Town budget for FY26-27 exceeds $1 million
“We expect the Council to be careful and spend our money wisely.” Whitaker said a few concerning areas of the budget were Tourism and Revenue, real estate taxes, trash pick up, the Public Service Authority, and donations.
Floyd Town Council approved its budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 at its June 17 meeting at Town Hall. A copy of the budget can be found here.
Town Manager Andrew Morris presented the budget to the public during a hearing held at the June 3 meeting. During the public hearing for this year’s budget, which totals $1,039,050, former councilman and Town resident David Whitaker voiced his concerns.
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“I am a taxpayer … and I think that I speak for all of the taxpayers,” Whitaker said during the public hearing. “We expect the Council to be careful and spend our money wisely.”
Whitaker said a few concerning areas of the budget were Tourism and Revenue, real estate taxes, trash pick up, the Public Service Authority, and donations.
“You have Tourism and Revenue at $40,000,” Whitaker said. “Historically, the Lodging Tax is supposed to take care of Tourism expenses; that’s the way the county translates it. I just wonder how it’s being spent.”
According to the budget, the county allocated $40,000 to Tourism Revenues.
Morris responded to some of Whitaker’s concerns later in the meeting. All that is in the budget is the yearly amount of “Capital Funding,” Morris explained.
He said that in regard to “Tourism Revenue versus Expense” — “it gets me every year, too. The revenues are always only going to show $40,000 because that’s what the county puts in,” Morris said. “The $40,000 on our side is on the expense side where $80,000 goes out, so it's not actually coming in. It’s our money just going out.”
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Additionally, Whitaker said the amount the Town allocated toward donations seemed a bit much. The total donations amount comes to $17,500.
“If I want to give to a nonprofit, I will give to them out of my pocket, but I don't appreciate the Town taking money that I've spent on real estate taxes and giving it to various people with their hands out,” Whitaker said. “So if you have extra money and you don't need … my tax money for anything other than donations, then you reduce our taxes so we don’t collect that much.”
Council approved the budget unanimously.
