Adams County committees forward $1 million transfer to cover County Highway Z cost overrun

At a joint meeting, Adams County Highway and Administration-Finance committee members voted to forward to the full county board a resolution to amend the 2025 Highway Fund budget and transfer $1,000,000 from the debt service fund to the highway fund so the department can cover an overrun on the County Highway Z project.

The finance director told the joint committees the transfer would be recorded by increasing both revenue and expenditure lines across the debt service and highway funds so each fund remains balanced on paper. “It was primarily due to the County Z construction project,” the finance director said, adding that the project “was over by roughly $1,000,000.”

The highway commissioner told the committees the County Highway Z reconstruction — from State Highway 82 north to the Duck Creek bridge approaches on the county’s south end — had been awarded and completed, but final contractor and engineer reconciliations produced the larger-than-expected final bill. The department estimated the project’s total cost at about $3.4 million and said, “on paper” the department is about $1.4 million over, but expects to recover roughly $400,000 in grants once state processing is complete.

Committee members asked whether the bid was incorrect; highway staff said the bids were correct but the county’s allocated funds did not cover the bid amounts. Staff also noted that two seal-coating projects were deferred earlier to shore up cash (estimated at about $725,000), and that the highway fund carried a roughly $550,000 deficit coming out of 2024, factors that compounded the 2025 shortfall.

The finance director said the county does not intend to require the highway department to repay the $1,000,000 transfer. “The intent is that this money would not be repaid,” the finance director said. Highway staff said they will work with administration to improve estimating and to expand capital-improvement spreadsheets to show construction, oversight and administrative costs separately so future bids and budgets better align with final costs.

Supervisor Grabarski moved to forward the resolution to the full county board; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The joint committees carried the resolution and the chair indicated the approved resolution would be signed before adjourning the meeting.

The resolution now goes to the full Adams County Board for consideration; the joint committees recorded the action by voice vote and did not provide a numerical roll-call tally at the meeting.