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Supervisors debate using $2.5 million from unassigned fund balance to close FY2027 gap
Summary
County officials debated a plan that uses $2.5 million from Shenandoah County's unassigned fund balance to balance the FY2027 budget, with some supervisors urging a smaller draw and a higher reserve target.
Shenandoah County officials debated whether to use $2.5 million from the county's unassigned fund balance to close a projected FY2027 budget shortfall. County Administrator Evan Vass told the Board the figure "factors in using $2.5 million from the unassigned funds to balance the budget and this amount is equal to about four pennies." The proposal assumes current vacancy-savings estimates and other conservative revenue forecasts.
Supervisor Dotson pushed back, saying "using this fund for operations is taking them in the wrong direction" and proposing the Board reduce the draw from the unassigned fund balance to $1.5 million while increasing the fund-balance policy target toward the 18–20% range recommended by auditors and financial advisors. Director of Finance Amy Dili confirmed the county's current policy target of 12.5% and said staff had presented scenarios showing higher reserve targets.
The Board did not finalize the reserve policy at the session; members signaled a desire to limit use of one-time reserves for ongoing operations and to revisit the percentage target and planned withdrawals before final adoption.
