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Wythe County outlines FY2027 budget proposals and a treasury reconciliation plan; board approves multiple amendments
Summary
County staff presented a proposed FY2027 budget of approximately $118.8 million and described use of about $3.8 million of reserves; the board heard a treasury reconciliation update from consultant HBC and approved several budget amendments, transfers and routine motions including rescinding the open-burn ban modification and multiple committee-recommended appropriations.
Wythe County officials on May 26 reviewed the proposed fiscal 2027 county and school budgets and a treasury reconciliation plan and took a slate of budget and administrative votes.
Finance staff (Mr. Burn) summarized the proposed budget: "total budget's 118 million. Proposed budgets 118.8 million roughly," he said, noting the original request exceeded $124 million and staff and the board trimmed about $5.8 million. To balance, the recommended budget would use $3.8 million of reserves (about 14 cents on the real-estate tax rate by Mr. Burn's calculation). The school system sought an additional $2.5 million but will receive a net increase of $744,000 due to state funding adjustments.
The board also heard a detailed treasury and reconciliation update. Treasury staff reported a consolidated account balance of $91,164,126 with a general fund of $63,193,487 (end of April). Consultant Mr. Garcia of HBC CPAs summarized a reconciliation tool built to automate matching and reduce manual adjustments; he said earlier adjustments had fallen to an immaterial amount (around $30,000–$40,000) after cleanup and recommended a joint reconciliation process between the treasurer and finance departments. Mr. Garcia said he discounted his setup fees while assisting the county.
Following committee recommendations, the board approved a package of budget amendments and administrative transfers in roll-call votes, including supplemental appropriations for children's services (CSA) to address growing foster caseloads, funding to upgrade election systems, transfers from sheriff forfeiture accounts to police activity funds, capital transfers for emergency equipment (extrication tools and a side-by-side for a volunteer fire department), and authorization to use interim financing payoffs tied to the Barrett Mill water project. The board also authorized offering surplus radio equipment to another county and approved health-insurance renewal rates.
On public-safety policy, staff informed the board of a recent modification to the county’s open-burn ban to permit limited contained outdoor burning; supervisors voted to rescind the blanket burn ban so that contained recreational and agricultural burning is permitted while noting drought could require reinstatement.
The board set a budget work session for May 27 to review public hearing comments and finalize numbers ahead of the formal June adoption timeline.
