Cheverly council gives first reading to FY2026 budget ordinance after multi‑department review

Mayor Watson introduced the first reading of the Town of Cheverly’s FY2026 budget ordinance on May 15, 2025, after staff presented a department‑by‑department review of revenues and expenditures. The ordinance (listed in the record as Ordinance 02/2003) would take effect on July 1, 2025, and staff said a fair summary will be published prior to enactment.

Mr. Galloway, who led the revenue presentation, said the town is proposing a largely flat real‑estate tax structure — a residential rate of 0.5799 and a multifamily rate of 0.75 — and cited a revenue projection of about $5,582,000 from property taxes. He told the council the apparent $3 million draw from fund balance shown in year‑to‑date figures reflected payments for the Public Works building and that the town’s fund balance “is over $5,000,000,” with a staff follow‑up scheduled to provide precise current balances.

The presentation included other major lines: local income taxes estimated near $1,215,000, business/TPP and utilities, and hotel/motel revenues projected at roughly $110,000. Mr. Galloway also noted intergovernmental allocations and earmarks, including a $1.6 million federal earmark for stormwater mitigation and a $1.4 million General Assembly bond allocation for equipment and furnishing related to the William Ealy Public Works building.

Council members asked for line‑item clarifications and pressed staff to provide updated actuals for irregular revenue sources such as lot‑maintenance reimbursements and parking revenues. Resident Lane Thompson used the public‑comment portion to urge the council to aim for lower property tax levels in future years, saying the tax rate had risen twice in recent terms and asking the council to view reductions as an aspiration for the 2027 process.

On procedural business the council adopted the published meeting agenda by voice vote prior to the presentations. After the budget review and discussion the mayor read the ordinance’s text aloud and formally introduced it for first reading; no final adoption occurred at the meeting, and the council signaled it would consider additional narrative edits and historical notes before subsequent action.

Next steps: staff will provide the requested fund‑balance detail at a future meeting; the council left a $50,000 land‑acquisition placeholder in the CIP (flagged for follow‑up) and scheduled additional work‑session time to review event and committee budgets and capital priorities.