Board of Commissioners Meeting | October 20, 2026

The Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners’ October 20, 2026 meeting approved the 2027 county budget, including a $158,000 transfer from line items identified by the Finance Committee into contingency. Additional proposed budget changes—including use of housing-millage investment income, a $75,000 allocation to Southwest Michigan First, and a possible additional employee cost-of-living increase—were deferred for further Finance Committee review. The board also approved a ViaPath inmate communications contract and a Canteen Services inmate commissary contract. Under the ViaPath agreement, phone rates were reduced from 18 to 7 cents per minute, video visitation from 25 to 12 cents per minute, and electronic messages from 50 to 25 cents; the service is primarily user-fee funded, and a $25,000 technology grant was discussed but its use was not established in the meeting.

The board received an update on the county event center project: Rockford Construction is the construction partner, Sports Facilities Companies is the operator, construction is underway, and opening is targeted for September 2027. Naming-rights negotiations are ongoing. The board also discussed using unspent ARPA funds for eligible projects such as the Landing Place and parking garage, with a more detailed allocation plan expected at a future meeting. A proposed resolution seeking community engagement by the Road Commission on tree-removal practices was discussed but not voted on; it is scheduled for further consideration. The accounts-payable review prompted follow-up requests for details on several purchases and project costs.