- October 13, 2024
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Despite negotiations, an upgrade to the Flagler County jail’s security system is going to cost $1.1 million more than the county government had anticipated.
The County Commission unanimously agreed to award a $1.6 million contract to Black Creek Integrated Systems Corp. at a Feb. 20 meeting. The county had set aside $500,000 from previous budgets for the upgrade, but the remaining $1.1 million will require the county to dip into its contingency reserve fund.
Several commissioners voiced concerns about the surprise cost.
“When this particular piece of money comes out of our reserves, our reserve general fund reserves will drop below 5%,” Commissioner David Sullivan said. We'll have less than 5% onboard reserves for this fiscal year — and we're not even halfway through.”
Five percent of county operating costs would be $5.6 million for the 2023 budget, but some reserve money should be replaced by cash flow and FEMA reimbursements from other projects, and the county does have other reserve funds, County Administrator Heidi Petito said.
The reserve will have $4.4 million left after the transfer, according to commission documents.
The reserve to me is an emergency fund. And this is just a bad planning fund, is what it’s coming out to be. — Andy Dance, County Commissioner
Chief Information Officer Matthew Rivera had presented the commission with the request for the $1.6 million Black Creek contract in November, one month after the board had signed the new fiscal year’s budget on the understanding that the upgrade would cost $500,000. The timing of the $1.6 million request — right after the budget had been finalized — smacked of poor planning, Commissioner Andy Dance said, especially with an approaching hurricane season.
“The reserve, to me, is an emergency fund,” Dance said. “And this is just a bad planning fund, is what it’s coming out to be.”
At the end of the Nov. 7 meeting, Rivera had said the FCSO could reopen bids if negotiations did not work out with Black Creek. But he said on Feb. 20 that with inflation rising and few contractors having expressed interest during the first rounds of bidding, Black Creek was the best option.
“There would be no logical reasons to believe that we’d get a better price,” Rivera said.
The Feb. 20 contract was only $12,000 less than the initial November price, even after three months of negotiations.
Both Dance and Sullivan said they were concerned about reducing the county’s contingency reserve fund so early in the fiscal year.
The upgrade will be a complete system overhaul, Rivera said. It will put the jail on the same system as the rest of the county, replace 149 cameras, upgrade the paging and intercom system and make it easier to repair and upgrade in the future.
Commission Chair Greg Hansen requested a status update about the reserves during the next commission meeting.
