Graham County manager: sales tax roughly flat, BEAD award yields mostly aerial connections; bond market shift could allow refinancing

County Manager Dustin Welker told the Graham County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 15 that local sales-tax revenue is "nearly flat with last year" and highlighted several county infrastructure and fairground projects, a federal broadband allocation and a possible bond-refinancing opportunity.

Welker told the board that after three months of the fiscal year local sales-tax receipts are just under 1% ahead of last year and that the most recent month was 40.6% higher than the comparable month in the prior year. He said state-shared sales tax receipts are running about 12.4% ahead of last year.

Welker described several capital projects out to bid, including the Main Street building remodel (to relocate the county attorney's office) with bids to be opened at the board's first meeting in October, and parking-lot remediation at the fairgrounds that will be oiled and rolled the week following the meeting. He said the fairgrounds are at their busiest point of the year with AYSO soccer and fair setup and that the county must hire roughly 50 seasonal workers to staff the fair.

On broadband, Welker said the county's BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) allocation provides 1,560 aerial connections and eight fiber connections for unserved or underserved areas, rather than the extensive fiber deployment county officials had initially hoped for from federal funds. "Graham County was granted 1,560 aerial connections, so basically satellite connections and just 8 fiber connections to some of the more rural areas," Welker said. He said the county submitted comments along with several other rural counties asking for more fiber coverage but that the awarded connections will nevertheless strengthen local connectivity.

Welker also briefed the board on bond-market developments. He said the county has been exploring refinancing its GEL bonds and that recent market movement has lowered interest rates for bonds of this type. "Doing so, we could save about $600,000 over the life of the bonds and about half a million a year from refinancing them if we use the money that we have saved over these first 10 years to put towards that refinance," he said; the county will continue monitoring market conditions and may act when terms meet the county's financial criteria.

Welker described a minor road-design issue at the jail's rear entrance that created difficulties for semi trucks; engineering staff have surveyed and designed a fix and are soliciting quotes. He also said staff is soliciting updated quotes to replace an old fairground sign on Armory Road and will report back as quotes are received.

Board members responded with routine acknowledgement. Vice Chairman David reported participation in meetings on homelessness and housing grant proposals, including a concept to convert a 12-unit hotel to short-term transitional housing tied to substance-abuse or mental-health services; David said no final plan or funding award had been approved. Supervisor Howard and other supervisors reported attendance at recent local events.

Welker and staff said they will continue working on the BEAD implementation, fairground preparations and bond-market timing and will brief the board in future work sessions and meetings.