MOBILE, Ala. — Mobile County commissioners unanimously approved a $232.9 million budget for fiscal year 2027 on Monday, Sept. 28, a spending plan 6.2% larger than last year’s as the county covers rising personnel costs and begins running several major new recreation facilities.
The budget takes effect Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2027. It includes a 2.5% midyear cost-of-living raise for all county employees and funds the county’s move to a self-insured health care plan.
Budget highlights
- Total: $232.9 million, up 6.2% from last year’s $226.8 million General Fund budget
- Vote: Unanimous
- Fiscal year: Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027
- Employees: About 1,600; all receive a 2.5% midyear cost-of-living increase
- Health care: $17.9 million for employee and retiree health care in the General Fund, up from $16.7 million
- New aquatics center: About $1.8 million in operating costs, more than $1 million of it for personnel
- Sportsplex soccer complex: About $1.3 million to operate the expanded complex
- Cypress Creek Golf Course: About $1 million in projected revenue shifted to a new enterprise fund
‘We wanted to focus on our people’
Personnel and benefits drive much of the increase. “We wanted to focus on our people,” said Cody Scott, the county’s finance director.
The county is budgeting $17.9 million for employee and retiree health care in the General Fund, up from $16.7 million last year. Officials said the new self-insured plan is fully funded without adding costs for participating employees.
Under a self-insured health plan, an employer pays employees’ medical claims directly, usually with help from a third-party administrator and stop-loss insurance that protects against unusually large claims, rather than paying premiums to an outside insurer or state-sponsored plan. Employers often pursue the change to gain more control over costs and benefits.
Commissioner Randall Dueitt said the switch reflects long-running complaints from employees about rising prescription costs and slow reimbursements under the county’s previous government-sponsored plan.
“We were spinning our wheels,” Dueitt said of the recurring complaints.
New facilities add operating costs
The budget also reflects the cost of running several new county recreation facilities.
Aquatics center
One of the largest additions is the county’s new aquatics center, a 40,000-square-foot facility under construction at the Mobile County Sportsplex. It is expected to add about $1.8 million to the budget, with more than $1 million of that going to personnel. The county has not announced an opening date.
Expanded soccer complex
The county is also paying to operate the expanded Mobile County Sportsplex Soccer Complex, where four new lighted and sodded fields opened last month. Along with a second restroom and concession building and a new 300-space parking lot, the new fields grew the complex from three operational fields to seven.
The complex now hosts soccer, lacrosse, rugby, flag football, Ultimate Frisbee and other field sports. The budget includes about $1.3 million for the expanded complex. The Sportsplex’s second phase represents a county investment of nearly $11.7 million.
Championship field next
Last month, commissioners approved a $461,100 contract with Duplantis Design Group for design and administrative services on a future 2,000-seat championship field. Construction is expected to begin soon. The long-term goal is a 10-field complex capable of hosting major regional tournaments, which could bring visiting teams and families, and their spending on hotels and restaurants, to Mobile County.
Golf course pays its own way
The budget also accounts for Cypress Creek Golf Course, an 18-hole public course that opened last week at Riviere du Chien Park on the site of the former Linksman Golf Course.
Unlike most county facilities, Cypress Creek operates through a newly created enterprise fund, designed to function like a business. Green fees, cart rentals, concessions and other user charges will cover the course’s operating costs, rather than general tax dollars.
“The people who use it the most are those who pay for it,” Dueitt said. “Say you’re not a golfer, but you are concerned that the county is spending my money on a golf course. We are not. The expenses or salaries of the golf course will come from the people who use the golf course, so it’s not a burden on the average taxpayer.”
Starting in fiscal year 2027, about $1 million in projected golf course revenue will be recorded in the Cypress Creek Golf Course Enterprise Fund instead of the General Fund.
Dueitt said demand has been strong since the course opened Thursday. More than 385 golfers played the course and another 260 visitors used the driving range during its first several days.
What is a General Fund?
A county’s General Fund is its main operating account, paying for day-to-day services and staff not covered by dedicated revenue sources. Other funds, such as enterprise funds, are set aside for specific purposes and track their own revenues and spending. Moving the golf course into an enterprise fund makes it easier for the public to see whether the course is covering its own costs.
What happens next
The new budget takes effect Thursday, Oct. 1. Employees will see the cost-of-living raise at midyear, and county officials say they will announce opening dates for the aquatics center and construction timelines for the championship field as those projects progress.