Heather Bell
RADFORD – With a deadline of April 1 for Radford’s 2026-27 budget to be completed, work is well underway.
Council members met with city staff members in a budget work session prior to council’s most recent meeting Feb. 9, during which they discussed a request for proposals for health and dental insurance, applying for a grant to create a capital improvement plan for the city’s water system, the possibilities regarding cost of living increases for employees and other budget matters. The budget calendar is being finalized and should be made public soon, said Radford City Manager Todd Meredith, who also reported a study on the city’s electric rates is also nearing completion.
Meredith said the approach to the budget is different this year, as staff is working with a “zero-base budgeting process.”
“Budgeting is well underway,” said Meredith. “We are working with a zero-base budgeting process this year, which means all expenditure line items have been zeroed out and we are rebuilding each expenditure line item individually and documenting what we are spending money on. Those notes will be put in the financial management systems and we’re going to use this as a tool and a procedure to identify any historical spending that may or may not be necessary. If it’s not necessary, we’re going to eliminate it. We’re optimistic we will identify some savings through that process.”
“I know this is going to be another long, hard [budget] year, but I appreciate the team we have around us,” said Vice Mayor Seth Gillespie.
Mayor David Horton echoed those sentiments, pointing to the financial team of Meredith; Director of Finance and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Trish Cox; Assistant Finance Director Diane Newby; Accounting Clerk Kathryn Woodyard and former Interim City Manager Craig Meadows, who is working with the city in an advisory capacity.
“We have a wonderful team of people who are helping us discover things that weren’t necessarily happening to the highest level of efficiency,” said Horton. “Things are moving much better now. The challenges are still in place, and we have a lot of hard work to do, but it’s a lot easier when your accuracy is better, your projections are better, and your opportunities to figure out pathways are better and that’s where we are today.”
Radford City Council’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Radford Municipal Building, 10 Robertson St., Radford. Agendas and minutes can be found at radfordva.gov, and the meetings are available to watch on the City of Radford’s YouTube channel.
