BREWTON, Ala. — Escambia County commissioners moved quickly Monday to adopt the county’s budget for fiscal year 2027, approving a spending plan of nearly $38 million that covers every department under the commission’s control.
County Administrator Ron Cink said the new budget comes in about $400,000 below the fiscal year 2026 total, a decrease he attributed to changes in grant funding and other funding amounts rather than cuts to services.
The budget reflects the spending decisions made by the commission and will serve as the guide for administering the appropriations it contains through the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.
A slightly smaller budget
A year-over-year decline of roughly $400,000 represents about 1% of the county’s total budget. In county government, totals often rise or fall depending on which state and federal grants are active in a given year. A one-time grant for a road, bridge or public safety project can inflate a budget while the work is underway, then drop off once the project is complete or the grant period ends. That pattern means a smaller bottom line does not necessarily signal reduced spending on day-to-day operations.
Alabama counties operate on a fiscal year that runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, and state law requires county commissions to adopt a budget each year. Approving it at the end of September allows the county to begin the new fiscal year with a spending plan already in place.
Other business
The commission handled a range of appointments, policies and grant applications at the same meeting. Commissioners:
- Reappointed Lawrence Weaver, Heath Jackson and Joey Shell to the E911 board
- Approved policies covering HUD programs and federal procurement
- Approved grant applications to the Southwest Regional Highway Safety Office and for Operation Stonegarden
- Approved an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Approved a grant application to the Alabama Forestry Commission for replacement of the Faulkner Road Bridge
- Approved bids for asphalt, signs and crushed aggregate for the county road department
E911 board
Alabama counties are served by emergency communication districts, commonly called E911 boards, which oversee the 911 call-answering and dispatch system that connects residents to law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services. Board members are appointed by local governing bodies. The reappointment of Weaver, Jackson and Shell keeps continuity on the board that manages Escambia County’s emergency communications.
Federal grant policies
The policies approved for HUD programs and federal procurement are the kind of written procedures that local governments must have in place to receive and spend federal money. Federal rules require grant recipients to follow specific standards when buying goods and services with federal funds, including competitive bidding, conflict-of-interest safeguards and record keeping. Having formal policies adopted by the commission helps the county remain eligible for housing, community development and other federally funded programs.
Highway safety and Operation Stonegarden
Alabama’s highway safety grant program is administered through regional offices that distribute federal traffic safety money to local agencies. Those grants commonly pay for overtime enforcement campaigns targeting impaired driving, speeding and seat belt use.
Operation Stonegarden is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant program that funds cooperation between local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies on border security. Although Escambia County is not on an international land border, it lies along the Gulf Coast corridor and on Interstate 65, and Stonegarden funding is available to jurisdictions in coastal and other designated areas. The money typically supports overtime, equipment and travel costs for local officers participating in joint operations.
ICE agreement
The commission also approved an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Details of the agreement, including its scope and whether it involves the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office or the county jail, were not described in the summary of Monday’s action. Counties across Alabama and the nation have entered into a variety of arrangements with ICE in recent years, ranging from agreements to house federal detainees in local jails to programs that authorize local officers to perform certain immigration enforcement functions.
Faulkner Road Bridge
The county will seek a grant from the Alabama Forestry Commission to help replace the Faulkner Road Bridge. Escambia County is heavily forested, and timber trucks regularly use rural county roads and bridges to move logs to mills in the region. Aging bridges with weight restrictions can force those trucks onto longer detours, which is one reason forestry-related funding is sometimes directed toward rural bridge replacement.
Road department bids
Commissioners approved bids for asphalt, signs and crushed aggregate for the road department. Annual bids for road materials allow the county to lock in prices for the supplies crews use to patch, pave and maintain the county road system, which includes many miles of rural roads.
About Escambia County
Escambia County sits in south-central Alabama along the Florida state line. Brewton is the county seat, and the county also includes Atmore, East Brewton, Flomaton and Pollard, along with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians reservation near Atmore. Forestry, manufacturing and agriculture have long been central to the local economy.
The county commission is responsible for county roads and bridges, the county’s share of public safety funding, the courthouse and other county facilities, and a range of administrative services. The commission’s budget does not include the separate budget of the Escambia County Board of Education.
What happens next
With the fiscal year 2027 budget adopted, county departments will operate under the approved appropriations for the year that began Oct. 1. The grant applications approved Monday will now be submitted to the agencies that administer them, and any awards would come back to the commission for acceptance.