ROANOKE, VA – More than $5 million was overspent in Roanoke last year, and it happened without official approval from the City Council.
Now, a new Council is left to explain how it happened, and what comes next.
“I, just like many of our citizens, was shocked to find out the financial state of our city,” Councilman Peter Volosin said during a recent council meeting. “Unfortunately, a lack of transparency by the previous administration led me to believe we were doing well with no issues. We now know that was not the case.”
Volosin made those comments just days before the city released its Annual Comprehensive Financial Report — a 243-page audit revealing that actual spending in the city’s General Fund exceeded the final amended budget by $5,072,260.
Auditors flagged the overage as a compliance issue, saying the spending violated established budget policy.
Councilman Nick Hagen, who joined Council after the overspending occurred, says the issue goes beyond just numbers.
“It’s a massive concern for anyone who is in public life,” Hagen said. “We are stewards of taxpayer dollars. They’re not ours — they’re the people’s.”
According to the audit, most of the overspending came from two key areas:
- The Children’s Services Act, which funds services for at-risk youth.
- The Roanoke Fire Department, which faced rising overtime costs and implemented pay increases.
In the past year, the city has seen a leadership shake-up. Former City Manager Bob Cowell stepped down, and Valmarie Turner was appointed as his successor. A newly elected City Council also took office.
Hagen points to that turnover as a possible factor in the budget oversight — but also an opportunity for improvement.
“Obviously, a very different council, a newer one, that takes a lot of oversight seriously to make sure something like this will never happen again,” he said.
The City of Roanoke says it is already implementing reforms, including more frequent budget reviews, new finance staff, and stricter internal controls.
We reached out to Turner, who says:
“The City of Roanoke has reviewed our internal processes for managing city finances responsibly and transparently. We are dedicated to ensuring that public resources are managed efficiently, ethically, and in full compliance with all applicable regulations.”
Valmarie Turner, City Manager
We also received responses from several members of council. Their comments are below.
“I have full confidence in our City Manager, our Director of Finance, as well as our finance department, to both facilitate the corrective actions identified in the audit as well as ensuring that safeguards are in place related to keeping our expenditures within our budget in the coming year. The newly adopted budget already puts some of those steps in place. “
Joe Cobb, Mayor
“At this time, I have no further comment beyond acknowledging that the financial decisions and overspending from last year occurred before I joined Roanoke City Council. Therefore, I am actively reviewing that history to better understand what happened, why it happened, and how it happened, to help ensure this is not repeated.”
Phazhon Nash, Council Member
“The ACFR for 2024 shows exactly why we are in a budget crisis this year. As was publicized in Spring 2024, there were challenges in our Finance Department and inappropriate budgeting techniques were used, which has led to where we are today.
For its part, Council was not made aware of these budgeting issues until an interim administrator was put in place in Summer 2024. That is when these issues started to become apparent and why Council is working together to support the new administration to ensure it has a strong foundation going forward. As has been stated previously, it will take a multi-year approach to get the city back on track. The recently approved budget is the first step to getting back to financial stability."
Peter Volosin, Council Member