City Manager Joe King will present to Danville City Council on Tuesday night an initial version of the city’s budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The working draft of the budget has been prepared based on guidance provided in recent weeks by City Council. It maintains services, programs and facilities at current levels with few exceptions. No tax rate increases or fee increases are proposed. Use of cash reserves and moderate increases in debt financing make it possible to balance the budget.
The presentation of the working draft will take place during Council’s work session, which is held in the fourth floor conference room of the Municipal Building following the close of Council’s regular business session.
The city’s charter requires the city manager to present a recommended budget to City Council by April 1. Following that presentation, the charter requires the city manager and City Council to work together in modifying the budget into a formal version for presentation to the public no later than April 30.
King is making his recommendations early to enable City Council to undertake a more extensive review of the budget. Toward that goal, City Council will meet every Tuesday evening this month for budget reviews.
Public hearings will be scheduled later in the budget process. Final adoption must take place no later than June 30. The final budget will serve as a blueprint for city operations from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.
Also in the work session, City Council will discuss participating in a program that would give electricity customers rebates if they conserve power during peak usage periods.
Prior to the work session, Council will meet in its regular business session, which begins at 7 p.m. The agenda for the business session includes a public hearing and vote on a $2.6 million project that if approved by Council would renovate three empty buildings in the Westmoreland neighborhood for use as affordable apartments.
The three buildings include the former Sledd Memorial Church at 608 Upper St., which most recently was used for the Head Start program, and two vacant duplexes on Floyd St. The church building would be converted into 11 affordable one- and two-bedroom apartment units. The duplexes would provide two, one-bedroom units and two, two-bedroom units. Thirteen of the units would serve veterans, people with disabilities, and households with very low income. Two units located in one of the Floyd Street duplexes would be rented at market rates.
Funding would come from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund and a Community Block Development Grant, as well as from low-interest loans and historic tax credit equity.
The only other item for Tuesday night’s business session is a vote on appointing Bill Donohue as a member of the Danville Utility Commission to fill the unexpired term of Jeff Liverman.
City Council meets in business and work sessions on the first and third Tuesday of each month. The meetings are held in the Council Chambers located on the fourth floor of the Municipal Building on Patton Street.
Both business and work sessions are open to the public. River City TV broadcasts all business sessions. Watch them live on Comcast cable channel 10 or streaming at www.rivercitytv.org. Video archives of council business sessions also are available at www.rivercitytv.org. Work sessions are not televised or recorded on video.