Present for the Monday, March 2 Village Council meeting were, from left, Stephanie Pearce, Senay Semere, Carmen Brown, Vice President Angie Hsu, President Gavin DeVore Leonard and Village Manager Johnnie Burns. (Submitted photo)
Village ended 2025 with $694k surplus
- Published: March 10, 2026
Village Finance Director Michelle Robinson delivered some good news at Village Council’s most recent regular meeting, Monday, March 3.
Last year, municipal revenues exceeded projections, and expenses came in lower than expected — as a result, the Village ended 2025 with a surplus of $694,456 in the general fund, which is the primary fund for local government activities and operations.
According to Robinson’s data, which she shared with Council in her 2025 end-of-year report, the Village had budgeted for $5.3 million in revenue, but received $5.8 million instead — money generated from income and property taxes, fees, fines, permits, reimbursements and more. Of note, the Village did $163,000 better on interest earnings on its investments than anticipated.
The Village’s utility departments also generated more revenue than expected, primarily through an uptick in consumer fees.
Expenses for last year’s general fund were budgeted at $5.1 million, and came in at $4.9 million. While administrative and planning expenses were higher than predicted, a decrease in spending for Village salaries and benefits — owing mostly to understaffed departments, including the police — put the general fund under budget.
As Council President Gavin DeVore Leonard put it, the surplus reflects the Village’s proclivity to exercise a conservative approach to crafting their yearly budgets — that is, budgeting for less revenue than expected, and more expenses than what will likely come in.
“We’re on the right track,” DeVore Leonard said. “But there’s still work to do.”
For the 2026 budget, Council employed the kind of conservatism DeVore Leonard described — of the $18.1 million in total appropriations for all the Village’s funds, it budgeted $5.4 million for the general fund, with the expectation that expenses will outpace revenues, and with a projected deficit of $558,100.
“Not to totally oversimplify this, but with the surplus, we didn’t need to pass a deficit budget,” DeVore Leonard conceded. “That’s what we know now. We’re learning.”
Like his colleagues, Council member Senay Semere was buoyed by Robinson’s encouraging report.
“The takeaway here is that we finished the year stronger than anticipated,” he said. “I don’t want the word ‘deficit’ to be the only word that people hear. The other word people should be discussing is ‘progress.’ We’re trying to be better stewards, and it isn’t always doom and gloom.”
In other Village Council news, March 2—
Treasurer’s end-of-year report
Council Clerk and Village Treasurer Judy Kintner also delivered her end-of-year report, also with positive news.
As of Dec. 31 of last year, the Village had $16,180,954 under active investment — representing a cash balance increase of $14,988 since Kintner delivered her last report in October. The investment total is split between the Village’s three accounts with WesBanco, Raymond James and Star Ohio, and interest on all investments for last year was $656,665.
New procedures take effect April 6 meeting
By a unanimous vote of 5–0, Council passed an ordinance that amends the group’s rules and procedures.
Perhaps the most considerable of the changes made is the reordering of the typical meeting’s schedule of business. Whereas citizens’ concerns have followed public hearings and legislation, citizens’ concerns will soon take place before Council tackles any ordinances or resolutions on the docket.
According to next week’s Village Council agenda, the change will begin on the Monday, April 6 meeting.
As previously reported in the News, when Council began broaching this change, the rationale was to allow individuals in attendance at a Council meeting to air their support, opposition, concerns or questions over a piece of legislation, potentially informing Council’s subsequent discussions and decisions.
Commissions get funds
Council approved two resolutions — approving expenditures for the Public Arts and Culture Commission and Environmental Commission’s respective events and activities for the year.
Of the $4,500 Council approved in last year’s budgeting process to benefit the Public Arts and Culture Commission, $2,000 will go toward murals and public art installations; $1,000 will fund the Women’s Voices Out Loud event; $1,000 will go toward the Village Inspiration and Design Awards; and $500 will serve discretionary purposes.
Of the $4,500 Council approved in last year’s budgeting process to benefit the Environmental Commission, $2,500 will go toward educational materials and seminars on sustainable building practices; $500 toward educational programming and materials on local food systems, including a potential directory; $1,000 will go for educational purposes on watershed health education; and $500 will be discretionary.
Two-year goals come into view
Council took additional steps toward finalizing its two-year goals — priorities to help “guide operations, resource allocation and organizational focus” for 2026 and 2027, that will “inform decision-making, budgeting and staff capacity planning,” according to a goal draft document that Assistant Village Manager Elyse Giardullo put together following recent Council deliberation.
All Council’s likely goals for the next two years currently fall into five distinct categories: community engagement and communications; financial sustainability and stewardship; municipal infrastructure, utilities and public spaces; economic development and downtown vitality; housing and affordability; and organizational leadership, capacity and “how we work.”
The discrete goals are far-ranging, with a number of desired outcomes, projected timelines and responsible staff or elected parties charged with carrying them out.
Some example goals:
• Develop and launch a new, user-friendly Village website designed to meet ADA accessibility standards;
• Assess the Village sidewalk policy, with the outcome of either funding a mandate for Village-owned sidewalks or to return ownership to property owners;
• Revisit parking plans, leading to an evaluation of local parking needs and, if necessary, develop a plan of action for new parking;
• Review and potentially update community reinvestment area and tax-increment financing policies;
• Return to a balanced budget by 2028;
• Create a local crisis preparedness plan, and then an overarching communication plan;
• Clarify the Village’s role in fostering economic development, and consider policies that affect pop-up shops, markets and micro-enterprises.
The News will provide additional coverage on these and other two-year goals as Council continues its discussions.
Flag lowered for Jackson
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Council President DeVore Leonard and Vice President Angie Hsu penned a joint letter to let the general public know that they directed Village staffers to lower the American flag at the Bryan Center to half-staff in honor of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson.
A prominent civil rights activist, presidential candidate and Baptist minister, Jackson died at 84 on Feb. 17.
The lowering of the flag will honor Jackson’s “extraordinary contributions to civil rights, justice, peace and democracy throughout his lifetime, and his enduring impact and inspiration,” the Council members’ letter read.
The flag stood at half-staff from sunrise on Friday, March 6 until sunset on March 7.
ED. NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the correct meeting when the new Council procedures — specifically moving Citizens Concerns ahead of Legislation and Public Hearings — will begin.
The Yellow Springs News encourages respectful discussion of this article.
You must login to post a comment.
Don't have a login? Register for a free YSNews.com account.
No comments yet for this article.