# Board of Commissioners Meeting | October 20, 2026

Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners meeting, October 20, 2026. The board approved the 2027 county budget after adopting a $158,000 amendment transferring identified reductions to contingency. Further budget questions—including use of housing-millage investment income, a proposed $75,000 allocation to Southwest Michigan First, and an additional employee cost-of-living increase—were deferred for finance committee review. The board also approved reclassifications for the clerk and chief deputy clerk; a $30,876 figure was discussed in connection with the request. In the accounts-payable review, the claims list was reported at approximately $9.95 million, and commissioners requested follow-up details on several purchases and project costs, including parking-garage spending.

The board approved the ViaPath inmate communications contract and the Canteen Services inmate commissary contract. The ViaPath agreement reflects lower user rates—telephone service reduced from 18 to 7 cents per minute, video visits from 25 to 12 cents per minute, and electronic messages from 50 to 25 cents; the county does not make direct payments to ViaPath. The county event-center authority reported that Rockford Construction had been hired and Sports Facilities Companies selected as operator; construction was underway, with a September 2027 opening target. The county administrator said remaining ARPA funds may be directed to eligible projects such as the Landing Place or parking garage, pending a further accounting and board review. No vote was taken on the proposed road-commission community-engagement resolution, which was left for later consideration.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Construction & Infrastructure, Public Safety
**Topics:** Physical Infrastructure, Grants & Funding
**Published:** October 20, 2026

### Sources
- [Board of Commissioners Meeting | October 20, 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b7fLKYGr-Y) - Kalamazoo County Government