City Council Briefed on Schools; State Inquiry; Police Compensation

By DAVID QUESENBERRY

Patriot Publishing

The last meeting of the year turned into a busy one for Radford City Council as it received two reports from the City Manager on the appropriations for Radford City Schools and on the recent request for financial information from the state’s Auditor of Public Accounts.

Council also heard from Radford City Police Chief Jerry Holdaway on a pay adjustment and retention proposal for the Police Department.

City Manager Todd Meredith told Council that the City had so far appropriated $2,865,000 this fiscal year to the Radford City Public Schools. He said this represented approximately one-half of the annually appropriated funds disbursed at the half-way point in the current fiscal year; so appropriations were on schedule.

After researching school appropriations, Meredith said the City had always met its obligations to the school system and he could not find any time in which appropriations were not made.

“Year in and year out, the City has persistently and consistently met its obligations to the school system and we will continue to do so,” he said.

Meredith then explained aspects of the school appropriation process to Council saying he “thought there had been some confusion” and that it would be of benefit to explain how the appropriation process worked.

Appropriations for the school budget, he said, were made at the start of the fiscal year. The amount of the total appropriation for the schools is not immediately available in cash on July 1^st. Instead, the availability of funds is based on the actual collection of revenues over the course of the fiscal year.

Disbursement of the funds is based on coordination between the school system and the municipality and not on a fixed schedule. This system, he added, has worked well for municipalities across the state.

The goal of this coordination is to make sure that funds for the appropriation are disbursed in such a manner to insure both the School System’s and the City’s liquidity and cash flow.

To make sure this happens, Meredith said, “Requires good quality communication between the two agencies.”

During times when the City’s cash flow is low, Meredith said, it becomes more difficult to disburse funds to the school system because the City does not wish to go below the required minimum cash-on-hand. Going below this minimum cash threshold places the City at risk for having to take out loans or other short-term financing to maintain cash flows which does not benefit the taxpayer.

During these low points, the City and the School System need to coordinate the disbursement of funds to maintain the liquidity for both organizations.

Following this presentation, Meredith said due to discussion among the general public, he wanted to talk about the Auditor of Public Accounts and what is happening with Radford’s finances.

The Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) Meredith said, uses an “early warning system” to monitor localities in the Commonwealth for fiscal distress that was based on financial ratios and other qualitative factors. The APA used actual financial data in its inquiry, which meant they were looking at such factors as revenues, expenditures, debt service and provision of services.

Fiscal distress happens, he said, when a locality’s ability to sustain public services or meet its financial obligations becomes threatened by problems such as revenue shortfalls, cash flow problems and deficit spending among other issues.

In Radford’s case he continued, what attracted the attention of the APA was a continued downward trend in Radford’s financial ratios for Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024, which continued into Fiscal Year 2025.

Specific concerns mentioned included: revenue anticipation notes (2023, 2024); overestimated revenue projections; and reliance on budget transfers from the Electric Fund, which reported a negative fund balance in FY 2024.

Based on these and other factors, the APA decided that it was necessary to determine whether or not Radford met the standards for fiscal distress.

APA is presently conducting follow-up reviews with City officials to determine if Radford met the criteria for fiscal distress. Meredith said he and Finance Manager Patricia Cox are working to submit all the information needed for APA’s determination.

The review process, Meredith said, was not punitive in nature but was aimed at assessing whether or not Radford needed state assistance to stabilize and improve its financial position.

If the City did meet the standards for fiscal distress the APA could recommend state assistance, subject to approval by the Governor and legislative committees. The purpose of the assistance would be for financial recovery and could take many forms such as: funds for consulting services; various types of financial advice and assistance; development of fiscal policies and fiscal controls; and possibly development of financial plans for the next three to five years.

Meredith stressed that if the City did meet the fiscal distress criteria, the outcome of the process could come in the form of assistance to aid the City and provide the framework that the community needed to move towards financial recovery.

In other business, City Council heard a report from Radford City Police Chief Jerry Holdaway on a pay adjustment and retention proposal for the Radford City Police Department.

Chief Holdaway told Council that the department was currently nine officers short with multiple retirements from current staff projected over the next five years. Running short-staffed while experiencing an increasing call volume was placing department personnel under an increasing strain.

Despite these factors the department had been very conservative with its budgets and had provided the City with approximately $2.6 million in savings the last three years through staff savings and grant awards, the chief explained.

In looking at salaries and retention of officers, Chief Holdaway noted the pay disparity between Radford and other jurisdictions, with Radford ranking the lowest in pay among neighboring jurisdictions and agencies within the City.

Retention of personnel was important Holdaway said since it cost $238,273 to recruit and train one RCPD officer. Retaining personnel allowed the City to preserve the experience, knowledge and community relationships formed over time by the officer’s presence in the community.

To address the issue of retention and compensation, Holdaway proposed that sworn staff (officers) receive a $10,000 salary increase, while non-sworn support personnel would receive a $2,500 increase. The non-sworn staff, he said had taken on responsibilities that they normally did not do while sworn personnel were working with minimum staffing in dealing with an increase in calls for service.

Regarding the $10,000 increase for sworn personnel, Holdaway said the department had lost officers primarily because of pay.

“It’s just time that we’ve got to do something to keep our good men and women here and not let another agency ‘fish’ them away from us.” Following the presentation and after discussion, City Council approved the proposed $2,500 salary increase for non-sworn RCPD personnel and a $10,000 increase for sworn personnel.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Radford City Council will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 12, 2026 in the Council Chambers of Radford City Hall at 10 Robertson Street.