Charlottesville closing out FY23 with a $12.7 million revenue surplus

We’re three weeks into the fiscal year and that means work is under way to close the last one out. Charlottesville collected nearly five million more in real property taxes in Fiscal Year 2023. 

“For the second year in a row, we are ending with a big surplus and that first surplus is driven by double-digit increase in assessments,” said interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers. 

The total projected surplus is nearly $12.7 million. While Rogers said the city also saved money by not filling several vacancies in local government, revenue collection was higher than anticipated in several other areas. 

• The city collected $2.175 million more than expected in personal property taxes for a total of $14,175,000
• The transient room tax brought in $8.123 million, or $1.123 million than budgeted
• The meals tax brought in $1.7 million more than anticipated for a total of $15,785,363
• There was an additional $771,158 in State Highway Assistance fund

The projected but not audited surplus is higher than the $5 million Council had been told about in January.

Krisy Hammill, the city’s director of budget and performance measurement, said the increase had not been expected.

“We have tried to budget conservatively to make sure we were making our marks,” Hammill said. “We had no trends to follow during this time period.”

Hammill said the Commonwealth of Virginia is beginning to report signs of a slowdown in some revenue such as sales tax collection. 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the July 21, 2023 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.