“I wouldn’t say we are concerned at all but I think it’s definitely getting tighter,” he said. “And there’s some bigger questions about where the market’s going with inflation or recession. So those are definitely impacts to the budget and things we’re keeping an eye on.”
Despite this, the city has several long-term projects on the docket for 2023.
Funding for capital projects often fluctuates year to year based on grant money, Holloway said. The city in recent history usually spends about $1 million per year on roadwork, Holloway said, but this year is closer to $5 million in total for street repaving, including big projects like North Detroit Street.
“We’ve got a lot of grants for street repaving. We have a big year for projects,” Holloway said.
Additionally, the budget includes $5 million for replacing Fire Station 32. This project was on the books for last year, but was postponed due to COVID-related supply chain disruptions and uncertainty in the construction industry, Holloway said.
“It’s still something we desperately need,” he said. “The current Station 32 on West Second Street is significantly aging, and it doesn’t hold our people or our equipment within that facility.”
The city is incurring several expenses associated with the Xenia Town Square redevelopment, specifically with utilities, roads and other engineering work to reestablish the historic street grid, Holloway said. However, most of those costs are covered by leases within Xenia Towne Square, or will be covered by sale of the properties. City officials have previously expressed that they wish to “get out of the landlord business,” and intend to sell the properties located on the site.
The city’s budget also allocates funds for additional school resource officers in the school district, however talks between the city and school board on whether or not to hire more police officers are still in preliminary stages, Holloway said.
Xenia has used an “annual appropriation ordinance” as the final budget required under the city charter for the last several years. Xenia’s appropriations for all funds total just over $92 million for 2023, including transfers and inter-fund loans. For accounting reasons, this number is inflated, with the city’s estimated cash expenses closer to $70 million, public documents show.
The city is projecting an ending balance of approximately $4.6 million in operating funds by the end of 2023.
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