MIDWAY — Midway City Council members have decided to enter into an agreement with Liberty County to provide fire protection for the city’s residents.
Council members approved their fiscal year 2025 budget after a special called meeting Monday night and included in the budget was money for the county to begin a formal coverage of Midway’s fire services. County firefighters have been running calls for service in the city limits from their Miller Park headquarters for several months after the dissolution of the city’s all-volunteer department.
The city’s general fund revenues are expected to be $1.635 million, and its water fund revenues are $1.612 million. The vast majority of the city’s general fund expenditures, said Campbell O’Steen of Jesup accounting firm Harris and Company, is in fire services. About $860,000 will be devoted to fire services from the upcoming budget.
Also included in the budget are 2.5% cost of living allowance increases, and the city’s portion of health insurance coverage is going from 70% to 75%. The city also is adding a part-time position for an assistant municipal court clerk.
The bulk of Midway’s revenues is coming from the local option sales tax - $425,000. The city also expects to collect $300,000 in title ad valorem taxes and $225,000 in public utilities franchise taxes.
The city’s expenditures are pegged at $2.352 million for its general fund, leaving a gap of nearly $602,000. The city is budgeting for a transfer from the water fund to the general fund.
“It still qualifies as a balanced budget,” O’Steen told council members.
“So we do not have a balanced budget in the every day sense of a balanced budget?” asked Council member Dr. Clemontine Washington.
O’Steen said that legally the budget still qualifies as balanced.
“You can budget to use fund balance,” he said.
In its water and sewer budget, the city expects to spend $960,000 in operations but also has another nearly $600,000 in debt service, for a total of $1.8 million in expenditures.
Liberty County Fire Chief Brian Darby has presented Midway’s council with a five-year plan for fire protection that includes building a station south of town to replace the current facility and staffing it with full-time firefighters and commanders.
County commissioners are expected to take up the contract with Midway at their meeting tonight.