Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

I hereby open this joint session of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and the City Council of Christiansburg on this Monday, August 17, 2026.

Good evening and welcome.

We are very happy that everyone is with us tonight. Before we get started, Mayor Barber has asked for the opportunity to say a few introductory words. Mayor Barber.

I would like to thank the Board of Supervisors and the district administration for arranging this meeting tonight to talk about the fire, rescue and sanitary services as well as the financing model. A special thanks goes to the administrative staff of the cities and the district council, who have met in the last few weeks to create a compensation plan for the recently completed study of the district council. Staff costs for rescue workers have skyrocketed in recent years. The number of volunteers has gone down sharply. The number of emergency calls increases annually, which is a huge financial burden for all departments, especially the city of Christiansburg. I am sure that we will hear from both sides statements and suggestions on the requirements, as well as on the things that are financially difficult to handle. We know, just like you, that we are all citizens of the district. We all make our contribution to the district and to the city. We appreciate the time that each of you has invested to find a hopefully fair solution, not only for the rescue workers, but also taking into account the needs of our citizens.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Next, I would like to ask all of you to join our district administrator, Ms. Angie Hill, at the Pledge of Allegiance and rise. I only look after the flag of the United States of America and the Republic for which it stands. A nation under God, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you, Inge. Since we are such a large group tonight and maybe don't all know each other, I don't want to get anyone into trouble. However, I would like to take the turn and ask everyone, as well as all employees, to introduce themselves briefly so that we know who is in the room. And if it doesn't matter to the audience, I would be happy if you would also introduce yourself briefly. I recognize a few of you again, but we'll start in the back corner. Excuse me, you are now in line.

Josh, Christian's civil service representative.

Billy Hanks.

Städtverwalter von Blecksburg.

Kim Bowman, Stadtrat, Christiansburg.

I am Johanna Hicks, City Councilor of the City of Christiansburg. Mary Biggs, Montgomery County Supervisor, District F. Sam Bishop, City Councilor of the City of Christiansburg.

Mike Barber, Mayor of the City of Christiansburg.

And I am April Dionz. I represent District G and am the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

Steve Fegelowski, Deputy Chairman, District C. Uwe, City Councilor of Christiansburg.

Yes, Board of Supervisors, District B. Crenn, Board of Supervisors, District A. Chris Lawrence, Deputy County Administrator.

Angie Hill, Montgomery County Administrator. Kim Igel, City Administrator for Christiansburg.

Got Shippey, Christiansburg Deputy City Administrator.

Tracy Henlein, Council Secretary for Christiansburg. Christina Boldt, Head of Public Works for the City of Christiansburg. Katie Miano, Director of Finance for Christiansburg.

McMahon, County Administrator.

Jen Harris, Director of Public Works and Community Engagement, Montgomery County Marshal, Administrative Director in the County Administration.

Thank you all very much. Welcome again. Sorry to interrupt you all, but I wanted to make sure that we know who is here today. We are here tonight for a discussion on the financing of the operating costs for fire and rescue services. Our discussion tonight will focus exclusively on developing a financing formula that covers fair and fair operating costs, which, with the provision of emergency services for the residents of the city of Christiansburg and for the residents of the non-immigrated areas of Montgomery County, which are involved in the field of voluntary fire department and the voluntary rescue service of Christiansburg, falls. To give a very short break to the history of this topic. Excuse me. In February 2025, the city of Christiansburg sent a letter to Montgomery County asking for an additional $26,000 in financial aid for fire and rescue services. Before the consultation on the budget for the business year 2027, the city of Christiansburg submitted another request for $150,000 in additional funds for fire and rescue services. Between these two writings, in 2025, the Board of Supervisors commissioned a study nationwide to investigate the fire and rescue system, to better understand how the country is currently financing the operating costs of all agencies and to use a data-based methodology that gives us guidance on what we should or cannot do. We have obviously all read the study and understand that several phases need to be taken into account when implementing it. We consider the financing of the operating costs as an implementation of the first phase, which is why we came together here tonight. After working closely together for several weeks, the cities of Christiansburg and Blacksburg as well as Montgomery County have developed an recommended financing formula that they will present to us tonight. Since this is a joint session with Christiansburg, we will only focus on how the formula can be applied to the operating costs of Christiansburg. However, it is important to note that the city of Blacksburg was an active participant and is also involved in this phase 1 implementation as far as its interests are concerned. The employees will now present the results of their collaboration. I ask you to put all questions back until the end of the presentation. And since today's session is exclusively focused on financing operating costs, only questions will be answered. This special topic of the employees and our committees has been considered and tested. Angie Kim, danke, dass Sie hier sind und danke für die umfangreiche Arbeit hinter den Kulissen. Nicht nur von Ihnen, sondern von der großen Gruppe von Menschen in allen Gemeinden. Wir sind sehr gespannt auf Ihre Präsentation. Also legen Sie los. Danke. As the chairman and the mayor have already indicated, the city of Christiansburg has applied for additional funds for the fire and rescue service in the last two cycles, especially for the areas that are not included, which belong to the primary use area of ​​the city. The first panel is open.

I have this button here.

Should I start from the front?

Angie, could you speak a little louder? Speak louder.

I will speak louder. We recognize the need to develop a fair, sustainable and flexible financing model for operation on the basis of performance delivery. Employees from Montgomery County, Christiansburg and Blacksburg met in the last few weeks to develop an recommended model for testing. And we used the recently completed comprehensive brand and rescue service evaluation to develop the model. This study is the first time that we have considered a more district-wide system approach instead of an individual service area approach. Several models were included in the study. We have developed the model that we will recommend to you tonight on the basis of examples from other municipalities with several service agencies. The goals of the model are a fair financing approach for the two cities, based on performance, the adjustment of the current financing level, as well as the support of system growth and long-term demand. This is the original proposal, which can be evaluated over time to ensure that these goals are further achieved. I'll let someone press the button up here. Thank you. So this map is something that both committees have already seen. You will see the use areas here in the different colors. It is important to note that this zone was established in the 1960s. So you have been with us for some time. If you go to the next slide, I would like to focus on the first access area, Christiansburg, as this is the topic of discussion for tonight. So you see the responsibility limits, which are shown in green on the screen, and the wider, yellowed area is the first access area for the fire brigade. The first access area for the rescue services is very similar, only a little different. The financing model takes into account employment burden data, i.e. the call volume in connection with the population, and focuses, as I said, on the operating costs of the services that are provided by the cities in the non-associated areas of the district. Two factors that we have proposed for the test are the population, which forms the basis for the cost determination, and the fixed costs for the proper maintenance of the readiness for use. So if you think of a system that has to run, you need a basis for what can react and must be ready to react effectively. The actual call volume then represents a higher need for service and something varies with the demographic of the affected population. We have developed a model that can take into account changes in these numbers and the financing allocation. The percentage would be adjusted with the financing formula if population and call volume change. The factors that could lead to this include population growth, revised use areas and the addition of potential future stations. I would also like to add that one of the most important aspects of the model is the fact that it is a first recommendation and that we have the opportunity to make adjustments over time. There is a plan for approval and implementation at the end of each year, a balance taking into account the to carry out actual call volumes in order to make the necessary adjustments. This slide shows the percentages of the financing model based on the middle value formation of the two previously mentioned factors and estimated cost factors and spending values, as Kim mentioned, after the end of the year compared with the actual values. And this slide shows how we include the formula and apply it to the current budget for the business year 2027. This uses the actual costs, i.e. the actual use data, as well as the population number in the formula that we have shown you. And we applied this to the entire budget of Christiansburg for fire and rescue services, which then results in the costs for the community-free areas of the district. Then we have the EMS accommodation for the community-free part of the district and the current financing through the district, to get to the end of the sum. I wanted to underline the kind of conversations that the staff had in the last few weeks. We have reached a consensus on this approach. And I wanted to hear your input on this this evening. I assume that with a consensus, the approval by each board, i.e. the city council, and that the Board of Supervisors would strive for this financing model that we re-evaluate every year. And then we would also have to develop a declaration of intent between the district and the cities. We would recommend taking up a clause in this agreement that takes into account the essential cost changes from one year to the next. If there is a annual cost increase, we would like to ensure predictability and financial accountability for all parties involved. The managers would work together while these numbers are being developed and, if necessary, we could present them to the elected committees again. And again, we will work to evaluate this and to continue to check the formula and the allocation in the coming years. I also wanted to mention that the city of Blacksburg will have a presentation of Mission CIT on September 15th and Marc Vaniel and I plan to present this board the financing model as well. For this first step in relation to implementation, the numbers in the model, as Angie mentioned, are based on the budgets of the current year for implementation in the budget process of the next year. Another extremely important point is the continuous collaboration that this will require. As already mentioned, there are many recommendations in the overall evaluation. This is only a first step in financing. And you can see that we will continue to work on it. Thank you. Please go back to the slide with the table that shows the sums. We have copies that we can distribute. We can also share them. And with that we open the discussion. The reason why I asked Jen to bring this to the screen was to emphasize that the financing model shows that the district has to contribute significantly more than the 150 and 26, which were challenged in the previous years. Of course, this is something we have to talk about together tonight. But their financing model, the total combined amount that the district would pay to Christiansburg if this model is implemented, amounts to 1.18 million dollars. In addition. Additional financing, in addition to what we are currently doing.

Mr. Mayor, do you have an instructive comment?

And if not, we'll go through the room one by one.

No, I think, and as we have discussed, this includes, as far as I know, the contributions to equipment, fire department, vehicles and ... That would go on like this.

And that would fall under a capital discussion. So these are only business and personnel costs. This is exclusively ...

I mean, I think it seems to be a well-thought-out plan and I assume that if this is pushed forward and the operating guidelines are fulfilled, this is, apart from the fact that it could increase or fall in percentage, nothing has been erased from your budget at any time. I think we would sign a declaration of intent, which ...

It is not subject to alteration.

That is the question. Correct. This is how I interpret it. Pre-application. Pre-application by the board.

I agree. I agree. And the most important thing, I think, you mentioned. This is not for fire trucks.

Rescue vehicles. I don't have any questions about that.

The numbers were higher than I thought, but I'm not surprised how they turned out. So I think it's a good plan.

Okay, more comments. I just want to say that I like the flexibility and the fact that you will always keep an eye on it, because I think it's very important so that we don't fall behind. or if the population is increasing or whatever may happen, we have to be prepared for it. I think this is very important for our further progress. I am glad to see some numbers, especially in view of the fact that you have carried out the investigations. That was necessary for a long time and I am glad that you have done that and thank you for being there. And then I have great concerns about the further process. I think this is obviously a good start, but my personal point of view is that I am here for my city and its citizens, who are also their citizens. So we don't just belong to the area, but are part of the district. We pay taxes here.

Afterwards, I have the feeling that

It would also be their job to provide the necessary public services for us. The safety of our citizens is just as important for the city citizens as it is for those in the non-regulated area. And I like the numbers that we are now investigating. I have the feeling that they should really check how they can help us and the city citizens more because we pay taxes here. We are part of this community. We are part of the tax payer of the district. And that has not been fair for decades. Nothing. And since fewer and fewer people are willing to take up these positions in a dignified manner, we do not have enough funds to pay more than 50 employees at the fire department and the rescue service. That is the main reason why it is so expensive now, because the majority of our employees are now paid staff. I would like to see another thing that is added to this. I would like to see that a decontamination room is financed by the district or a project is started that takes care of it in the meantime. Because I think that's a necessity. Even if you take care of the fire department later or take on this responsibility later, it would be good to start with just providing some money for the decontamination rooms. I have the feeling that you are meeting. This is a consideration for the institution and we are here today to talk about important aspects. So we can note this as a wish for a future joint meeting, but this evening we are only here to talk about the operation. About the financing. I just want to make sure that you are aware that we are also taxpayers of the district.

We are not only part of the non-organized city, we are a non-organized city.

And if I may add, this is a really good first step to get back a part of the city's tax money that is spent in areas that are not united.

I would just like to thank the people who invested their work here. And Angie and Dr. Eagle.

And I know that many other people were involved in the conversation, but I think this is a very

a good step for the city and the district to come together and to work for the well-being of the people. We are very happy to see that.

Thank you. You said there will be annual compensations. How exactly will that work out? After the current conversations, Angie, you jump in. If necessary, we will work with our staff, with Chris and Scott, as well as our financial people, to check the actual call volumes and the budget and carry out this exercise annually.

I assume that we would probably do this on a yearly basis, maybe make a comparison in August for the previous business year and ensure that both selected committees receive the same information.

Yes, but we receive quarter-annual updates on the call volume and budget follow-up and then carry out the annual balance with the district. May I ask when it should come into force? Business year 28. Business year 28. So from July 1, 2015.

There is no possibility that you... We currently do not have any additional 1.2 million dollars to immediately implement this.

President.

On slide 6 of the pre-design for the cost factors, I just wanted to make sure that I understood the calls correctly. For services, these are calls that have been triggered by the city of Christiansburg, right? How high is the increase per call here?

We can calculate how high the costs per call will be. I don't have this number ready right now, but we could find out. Because we have the use data and also the total costs.

Because when we raised our budget the last two times, we had numbers for what we paid per use. I would like to see where that went. In the business years 2027 and 2026,

Ich weiß nicht aus dem Kopf, ob wir 2026 zusätzliche Mittel bereitgestellt haben, aber es war nicht nennenswert. Ein sehr kleiner Betrag.

Höchstens 5.000 Dollar.

Sie hatten um über 600.000 gebeten, aber wir haben nur einen kleinen Betrag gegeben. Und dann haben wir auch für das Geschäftsjahr 2027 nur einen sehr kleinen Betrag gegeben. Darf ich noch eine Frage stellen? According to the model, you have a cost for the designated area for the fire department 583,300. And for the rescue 1,000,000. Why are we?

That would be over 1.6 million.

Actually 1.7 million. Why do you come to the number of only 1.1 million? There are two in addition.

Yes, we have calculated the income recovery and the current circular financing. So it is a supplement to what you have already received.

Suggested with additional circular financing of 428 and 557. So it is above the current.

That's three for you and two for you. I haven't spoken yet. Yes. Three and two. I'll keep it. Yes. Just to.

I have a question. We started with our revenue recovery first. Is our revenue recovery separated from yours? And how exactly should that work? It is currently not separated, captured. For the city of Blacksburg, we capture that separately, because we process their revenue recovery for you. But in this formula, we have the budget for the return on income. Simply based on the percentage used here. So we could also compare that at the end, as far as the other question is concerned.

How is the return on income currently working? Does the country have our income or not? So how exactly is that when we talk about return on income?

How exactly should that work? Because I'm very confused right now. You say that you are equating the amount of the revenue of the income, but the revenue of the income comes directly from the insurance companies.

I don't get it.

From the insurance companies to the city, Christian.

If I read this correctly, every income, revenue that we earn within the city stays with us. And we're on average at about... We're on average at one million dollars per year. That's the total. So you're roughly calculating 25% of this amount for the district, which would be 62,666,000. So you're counting that...

So it's a budgeted document with which we account for the revenues.

...which we're teaching for the uses in the district.

In the area not mentioned. Yes, please. Supervisor Kitz.

Would you like to say something?

Feinreich. That was a good question. It was important to us that we could make it fairer. That's the word that always falls out. The problem before was that we couldn't quantify the information and data from before. And that's why there seems to be a discrepancy in the perception of what the district financed and what the city needed, wanted or earned at the time. Dies ermöglicht es uns, den Geldbetrag, den wir bereitstellen, mit konkreten Zahlen zu untern. Mauer. Ich habe das tatsächlich ziemlich gut eingeschätzt. Also, aber mir gefällt, dass wir hier völlig transparent sind. Es gibt keine Fragen mehr, woher die Formel kommt, woher das Geld kommt oder wie es zugewiesen wird. Etwas, das in der Vergangenheit sehr vage war und eher einem Dartspiel und ratendlich als so strategisch zu sein wie jetzt. Wenn wir uns also etwas zu weit aus dem Fenster lehnen und sagen, nun, jetzt können wir anfangen, uns dies und jenes anzusehen. Ich verstehe das. Ich respektiere diesen Standpunkt. Ich lebe in Christiansburg, also weiß ich, womit wir anfangen. It's a conversation that we haven't had in the past. I think we have to give it all the time to develop. I think the point is good, and it's not just something I'm considering in the final calculation. I think this is a very valid view that shows Christiansburg and Blacksburg that they will be completely eliminated in the end. Ich finde es auch gut, dass wir in die Formel integriert haben, dass sie sich bei neu gebauten Stationen und Ausbreitung entsprechend anpassen kann, wenn sich das Einsatzvolumen ändert. Denke also, wir trachten das mit offenen Augen. Wir erkennen an, dass dies notwendig war. Es ist unser Ausgangspunkt. Und wir haben nun eine Gesprächsgrundlage für die Zukunft. Before we hurry too much with certain things, we will be able to conduct other conversations. This report has enabled us to start and continue to develop. And I think that's how we see it and we enable the people who work for us to develop it in such a way that it is effective for all three communities and Virginia Tech, because it covers something for everyone. I like the fact that I don't particularly like the numbers, but I already knew where they would be, because we knew it, only the numbers were missing to finance it correctly. So I'm excited about where we stand. I think it gives us a good reason and I think it's fair.

Well, and I think the goal of today's evening or how we define the success of today's meeting is, how does everyone stand to this formula as a kind of conversion key for operating costs? Does this seem to work for everyone? And then we still have individual work to do in each boardroom to take it on and ensure that we have set up a group that adapts it every year and to ensure that the supervisory board has the means available so that we can pay for it. So I think the success this evening is defined by us saying, is this feasible? Is that suitable for operating costs? Do we feel good about it? And then we go our separate ways and do the work to ensure that this can happen. I like the adaptability, because the things in our community are very flexible due to the coming and going of people. I like the data collection, because that was a weakness and I was not aware of the complexity of all these services.

So there is a lot to overcome.

So I think it's a very fair attempt for me for the first time. And there's hardly any other way to really do it.

And is it doable? And I think this question will be answered there in the corner. Billy and Josh, I mean, you can work with these numbers. I already thought you would say that. You shake your heads.

For all viewers at home who can see it.

But it took a lot of time and effort.

And as I said before, I know how to appreciate it.

I think this is the right first step. It saves everyone a lot of trouble. Well, you should have done it. No, now you actually have it. Now you have it written down. You know, with the agreement. Ich denke, das festigt sogar noch mehr, dass es ist, dass Sie die Beiträge anerkennen, die unsere Teams für den Landkreis leisten.

Also wir wollen es anerkennen und sicherstellen, dass wir es fair und genau finanzieren. Wobei ich denke, dass wir noch etwas Arbeit vor uns haben, um das sicherzustellen.

Aber ich denke, es ist der Anfang.

Ich meine, ich denke... If I were to speak for the council, which I can never do otherwise, I really believe after what I have heard, that the council sees this as a fair start for everything. I am satisfied with it. And as far as the start plan is concerned, I am sure part of the time will be spent on personnel recruitment. And it gives us a good basis. We now know when we can write it out, when we can set it up and what we can do with additional staff that we urgently need. Supervisor, I don't want to put you in the spotlight, but you haven't said anything yet, so I want to make sure that you are heard.

Well, one of the biggest things in this study, obviously I am new and still have to learn a lot.

And as you mentioned, you know, it is a complex system. But one thing that was emphasized in the study was the cooperation as a whole system. I think this formula brings us there and it is a good start. Man muss eine Formel haben, um fair und gerecht zu sein, was auch immer man tut, besonders in einem so komplexen System. Ich finde es gut, dass es Variablen gibt, mit denen wir spielen können, wie die Bevölkerung und die Anzahl der Anrufe. Je nachdem, wie es läuft, werden wir also damit arbeiten können. Ich denke, es ist ein guter Anfang. Es ist schön, dass wir alle zusammenarbeiten und alle gemeinsam in diesem Raum sind. Es ist ein guter Anfang.

Does anyone else have a comment? We still have a lot of work ahead of us as our individual committees or our board, your advice. We still have some work to do. Are there any other questions about funding that someone would like to address to the group tonight? If not, that was our only point of order and we could close at this point. I just want to say one thing.

Okay, that's two.

I would like to thank everyone, because it's been a long time since Christiansburg and Montgomery County really sat together and talked. I would also like to thank the employees, because they worked tirelessly on this project and that means a lot to me, because I can't remember when was the last time. Sam and Mike, you might know, but I've been here for over ten years and can't remember it. when the board sat together for the last time. A long time. I just want to thank everyone for taking the time, because they know how important it is and how important the citizens are. So thank you.

We are in this department, so to speak, bankrupt. So yes, we need money. Is there anything else for the group?

Okay, then nothing further.

This meeting is over.