Montgomery County EDA adopts 2025–26 budget, to pass through $19,000 in United Way disaster relief

The Montgomery County Economic Development Authority during a regular meeting adopted its fiscal 2025–26 budget, approved April and May treasurer reports and discussed a proposed pass-through of about $19,000 in private donations received by the United Way of Southwest Virginia to help homeowners in Montgomery County who suffered major storm damage.

The budget the authority adopted funds routine EDA operations and anticipated transfers from the county general fund to support activities including Bolling Branch Corporate Park engineering and marketing. Staff reported two certificates of deposit totaling about $1.55 million (one for $850,000 and one for $700,000) that are expected to earn roughly 3.69% interest. The EDA also discussed maintaining a $1.7 million reserve for potential natural gas-related property needs.

Staff member Angie said the authority paid off a notes-payable item of about $386,000 that had been included in the prior year's budget; that payment reduced the EDA's cash balance by the same amount. At the end of May, staff reported about $1,855,800 in additional cash on hand, part of which officials expect to apply toward the natural-gas reserve next year.

Board members approved both the April and May treasurer reports by voice vote and adopted a resolution declaring the meeting to be the annual meeting of the authority. The board opened and closed nominations for officers, accepted a slate of officers and approved the fiscal-year budget by voice vote. The meeting record shows no roll-call tallies in the provided transcript; outcomes were recorded as approved by voice vote.

On disaster relief, board members said the United Way of Southwest Virginia had received about $2 million in private donations following Hurricane Helene and that Montgomery County is slated to receive roughly $19,000 for local distribution. Under a draft memorandum of understanding, the United Way would transfer the funds to Montgomery County and the authority would act as a conduit for distribution. Staff described planned eligibility criteria based on FEMA damage assessments; officials said the known damage that meets the substantial-or-complete-damage threshold affects five single-family homes in the county. Staff said it will take months to process applications and that the authority and county finance would establish qualifications and tracking before disbursing funds.

The meeting concluded with a motion and vote to enter a closed session for the reasons stated on the meeting agenda; no material from the closed session was disclosed in the transcript. Staff said they will return to the authority with finalized policies and the eligibility criteria for the United Way pass-through before any distributions occur.

Less-critical procedural items handled at the meeting included approval of minutes, the annual resolution and officer elections. No substantive objections to the budget or the United Way arrangement appear in the recorded discussion.