Alexandria City Manager Jim Parajon is asking City Council to reaffirm his authority to transfer unencumbered city funds from any office, department or agency to another.
City Council unanimously approved the proposed resolution at its virtual meeting this evening (Tuesday), mandating city staff to formalize the process for making transfers of appropriated unencumbered funds.
“It is a very typical practice for cities and counties around the country,” Parajon told Council. “If we were in a situation where we had to transfer some funds from one department to another, we would then docket that information to the City Council, and you would have the ability to either affirm that, or direct me to reverse that decision and adjust the budgets appropriately. That is a very transparent; it’s a very normal thing.”
Parajon also said that the city attorney’s office might also need to defend city zoning reforms, and exceeded the money that was allocated in the budget for attorneys.
“We need to supplement those funds and then reconcile that and affirm that with the City Council,” Parajon said. “Another example is with a storm event. It is possible we have in the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services, they may have have an overrun of a need for some additional funding, and this allows me to quickly move those monies over to maintain operations and address those serious issues.”
Parajon already has the authority to transfer “any unencumbered appropriation balance or portion thereof” within such accounts, according to a Jan. 22 memo from Director of Manager and Budget Morgan Routt.
“City staff have indicated there are times and circumstances when city offices, departments and agencies encounter unanticipated costs in operations that require immediate funding before such time as a supplemental appropriation ordinance may be considered by City Council,” the memo states.
Routt said that any financial transfers will be reported to City Council whenever they approve supplemental appropriation ordinances in the fall and spring.
