BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Bradford County commissioners and staff began budgeting for next year and beyond during a Jan. 28 workshop.
The workshop detailed the commission’s Capital Improvement Plan covering the next several years, focusing on fire rescue, solid waste, public works and courthouse improvements. It included the projects and purchases planned and the estimated revenue that would be needed to fund those projects, as well as the anticipated revenue sources.
Only capital projects were explored, not personnel or other operational costs.
For fire rescue, this included station improvements and fleet and equipment purchases. Getting underway now it the construction of living quarters for crews stationed at the Sampson City station using the remaining $650,000 of a legislative allocation originally obtained by the sheriff to turn the Heilbronn Springs station into a command center for the fire department.
It also includes $700,000 for living quarters construction at the Theressa station in Fiscal Year 2027 and $2.5 million in 2029 for the fire rescue headquarters at the courthouse. The county would seek state funding for both projects.
This year, fire rescue is replacing a fire engine with $475,000 obtained from the state and an ambulance with $300,000 in revenue from the county’s participation in the Public Emergency Medical Transportation program. (Counties receive supplemental payments above those normally covered by Medicaid for transporting those patients.) The same program funding would be tapped next year for a second ambulance replacement ($350,000), while the state is being asked for nearly $1.26 million for a new tanker and a fire engine replacement.
In Fiscal Year 2027, fire recue has slated a third ambulance replacement using $350,000 in PEMT funding, a fourth in 2028 and fifth in 2029. In 2028, the department is seeking funds for two brush trucks as well, but the county might have to fund the $500,000 purchase.
The five-year total was $7.78 million.
The public works report included two years of projected spending. For the current year, two state-funded resurfacing projects were listed: County Road 235 (from County Road 231 to State Road 100) for $4.6 million and County Road 237 (from the Alachua County line to County Road 18) for $4.25 million. The third state-funded project is a sidewalk on County Road 100A from Lincoln City Park to U.S. 301 for $1.04 million. Additionally, work on Northeast 219th Street will be funded by $164,000 in gas tax funding.
This year also includes multiple chip seal projects, the cost of which will be added when those numbers are received. Those projects will be funded by gas tax revenue as well.
Next year, a $2.3 million state grant will fund resurfacing on County Road 21B (from Southeast 43rd Street to Southeast Eighth Avenue.).
The two-year total, minus the unknown cost of chip sealing, was nearly $12.4 million.
The Capital Improvement Plan for solid waste incorporated mosquito control and included requests for new truck mounted spray units this year and next totaling $50,000. Replacement trash compactors and trash containers for this year and the third and fifth year of the plan totaled $450,000. Next year also included a $300,000 request for a grapple truck to load limbs and debris, with the same amount requested in Fiscal Year 2028 for a roll-off garbage truck.
The five-year total was $995,000.
Courthouse improvements in the current year included $32,500 for roof replacement and $95,925 for the design of accessibility improvements to comply ADA requirements, totaling $128,425 in county funds. The county is seeking state funding of $1.83 million to construct those improvements. If received, that would bring the total to nearly $1.96 million, according to the plan.
County Manager Scott Kornegay also pointed out the that under parks and recreation was the $59,850 in vessel fees that will pay for the design of the Cypress Run boat ramp this year and the $367,000 grant that will pay for the construction next year.
This was a draft report and will evolve as budget meetings continue. During the discussion of budgeting county funds, for example, Chief Deputy Clerk Rachel Rhoden suggested costs such as the $500,000 estimate for purchasing the brush trucks for fire rescue be spread over several years leading up to the purchase. In case the state does not appropriate funding, this would give the county time to build up that amount.
Fire Chief Ben Carter was present and discussed the schedule and need to replace aging vehicles in his fleet, including vehicles that date back to the early 2000s or before. Some of the ambulance replacements would be remounts, not new vehicles, he said. He also explained the $2.5 million request for courthouse headquarters is high based on the increasing costs of construction. As for the need, he said they are “busting at the seams” in the current building.
“But again, this would certainly be something that we would seek appropriations for or alternative funding sources. And that’s the good thing with us, as we have multiple grants that we could apply for,” he said, referring to it as more of a want than a need right now. “I would never expect the county to foot the bill for two and a half million dollars for a new headquarters over there, or a remodel for that headquarters.”
Commissioner Chris Dougherty suggested the project be split into phases, paid for by state requests over multiple years, which Carter and Kornegay agreed was the better idea.
After questions about the need for another grapple truck in the solid waste budget, Rhoden clarified the truck purchased several years ago was paid for with accumulated reserves in mosquito control funding from the state and with state approval. That reserve is building up again and could be used to fund an additional equipment purchase, which Public Works Director Jason Dodds later confirmed. As for the garbage truck, it would replace one in the fleet, two of which are from 1995.
After a detour into workforce and litter problems (see related story), the workshop wrapped up with the courthouse renovation. The county manager suggested the $2 million requested from the state also be spread out over several years in the Capital Improvement Plan so the county can begin budgeting to cover the project in the absence of state funding.
Dougherty suggested the portion of out-of-county inmate housing revenue the board keeps in a set-aside fund be considered for this purpose. If it turns out the county does not need the money for the courthouse, then it could be used for a future capital project, perhaps at the jail.
Staff will continue to work on the Capital Improvement Plan and the budget. The next workshop is set for March 4 at 10:30 a.m. alongside the commission’s regular meeting when a finalized plan could be approved.
