Alamance County unveils five‑year capital plan, prioritizes school roofs, HVAC and one new EMS base

County Manager Baker presented the Alamance County proposed five‑year capital improvement plan (FY2026–2030) and the FY2025–26 capital budget at the April 7 Board of Commissioners meeting, outlining a shift to multiyear capital funds and a priority on preserving existing facilities rather than building new ones.

Baker told commissioners the plan focuses on “acquiring, developing, constructing, maintaining, and renovating public facilities, infrastructure, and equipment,” and recommends concentrating next year’s capital funding on the Alamance‑Burlington School System (ABSS). He said the county is proposing a $10 million general‑fund transfer as the first year of a multi‑year effort to address roofs, HVAC and technology needs identified in a joint facilities study.

The plan breaks out several large line items for the coming year: a proposed $11,400,000 capital allocation for ABSS (including about $5,100,000 for roof replacements, $4,800,000 for HVAC work and $1,400,000 for technology); roughly $19,000,000 in proposed capital spending overall for county government and partners when accounting for enterprise funds; and a recommended formula to allocate 1% of general‑fund expenditures for county facility improvements (roughly $2,300,000 under current figures).

The county also proposes one new facility in the five‑year plan: a Mebane EMS base. The design phase is the only piece budgeted in FY2025–26 ($500,000), while staff estimated annual operating costs for a fully operational base could total about $1,500,000 once opened.

Baker said the administration is changing how projects are budgeted — moving recurring capital from the general fund into multiyear capital funds to provide greater transparency and flexibility for projects that span fiscal years. “We’re trying to be more proactive with our budgeting,” Baker said.

Commissioners asked for more time to review the material line‑by‑line. Several commissioners praised the outside engineering firm that performed facility assessments and noted the need to plan for previously deferred maintenance rather than responding with ad‑hoc emergency repairs.

The board agreed to schedule a dedicated capital improvement plan work session for April 28 at 9:30 a.m. and to consider adopting the CIP as part of the normal June budget process, with a tentative adoption date during the budget adoption steps (staff indicated June 16 as the decision point).