By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

The Shelby County Commission has approved an $86 million operational budget for the 2024 fiscal year with a list of capital projects and improvements to the county.

The county’s general-fund operational budget for fiscal year 2024 is more than $86 million which is a significant increase from fiscal year 2023’s $77 million.

“We started the (budgeting) process in May, and all of our department heads review their equipment and capital expenditures that are needed to maintain and improve services throughout the county,” County Manager Chad Scroggins said.

The budget includes more than $148 million in total revenues with more than $147 million in total expenditures.

“It’s a balanced budget,” Scroggins said. “Expenditures are under the projected revenues. We use a conservative budgeting analysis on the revenues. Obviously, any time we approach (the budget), especially in election years—and also with the general state of the economy, fuel prices and everything else—we factor in looking at what employers are doing, if there’s been layoffs to come up with how we project the revenues to be.”

The fiscal year 2024 budget includes a list of capital projects and improvements that the county hopes to bring to its residents.

Included in the capital project plan is the continuation of support for the development of parks within Shelby County, including the expansion of the Double Oak Park trail system and Park Improvement Grants.

“One of the programs that’s been very successful the last few years is our Park Improvements Grants,” Scroggins said. “Park projects have been very helpful in small communities and so, we’re very excited about having those at $500,00 this year.”

The capital projects plan also includes improvements to Shelby County’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

“We have our support for the Emergency Medical Transport where the County Commission is inputting capital costs for the EMS vehicles and some small operating costs,” Scroggins said. “That’s something we started in the last year, and we’re continuing this upcoming year.”

An expansion and upgrades to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Jail is also laid out in the capital projects plan for the upcoming fiscal year which will bring additional capacity and improvements to medical and mental health services as well as a modernization of the jail’s central control systems and security features.

“It was good to see the Commission join with the sheriff’s request for new technology to improve public safety,” Commissioner Jeff Brumlow said. “We appreciate his leadership on these issues.”

The Commission has put a total of $800,000, alongside some of the Sheriff’s discretionary funds, for a total of $1.1 million towards vehicles for the SCSO.

The county is also adding five employees to the sheriff’s office to cover its contracts with smaller municipalities. The five positions include, contract deputies for Wilsonville, Vincent, two School Resource Officers for Vincent and a SRO for the Shelby County Schools Career Technical Educational Center.

Scroggins spoke positively on the fiscal year 2024 budget as a whole.

“It’s just conservative budgeting practices that have kept us in a good position where we don’t take on debt and things of that nature,” he said. “That’s all been positive.

The county hopes to complete or start the following capital projects during the 2024 fiscal year:

• Support for School Resource Officers
• Major distribution water main – replacement of existing line on County Highway 280
• Water plant connector- Talladega/Shelby and South Plant Connection
• Calera water main extension- extend water main to promote economic growth
• Emergency communications coverage and capacity improvements
• Construction of water services operations office
• Construction of SCSO Jail improvements – $27,500,000
• Double Oak Park trail expansion
• Cahaba River Park – south sector caretakers house and pavilion
• Dunnavant Valley Greenway Phase 2 extension
• Veterans Park – Hoover on Valleydale- Pickleball court
• Park capacity / improvement projects or tourism associated projects
• Emergency Medical Services response capital and operating initiative $2,300,000
• Park Improvement Grants $500,000
• Environmental improvement projects – recycling initiative S160,000