Special election and making sense of the dollars: Notes from Staunton City Council meeting

Akhil Ganesh, Staunton News Leader
·6 min read

STAUNTON — It was a relatively quick night for Staunton City Council, as they breezed through their work session and regularly scheduled meeting.

It was still a night full of important information and tidbits. Here’s what we learned on the evening.

Want to run for Staunton City Council in the November special election? Here’s what you need to know.

Election season will soon be upon Staunton once again, as the city will hold a special election on November 7 to fill the seat left by former Mayor Andrea Oakes and currently filled by interim city council member Terry Holmes.

The process to run in the special election is not very different from a regular election, but there is one key difference. Rather than the regular candidate filing deadline which is on June 20, the special election means that candidates will have until August 18 at 5 p.m. to file for candidacy.

“The paperwork remains the same. All of the filings, campaign finance, all that good stuff, will stay the same,” said general registrar Christi Linhoss during the council’s work session.

That would include:

  • Certificate for Candidate Qualification

  • Statement of Economic Interest

  • Declaration of Candidacy

  • Petitions with 125 signatures

  • Statement of Organization

The general registrar's office is now accepting candidate filings.

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Staunton’s Q2 financial picture shows optimistic outlook

Staunton’s chief financial officer Jessie Moyers gave a presentation on Staunton’s current financial picture after the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, and the numbers are looking extremely positive from the city.

As far as revenues go, Moyers provided updates on four major sources for the city.

  • Sales tax: Through November, the city has brought in $268,000 more in revenue compared to the prior fiscal year through the first five months. If spending continues on the same trajectory, the city has the potential to finish $700,000 over budgeted revenues. Moyers pointed out that the budgeted mark was already $612,000 more than fiscal year 2022. “Just how long we can sustain this is the question that’s in my mind for the second half of the fiscal year,” Moyer said.

  • Meals tax: Based on date through December, meals tax revenue is currently $208,000 more than the same time last year. Receipts from this tax are generally higher in the second half of the fiscal year, according to Moyers. If that trend continues, there’s potential for revenue to come in $800,000 more than was budgeted. That budgeted total was already increased by $1 million from the previous fiscal year. “Meals tax is another area that continues to just amaze us that it’s performing so strong along with sales tax,” Moyers said.

  • Lodging tax: Revenues from lodging taxes are currently running favorable to budget, according to Moyers, with the potential to exceed budgeted revenues by about $400,000.

  • Personal property tax: Moyers said that personal property tax revenue is expected to exceed budgeted revenues by $900,000 due to the increase in values.

“What we don’t know is how the economy is going to perform over the next six months, but from what I’m seeing right now, things are positive and looking pretty good,” Moyers said.

On the expenditures side, Moyers said that the city was on track with about 51 percent already expended. She pointed out that worker’s compensation tail claims have increased by $200,000 this fiscal year with the potential to take on an additional $600,000 to $700,000. These are leftover claims from before 2003 when the city was self-insured for worker’s compensation. Moyers did say the city had reinsurance coverage that should help reimburse some of that cost.

Moyers also pointed out that another major unexpected expenditure was the clean-up for the storm that swept through Staunton last July. The total costs so far have been about $737,000, with $154,000 of that total being covered by insurance. The city is still waiting to hear from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management on whether they can help cover any of the clean-up expense.

“We’re at their mercy right now,” Moyers said.

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ARPA appropriations made official

Staunton City Council passed a budget amendment that deals with over $9.7 million dollars, mostly in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund appropriations.

ARPA granted Staunton almost $13 million dollars to spend on various projects in the city. The city has already allocated over $3.2 million of that money, and the funds must be allocated for projects by the end of 2024.

The budget changes are as follows:

  • General Fund: $113,099

  • Capital Improvements Fund: $7,508,326

  • Community Development: $5,000

  • Water Fund: ($75,000)

  • Environmental Fund: $965,000

  • Stormwater Fund: $1,200,000

The $75,000 being removed from the water fund is actually to re-allocate the funding for the Uniontown small area plan in the general fund. Only the $5,000 appropriation for the community development fund does not deal with ARPA funds.

Other than Uniontown, there is also additional appropriations in the general fund for the West End small area plan.

The capital improvements fund includes investing almost $1 million into Montgomery Hall Park, along with $200,000 for a Gypsy Hill Park bathroom refresh and $1.2 million for the Gypsy Hill stream restoration. Other projects include:

  • Moving and renovation costs for the regional animal shelter

  • Renovations to Moxie Stadium

  • Library roof replacement

  • Building security improvements

  • Juvenile and Domestic Courts relocation expenses

  • Two new fire pumpers

  • Two new dump trucks

The council wanted to clarify what would happen with leftover funds if any of the projects came in under the expected expense. According to city staff, the leftover funds would be rolled into the juvenile and domestic courts relocation expense.

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Quick hitters

  • Mayor Steven Claffey mentioned during his opening remarks that a potential solar farm project could be coming to a 97-acre property off of Commerce Road near the Virginia Department of Transportation office.

  • The council authorized city staff to apply for a pair of grants. One is a continuation of a previous grant for a school resource officer at Shelburne Middle School but would now require a contribution from the city. The city's portion of the expense will be covered by the current salary of the officer serving as the SRO. The other grant was a partnership grant to help three art organizations in Staunton: ShenanArts, the Stonewall Brigade Band, and the Staunton Augusta Art Center.

—Akhil Ganesh is the Government Reporter at The News Leader. You can contact him at aganesh@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @akhildoesthings.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton City Council receives financial update, makes ARPA allocations official