PITTSBORO — The next seven years of capital spending by the Chatham County government is more or less in place.
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved last week the 2021-27 Capital Improvements Plan, a list of items that would cost the county more than $100,000.
The CIP, as it’s called, is not a formal budget, but a planning document that gives rough estimates and tentatively schedules major projects. Commissioner Jim Crawford said that it’s “evident” what “the benefits to the people” are in the CIP.
“That’s what allows the county to have such a healthy fiscal relationship with the people who loan us the money,” he said. “That policy then goes down to all the departments, it goes to the school district. It makes all of the county functions more aware of what their physical plant needs are.”
Actual public input on the plan was non-existent, but not for a lack of trying.
The commissioners first received the CIP at the board’s November 4 meeting, after which it was available for viewing on the county’s website and in all three public libraries. The board then held an official public hearing on November 18 — during which no member of the public spoke for or against the plan — and a public workshop on November 19. The CIP was then put to a vote last week at a meeting where no one spoke during public comments about it.
These four separate public meetings took place with no comment or input from the public, despite all slated projects costing an estimated combined $203,187,364 over the next seven years. The county will likely take on debt for some of the projects, which is normal practice, while others will be paid for from special funding sources and Fund Balance, the county’s “savings account.”
Projects scheduled in this CIP include an $18.3 million expansion to the county’s Emergency Operations Center, upgrades to the county’s emergency communications radio system and multiple Chatham County Schools projects, including the new Seaforth High School and multiple new mobile classrooms.
The county will now begin work on the FY 2021-22 budget. The commissioners will meet on January 14, 15 and 17 as part of their annual budget workshop to begin hearing presentations and start deliberations on specifics.
Reporter Zachary Horner can be reached at zhorner@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @ZachHornerCNR.