NORTHEAST TALLAHASSEE, FL — Recent Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency projects are drawing questions and calls for transparency. Neighbors and a Leon County commissioner say they're concerned about rising costs.
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:
Commissioner David O'Keefe declined to support the agency's budget again this year, doubling down on demands for increased transparency and returning financial authority to the board.
"This meeting was the first year where my questions actually raised the issue that so many of my colleagues started realizing they have to question," O'Keefe said.
According to records O'Keefe obtained, gateway projects like the Northeast Gateway on Welaunee Boulevard, Airport Gateway, and Northeast Corridor Connector on Bannerman Road are taking the bulk of funding, increasing by about $100 million from initial costs and up nearly $14 million total from 2025.
Concerned resident Max Epstein says it's an issue he has been speaking on for years.
"They will not even disclose to the public where these increased costs come from because they say there's no paperwork. There's no spreadsheets, no budgets available to show the public," Epstein said.
According to Blueprint's director, project prices can rise due to inflation, unforeseen circumstances, and design updates.
"The ultimate cost of a project really isn't determined until that ribbon is cut at the very end because during the project itself you have different elements that may come into play, unforeseen conditions within the project itself that cost dollars to implement," Blueprint Director Autumn Calder said.
O'Keefe says he doesn’t feel he received answers at the last Blueprint meeting explaining why prices are rising.
He says he’s concerned the cost increases will leave the board with incomplete projects and no money for other projects like Tharpe Street.
"What I need to see is full transparency of the costs and estimates updating for every project. The board needs to have the authority to budget each project, and we need real explanations and details," O'Keefe said.
Epstein called for an outside review of Blueprint's finances.
"There needs to be a complete forensic audit of where this money is going. We need to have an outside firm come in and to actually take a look at all of our projects to see where the money is going,” Epstein said.
The Blueprint board approved a $70 million operating budget for the next fiscal year.
The final budget for Blueprint will be adopted after two public hearings.
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