BECKLEY, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – During Tuesday’s regular meeting, City Treasurer Billie Trump announced during his reading of a 2020-2021 budget revision that the City of Beckley collected an additional $2 million in revenue.
Trump stated that when making the budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the city was beginning to see a significant downtown in revenue due to COVID-19. He noted that he submitted a very conservative budget and even expected that the city would have to delay projects and purchases until revenue was up again.
“As it turned out, I was a little too conservative with my estimates,” Trump laughed. “As the economy turned around, people were able to get out, and we had some revenue increases over what was budgeted.”
He continued, explaining that the increases came from several departments, including business and occupation tax (BNO), one percent sales tax and through the sale of two buildings in Beckley- the old Beckley Police Department and Fire Station Three.
Trump broke down the increase, stating that of the total $2,230,000, $750,000 came from BNO, $550,000 came from sales and $723,000 came from the sales of fixed assets.
According to Trump, the additional monies have been added back into revenue projections such as streets and highways, local fire departments and police departments, and public safety expenditures.
“This gave us some room to take care of some expenses that we held back, so it’s always good to have more money than anticipated.
Following Trump’s announcement, council approved the budget revision. Trump says he will have the revision submitted to the West Virginia Auditor’s Office by next week.
The City of Beckley has already submitted the budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. This budget will undergo a revision in July and Trump says any additional revenue found in this budget will go toward capital improvements and purchases.
Trump anticipates another revenue increase as the relaxation of COVID-19 guidelines and the growth of vaccinated individuals will ultimately lead to more spending.