Heather Bell
RADFORD – Radford City Council has unanimously voted to put out a request for proposals (RFP) to auditing firms to complete a forensic audit of the city’s finances.
The city is in a financial bind to the tune of millions of dollars, mainly due to the overestimation of revenues used to balance the city’s budget for multiple years in a row. Back in March, then-Interim City Manager Craig Meadows reported the city’s projected revenues were much higher than the actual revenues collected for fiscal years 2023, 2024 and 2025. The city budgets for those years overestimated revenues for real estate tax, sales tax, charges for rescue services and reimbursements from the state and federal governments for health and welfare programs.
At the Nov. 10 Radford City Council meeting, Vice Mayor Seth Gillespie made a motion to send out an RFP to seek auditors to complete a forensic audit of the city’s finances for fiscal years 2020 through the present. The motion was seconded by Council member Kellie Artrip and passed unanimously. Once the proposals are received, the city council can evaluate the cost of such an audit and decide how to proceed.
All council members said they feel the addition of City Manager Todd Meredith and the return of Trish Cox, CPA, to the city as Chief Financial Officer will help with the efforts to delve deeply into the city’s finances, given their extensive experience.
“To be able to add someone of the caliber of Trish [Cox] to our team as we try to recover from this financial situation is invaluable,” said Gillespie.
“It’s never fun going through a process like this, but it’s an important process to get the right players around the table for us to be able to determine exactly what’s going on – where we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going,” said Mayor David Horton.
The Radford City School Board recently submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the city regarding meeting minutes, appropriation ordinances and approvals of school budgets, one more indication of possible financial unrest in the city. The FOIA request does not specifically state why the information is being requested. According to RCPS School Board Chair Gloria Boyd, the city provided information related to the request to the school board on Nov. 11.
“The city responded and provided public records in response on November 11, 2025,” Boyd said via email. “The school board’s legal counsel is currently reviewing and evaluating the city’s response.”
The city released a statement regarding the FOIA request.
“The City of Radford is working together with the Radford City Schools to address concerns regarding school operational funding. The City remains committed to transparency, open communication, and fulfilling all state-required funding obligations,” it reads. “City representatives and staff are united in our commitment to Radford’s teachers, students, and residents and to working together responsibly through these challenges.”
