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Scottsville staff outline options to cover $70K levy work; town logged 46 million gallons pumped in recent flood response
Summary
Town staff told council they logged 46,000,000 gallons pumped during the recent event and outlined levy/levee repair options including grants, loans and a possible drawdown of reserves of about $71,000 for FY25–26; staff will continue grant and loan research.
Town staff told the Scottsville Town Council that emergency pumping ran roughly 59 hours and logged about 46,000,000 gallons removed during the most recent high-water event, and staff pressed the council to prioritize levy maintenance in the upcoming budget.
Town administrator Javier reported the log totals and described next steps to identify funding for levy work: outreach to a Richmond engineering firm, engagement with FEMA staff on grant possibilities, and inquiries to the Virginia Municipal League and the Department of Conservation and Recreation for loan or grant programs. "At total, his log showed 46,000,000 gallons pumped," Javier said when describing the pump contractor’s hours and logs.
Why it matters: staff said the levy project is a large capital-maintenance need for a small municipality, too small for a bond issuance yet large enough to create a meaningful fiscal gap. The administrator said projected options include targeted loans, drawing on the Scottsville Commonwealth Fund (roughly under $500,000), tax/fee adjustments, or austerity cuts; one staff scenario showed a reserve reduction of about $71,000 for FY25–26 to cover levy work.
Councilors asked for more detail on timelines, public hearing requirements and the mechanics of any new revenue sources, including whether a town real-estate tax could be implemented or whether increasing the meals tax would be a viable alternative. Staff noted legal and administrative constraints on property taxes (the town would generally piggyback on county administration) and said the largest reliable revenue streams for the town are meals tax and business license revenues.
Staff said they will continue to pursue grants and loan options and return with refined cost estimates and a public hearing schedule if the council decides to consider tax changes. The council and staff agreed to discuss these options in the next work session and to prepare for the budget-public-hearing timetable required to meet the fiscal-year deadline.
