ROCKINGHAM — Nearly $50 million in funding will be coming to Richmond County following the long-awaited passage of the state budget last week.
Most of the funding will be for various water and wastewater projects, according to state documents.
The budget allocates $16 million to the county for water and wastewater, with $12 million of that earmarked for economic development.
Three municipalities also will receive similar funding:
- Rockingham – $13 million
- Hamlet – $5 million
- Dobbins Heights – $2.55 million
Richmond Community College will receive $1.75 million for the Hendrick Center for Automotive Excellence.
RCC President Dr. Dale McInnis told the Richmond County Board of Commissioners at the September meeting that the development of the 16-week automotive program was still in development and that he had seen the design for the building.
Click here to read more about the future automotive program.
The college expects to break ground for the facility in the spring of 2024.
The Joint Conference Committee Report also budgets a $2 million transfer of projected interest earned from the State Fiscal Recovery Reserve for a pedestrian bridge crossing over U.S. 1 at Rockingham Speedway.
The bridge was in Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget proposal in 2019.
An additional $300,000 will be transferred from the Office of State Budget and Management to the city of Rockingham to pay for costs associated with upgrading restrooms at Rockingham Dragway.
Richmond County is also set to be allocated $500,000 for capital improvements at the airport and $200,000 for “operations or equipment for youth programs;” and the town of Hoffman will receive $30,000 for improvements or equipment.
The committee report allocates $300,000 for Samaritan Colony from the Opioid Abatement Reserve.
Samaritan Colony, which has been providing substance abuse treatment to men for four decades is in the process of constructing a similar facility for women.
The county’s volunteer fire departments are getting another helping hand, with $100,000 to be divided among them. They received a similar allocation in the 2021 budget.
Also in the budget is $4 million for continued renovations at the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center. More than $3 million for the next two years has been approved to fund operations at 47 positions at the facility. A previous budget allocated $10.7 million.
The local total from this budget is more than $10 million in excess of that allocated in the 2021 budget. Click here to read that story.
Another benefit for the county is $2 million over the next two years for a regional autopsy center in Monroe. That center will serve the counties of Union, Anson, Richmond, Cabarrus, Gaston, Montgomery, Moore, Rowan and Stanly.
Note: This story was edited to revise a sentence comparing the the two budgets. 4:04 p.m. 9-28-23
