MANSFIELD — $5.9 million vs. $73,141.
That’s the difference in capital expenditures approved by the Richland County Board of Commissioners between the four-year periods of 2019-2022 and 2013-2016, according to Commissioner Tony Vero.
The commissioner brought up the figures after commissioners approved spending $190,947 on Thursday to repair the roof at the county-owned building occupied by the engineer’s office and auto title department.
“That is an 8,802 percent increase in capital investment in their county, strictly out of fund 100 (the capital expense fund). It’s astronomical,” said Vero, who took office in 2017, along with Commissioner Darrell Banks.
He also credited former Commissioner Marilyn John, who was elected to the statehouse in 2020, replaced by current Commissioner Cliff Mears.
“This is just another in a long line of efforts that Marilyn certainly got the ball rolling and Cliff has carried it on that the commissioners have approved,” Vero said.
“This county, in my opinion, is in about as good a shape as it’s ever been financially, partnerships between Democrats and Republicans. The ball is rolling in Richland County and there’s more to come,” he said.
Vero said the $5.9 million does not include projects paid for with the county’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“This is straight fund 100, apples-to-apples comparison. In fact, in 2013 Richland County commissioners spent $5,000 in capital expenses out of fund 100,” he said.
Vero said past commissioners didn’t have the money for large capital projects.
“I know there was a fiscal crisis, but that was 2009 and 2010. To be fair to the commissioners who held the seats prior, I wanted to get as far away from the fiscal crisis as possible.
“I do feel all those (capital) expenditures are a result of the general fund oversight policy that Marilyn, Darrell and I passed in 2017 that said we’re going to pass a balanced budget every year, that doesn’t include our carryover.
“So as you’ve seen the past couple years when we’ve had good years, we’ve set those monies aside, we put them into capital and we have invested back into the county and all without raising the sales tax,” Vero said.
A Republican, Vero said he looked forward to working with Jodie Perry, who won the GOP primary for mayor of Mansfield earlier this month. Perry takes on Democrat Sherry Vaught in November.
“I just think the community’s moving in the right direction. I have all the numbers to back up what I am saying and it’s staggering,” Vero said.
Richland County ended 2022 with a $6.8 million more in revenue than expenses.
The county entered 2022 with an $8.1 million cash carryover and commissioners at the end of the year opted not to add additional money to that fund.
Instead, commissioners at the end of 2022 voted to:
— allocate $1,362,841 to a debt fund to pay off work done at the county dog warden’s facility and improvements to the county phone system.
— move another $1.9 million to the county’s “rainy day” fund, increasing that to $4,782,703. Per rules set by commissioners, no more than 5 percent of the previous year’s general fund revenue can be moved into the budget stabilization fund.
— allocate $3,431,909 into the county’s capital projects fund, which raised that to $9,205,032. Commissioners approved a capital expense budget of just more than $1 million in 2023.
The county also has about $11 million remaining from its $23 million in ARPA funding.
Elevator repairs at courthouse
Also on Thursday, commissioners approved spending $641,281 to modernize repair the two elevators at the county courthouse, including the replacement of electrical panels and motor repairs to the pulley-based systems.
There have been ongoing issues with both elevators, repairs commissioners said have been delayed by supply-chain delays and problems.
The actual work will begin in nine months and work on both elevators are expected to be completed by the end of April 2024.
“The public will also notice that the cabs themselves are going to be updated,” county administrator Andrew Keller said. “Cosmetically … new paneling, new LED lighting, new flooring.
“We’re frustrated that this can’t be sooner, but we are bound by some supply chain and (high) demand. But we expedited this as much as we could within the county’s power,” Keller said.
