Liz Kirchner
Sun poured in the tall windows of the industrial chic loft space upstairs at the Great Road Hall on Main Street Saturday morning where about a dozen citizens gathered for coffee with Christiansburg Mayor Mike Barber. The monthly events are held at small businesses and venues throughout town and are designed to generate casual conversation among town staff, town council and residents.
At this month’s coffee, the mayor introduced Treasurer and Finance Director Valerie Tweedie and Deputy of Finance Deanna Cox.
Tweedie described the months’-long, processes of generating a town budget that pays for everything from HVAC contracts and software to lawn mowing and travel.
Although directors submit wish lists that must be whittled down, there are basic costs of running a healthy town.
“There are mandated costs like water testing and auditing. You can’t cut that out of the budget,” Tweedie said.
She presented copies of the town’s newly published 2017-2018 Citizen Centric Report and a summary of the town’s 2018-2019 budget.
“Read the letter of transmittal to give you a summary of what’s going on and the financial state of the town in lay terms,” she said. “Or call us and we’ll translate from CPA lingo to everybody else’s language.”
The Citizen Centric Report, a glossy, colorful tri-fold presents the budget summary in at-a-glance, reader-friendly data visualization. Tweedie said this condensed version describes “where it comes from and where it goes.”
The town struggles to keep public works and police department salaries and wages competitive with surrounding opportunities. It is thought that work on the higher paying Mountain-Valley pipeline pulls workers from town jobs.
“The labor market is super super tight,”
Of the 12 citizens present, six had attended previous coffees.
In the far-ranging conversation, citizens asked about updates to assembly ordinances and freedom of speech, pot holes, and how the town can help when seniors have difficulties paying utility bills.
“When you are on a fixed income, you get squeezed,” one attendee said. “Making a choice between going for medicine and paying the water bill is hard. Is there some way or another there’s got to be an understanding between households in difficulty and the town? People feel threatened by the future.”
“I hear your concern about living on a fixed income,” Melissa Demmitt, public relations director for the town said. “We really try and if you’re having issues with your water, we try to present ways to help. There’s a “water usage portal” on the town website. You can register and monitor your account down to the hour.”
The mayor said that hundreds of gallons of water are lost to leaks.
Christiansburg schools, which are not in the town’s purview, but the county’s, were also a topic of discussion.
Coffee with the Mayor is a monthly series launched last year by town Events Coordinator Casey Jenkins cjenkins@christiansburg.org.
“The goal of the get-togethers is to try to allow the citizens to see what’s going on and have some input into that process,” Jenkins said.
Copies of the 2017-2018 Citizen Centric Report and the town’s 2018-2019 budget are available on the town website www.christiansburg.org/
The office of the Finance Director/Treasurer can be reached at 540-382-9519, ext. 1123
