The Osceola County Board of Supervisors on June 24 approved a construction pay application for the county jail project after negotiating the removal of one disputed equipment reimbursement and flagging other line‑item concerns.

Commissioners voted to approve the pay application with a downward adjustment, removing the pallet‑jack reimbursement and setting the approved payment at $456,121.15. The motion was made by Mike Schulte and supported by Loring.

Supervisors and the county’s construction consultants discussed several claims that appeared in the pay application, including charges for portable toilets and a pallet jack. Board members questioned why some items tied to the construction work appeared on regular claims and whether sales tax had been paid on equipment that should have been tax‑exempt. One supervisor asked for tax‑exempt documentation before reimbursing certain charges; others recommended simply removing the sales tax amount from reimbursement if the contractor could not show an exempt purchase.

Project representatives said some contractors did not submit bills on time, which increased the current pay application because invoices from more than one month were included. The board also discussed whether short‑notice crane work and other contractor scheduling issues could prompt change‑order claims; supervisors indicated they would scrutinize change‑order requests that were driven by contractor logistics rather than owner‑directed changes.

After discussion, the board directed staff to withhold the specific disputed pallet‑jack reimbursement from the pay application and approved the remainder. The board declined to withhold broader contractor payments and asked construction staff to follow up on tax‑exemption receipts and the invoicing sequence.

Why this matters: The pay application represents a sizable draw on project funds and the county’s monitoring of contractor invoices and change orders affects budget management for the jail project.

What happened next: The board asked staff to verify whether the claimed portable toilets and equipment are properly billed through the construction contract or should be processed as separate claims; staff agreed to check vendor receipts and the project’s invoicing history.