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Richland County finance director reports radio‑tower project nearly complete; roughly $250,000 in bond proceeds remain
Summary
Finance Director Lyanna Pic told the board the radio‑tower project began with $8.1 million borrowed; after project expenses, contingencies and required interest paybacks, roughly $249,000 in tower bond proceeds remain and about $88,000 is available for near‑term operations.
Finance Director Lyanna Pic gave a detailed accounting of Richland County's radio‑tower project at the June 9 meeting, laying out project versus operational balances and outstanding obligations.
Pic said the county initially borrowed about $8.1 million for the project. After recording interest, project expenditures and required arbitrage paybacks, Pic reported the project cash position at roughly $1.576 million with about $540,000 still outstanding in invoices; after reserving approximately $220,000 that must be returned to the bond servicer the remaining tower bond proceeds available for one‑time project items were about $249,000 (Pic said a prior spreadsheet showed a lower figure because new invoices were added the day before and she planned to republish updated numbers).
Separately, Pic broke out the operational side of the fund: the 2026 tax levy provided roughly $147,000 for operations; about $52,000 had been spent on utilities, leases and insurance, leaving an operational surplus in the mid five‑figures. She also enumerated ongoing operating costs — tower leases, electricity, equipment maintenance, insurance and MIS support — and noted the potential to add a staff position charged with tower oversight in the MIS budget.
Board members asked whether the county could lease tower space to other providers; Pic said it was possible. Members also reported the new sheriff radio channel transition went smoothly, with only a few problem areas under investigation, and reminded the board that contingency balances had been drawn down to cover change orders.
Pic said the county expects to call arbitrage and repay required interest when the project wraps up (projected completion around August 1), then finalize the remaining balance. No formal action was taken; board members thanked staff for the update and asked staff to publish the refreshed spreadsheet showing the final figures.
The article uses Pic's figures disclosed at the meeting; outstanding invoice and interest amounts were presented as estimates by county staff during the briefing.
