County financial staff on Aug. 4 gave commissioners a check-in on the proposed Fiscal Year 2025–26 budget and the first year of the five‑year Capital Improvement Plan.

Brian Echinger, Financial Services, summarized year‑one capital preservation and new construction projects included in the draft budget: preservation projects such as roof and HVAC replacements, ADA transition work, the Bing’s Landing dig site roof replacement, the David Siegel Center refresh, Legacy House renovations and Lehigh Trails resurfacing; and new‑construction or major projects including the Red Roof Inn fuel depot conversion, fire station projects funded through both Fund 316 and the half‑cent sales tax, expansion of the Emergency Operations Center/dispatch facility to support CAD/RMS and radio systems, a training tower fence and vehicle storage, and stormwater work and County Road 304 resurfacing.

Echinger said the county will return on Aug. 18 with the full five‑year CIP and asked commissioners to confirm the year‑one items so staff could prepare for the first and second public hearings to adopt the budget. Commissioners asked for more frequent, accessible project status information. Staff pointed to an engineering transparency site and said a public dashboard that aggregates project status, managed by engineering, general services and GIS, is being developed; staff said the larger capital projects are already posted to the engineering dashboard and that smaller CIP projects will be published once the general services dashboard is complete.

Commissioners raised several specific budget items: an increase in inmate medical costs that staff said should be reflected in the FY 2026 adopted budget to avoid mid‑year reserve requests; reinstating lifeguard positions and related subsidies; and a placeholder for a Segal (David Siegel) Center refresh or repurposing depending on future decisions about that building’s use, including potential IT support space tied to dispatch expansion. Several commissioners asked that staff keep funding requests modest where possible and consider asking for design funding rather than full construction requests in the legislative packet.

On the Bing's Landing dig site, a commissioner noted a pending master plan and mentioned settlement funds previously set aside for master planning and signage; staff confirmed some funding already exists and additional items could be absorbed depending on cost.

Why this matters: The board’s direction will affect which projects the county advances in FY 2026 and how staff presents carryover and new projects at the public hearings. Commissioners requested a clearer, public-facing CIP dashboard and more regular updates so they and residents can track project status and costs.

Ending: Staff will return Aug. 18 with the complete five‑year CIP for final direction and will continue developing a public dashboard to show project status and carryover.