THE FOLLOWING COLUMN IS BY DANVILLE’S MAYOR RICKEY WILLIAMS, JR
Chinese philosopher Kong Qiu, better known to the world as Confucius, once said, “A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.” Unfortunately, when I was sworn in as Acting Mayor on November 6, 2018, that’s exactly where we found ourselves. At that time, we only had $300,000 in General Fund Reserves (GFR) despite a City Ordinance requiring that we maintain a $1.2 Million minimum. Overtime for Fire and Police alone for the remainder of the year were projected to exceed this amount and there was nothing available for any other major issues that might arise.
I immediately implemented a non-emergent spending freeze, only allowing expenditures that were absolutely necessary. This strategy paid off, and less than six months later, we ended the fiscal year (FY) on April 30, 2019 with $4.8 Million in GFR. I couldn’t agree more with financial advisor turned radio host Larry Burkett who said, “The one principle that surrounds everything else is that of stewardship; that we are the managers of everything that God has given us.” With the support of our Aldermen, strong management and planning by our City Leadership Team, and great implementation by our City Team members, we were able to get City finances back on track.
We ended FY 2020 with $6.3 Million in GFR and FY 2021 with $11.2 Million in GFR. At that time, we kept $1.2 Million in the GFR, paid an additional $2.3 Million toward our unfunded Fire & Police Pension liabilities, set aside $4 Million for the demolition of Bresee and other Downtown buildings, and put $3.7 Million aside for additional roadwork and economic development in 2022. We ended FY 2022 with $11.4 Million in the GFR, which once again allowed us to make extra pension payments and set aside $8.9 Million for additional roadwork and other projects. We do not yet have our FY 2023 audit; however, internal calculations show that we ended last fiscal year with approximately $5.2 Million in GFR.
In addition to making strides with the GFR, we also made major progress with our Police & Fire Pensions. Funding them at 100% versus 90% required by state law, making extra pension payments from the GFR, and using all Cannabis funding to make additional payments has left them 6.3% & 9.3% better funded respectively.
How is this possible? Here are just a few examples: Improving our bond rating from Baa3 to BBB allowed us to refund our bonds, saving you $190,840.53 (5.3%). Paying off the city’s $1,256,948.85 portion of the PSB bond early saved you $413,783.67 (33% savings on refunded bonds).
Paying off the city’s outstanding ERI (early retirement incentive) & four banknotes early resulted in savings of approximately $80,000. Renewing our municipal electric service agreement resulted in savings of approximately $100,000/year. Entering an agreement with a 3rd Party allows us to collect over $200,000 in previously owed but unpaid Hotel/Motel & Sales tax revenues. Moving to a paperless agenda and budget saved approximately $14,000/year. Last but not least, receiving over $30 Million in new grants (excluding ARPA), including a $3 Million Rebuild Downtowns & Main Streets Grant, allows us to make capital improvements while spending local tax dollars on other needed projects.
The other key component to our financial improvement has come from strategic financial planning. Last year, we spent a combined 500+ hours to complete the first Capital Improvement Plan in decades covering FY2023-2024 through FY2025-2026. We concurrently rolled out a multi-year budget to accompany the Capital Improvement Plan, allowing for strategic budgetary planning into the future instead of evaluating only one year at a time. Both were updated and passed for the next three years last month. All of this would have been impossible without the diligence and leadership of our Comptroller, Ashlyn Massey, and we thank her and everyone who worked so hard to make them possible.
In sum, the only way for Danville to not only survive, but to thrive, is for us to be impeccable stewards of the money you provide us. Renowned preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “Economy is half the battle in life, but it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well.” I am proud to say we’re doing just that. Strong stewardship every day is making Danville an even better place to live, work, invest, and play!
