Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The town of Farmville is in a good place financially. That was the message Town Manager Dr. Scott Davis delivered during his budget presentation earlier this month. In the Wednesday, March 13 meeting, Davis outlined some benefits to current employees, asked to add a couple new positions and, as a key part, detailed that the town has reached an important milestone with the budget. 

“Since I have been employed here, since 2017, we have (always) used the water/sewer fund to make the General Fund balance,” Davis said. “This coming year will be the first we will not transfer a single dime. The General Fund is funded on its own.” 

That’s something all towns, cities and counties aim for, but not all of them achieve. And it’s done for the upcoming budget despite asking the council to add a few more staff positions. 

“I know from my time here, there were always transfers to the General Fund every year and we’ve been making concerted efforts to negate that,” said Farmville Town Mayor Brian Vincent. 

Breaking down the highlights

So let’s get into the budget. First off, the proposal would include a $3,000 raise across the board for all full-time employees and a $1 an hour raise for part-time employees. Davis also asks the board to hire one additional full-time firefighter and one additional full-time recreational position. 

“We need to begin gradually building a combination fire department, made up of paid and volunteer staff,” Davis said. This has been something discussed for more than a year now, the need for a growing fire department. Davis also pointed out that as the town adds more projects like the splash pad, they’ll need people to run them. Currently, there’s just two full-time spots in the recreation department. 

“They run all the programs, (hold) summer camp and we’re continuing to add spaces that will need assistance,” Davis said. “With the splash pad coming on, as we’re looking to update the skate park, we’re trying to set them up for success.” 

So yes, overall there are some increases. The budget comes to $25.472 million, just slightly over this current year’s $25.278 million. The proposal asks for $15.485 million in the General Fund, up from $14.39 million in the current one. In addition, $2.35 million would go into the street maintenance fund, $3 million in the water fund, $2.55 in the sewer fund. There would be $925,000 going into the transportation fund, down from $1.164 million this year and $1.14 million in the Airport Fund, down from $1.28 million this year. 

That all translates into a 0.13 cent tax rate per $100 of assessed value. 

More Farmville purchases 

There’s a couple other one-time costs involved in this proposed budget. It includes $246,000 for new 911 call handling equipment, $234,000 for repair and replacement of police cars. Davis would also like the board to consider increasing the funding for the Heart of Virginia Festival, as well as to the library. 

What’s next? 

So what happens now? Well, it’s time for residents to sound off about what they like, dislike or would like to see changed in this proposed budget. That’ll take place on Wednesday, April 10, during the town council’s 6 p.m. meeting. It’ll be held in council chambers at Town Hall, located at 116 N. Main Street in Farmville.