative and operating budget to the full authority.

Mister Parsons, a CVTA staff member leading the finance update, told the committee that the adjustments are intended to align the authority’s accounting with the agency memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PlanRVA and to correct items that were not previously assessed. "We are proposing the first piece, which is applying the PlanRVA indirect rate against the compensation costs of the staff exclusively supporting CVTA," Parsons said. "The second piece is applying the 10% service fee on the salaries of the CVTA executive director and executive assistant." He added the changes can be made through internal re‑allocations and do not increase the FY26 budget overall.

A PlanRVA representative clarified the difference between the two charges: the indirect rate is cost recovery for pooled expenses such as rent, payroll administration and back office support, while the 10% managed‑services fee is a separate fee applied on top of those costs. "They’re two different rates," the PlanRVA representative said. "The indirect rate is audited and applied year‑to‑year; the 10% is the managed services fee called for in the MOU."

The committee approved the FY26 administrative adjustment on a roll call vote: Chesterfield (Carroll) — yes; Henrico (Nelson) — absent; New Kent (Chair Moyer) — yes; City of Richmond (Mirabula) — yes; Commonwealth Transportation Board (Davis) — yes.

Parsons also presented the proposed FY2027 budget, which staff said includes separate line items showing PlanRVA contracted staff support, indirect support applied to CVTA staff, professional services (including a financial dashboard development), and funding for public engagement tools such as a citizens’ guide describing CVTA projects. The draft FY27 budget was reported to grow by about $200,000 compared with the current year, primarily to reflect the newly captured indirect costs and managed‑services fee and to preserve capacity for bond‑validation support if the authority moves toward bond issuance.

A motion to recommend the FY2027 administrative and operating budget to the full authority and to hold a public hearing at the April 24 full‑authority meeting passed on a roll call vote.

Committee members asked staff for clearer line‑item detail showing how indirect charges and the managed‑services fee are calculated and applied; staff said they will provide a more detailed breakdown and a visualization of the allocation methodology at the next meeting. Parsons also reminded members that PlanRVA currently fronts vendor payments and payroll and invoices CVTA monthly for reimbursement.

What’s next: The full authority will receive the FY27 budget recommendation after a public hearing scheduled for April 24; staff will provide the requested line‑item detail and an allocation visualization to the finance committee before the full‑authority meeting.