The board of supervisors will withdraw more than $1.2 million from its hospital trust fund this year to pay down debt on the BankFirst Yards Sportsplex.
The trust was established in 2006 with $30 million the county received from selling the county hospital. The legislature in 2013 adjusted state law to allow Lowndes County to invest trust fund money in stocks and bonds.
During a Wednesday meeting at Lowndes County Courthouse, County Administrator Jay Fisher told the board the trust fund saw a 5.77% gain of about $2.2 million over the last fiscal year, leaving the balance at $41.5 million as of Sept. 1.
“Since 2014, the board has elected to withdraw roughly right at $12 million to be used on capital projects for the county,” Fisher told the board during his report on the fund’s performance. “And in that time, the corpus has grown from $30 million to $40 million. So that’s a total of $22 million that the board has achieved in the trust fund.”
Each budget year, the county may make a withdrawal of up to 3% of the value of the investments but not if the balance goes down, like it did in 2022.
The board unanimously approved Fisher’s recommendation to withdraw $1.245 million.
“We’re using that withdrawal to pay off the debt on the sportsplex,” he said. “That’s what the board approved to do when we entered into the debt for the sportsplex, so that’s pretty much where all the funds go for this year.”
Noting plans to pay off tax increment financing bonds tied to the University Mall development, District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks implored other members of the board to consider expanding the sportsplex as the county becomes more financially flexible to do so.
“We really need to start that conversation,” Brooks told the board. “We really need a multi-purpose building and whatever else.”
Completed in 2024, the $12 million sportsplex off Highway 82 includes eight fields to host baseball and softball as well as concession stands, bathrooms, a picnic area and playground.
Fisher told the board Wednesday original plans also included a recreational facility, a paved walking track, a walking track and a multi-purpose turfed field.
“I think we all agree that the growth has happened and will probably continue going forward on the industrial development side, but on the community development side, that’s an opportunity for us to continue to add to what we’ve done,” District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith told the board.
Some sportsplex improvements are already on the books. After the meeting, District 2 Supervisor and board president Trip Hairston told The Dispatch the county’s budget for Fiscal Year 2027 includes funding – about $1.3 million – to install two batting cages at the sportsplex, and the county is also applying for grants to fund a cross country course at the facility.
“People are requesting (batting cages) be placed at the sportsplex, and we think it’ll be a big benefit for the sportsplex,” he said. “There are some tournaments that we probably cannot host currently because we don’t have batting cages.”
Other business
In other business on Wednesday, the board:
■ appointed Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Meryl Fisackerly and Russell Young to serve on the Lowndes County Railroad Authority;
■ approved Blake Hill to serve on the LINK board; and
■ noted the appointment of Ryan Munson to the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Board, a joint decision made by Hairston and Mayor Stephen Jones.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
