Community radio station WMNF — 88.5 FM on the dial — doesn't have the kind of budget at its disposal as its corporate counterparts have. (Disclosure: this reporter is a former employee of the station.)

It relies on listeners as well as grants from government and corporate entities to cover the small staff, pay the bills and maintain tons of expensive equipment to keep it running.

In recent years, the recession took a toll on its funding just as the media landscape was changing at whiplash speed, forcing every media outlet to navigate through the uncertain process of attracting new listeners without alienating those who have been tuning in for decades (CL wrote about this struggle last year.)

Last week, the station announced it's going to be the recipient of a key grant to cover an essential (but huge) piece of equipment, and from a somewhat unlikely source, too.

Included in Hillsborough County's budget this year is $120,000 to cover a new tower to replace the aging 27-year-old tower that sends the station's signal from its Seminole Heights home to its transmitter in Riverview. That adds to the $20,000 the station raised through listeners to cover the expense.

“I cannot thank Hillsborough County enough for reinforcing the importance of WMNF to the community it serves,” said Craig Kopp, WMNF’s General Manager, in a media release the station sent out.

It was County Commissioner Victor Crist, a Republican, who took the lead on the grant. Even though he cited the county's need for WMNF during emergencies, as can be used to broadcast vital information in emergencies, given Crist's conservative leanings, is comes as a bit of a surprise, at least to us.

WMNF, after all, is a generally progressive station that can get pretty critical of conservative politicians, not necessarily in its news coverage, but in its commentary.

In a media release, Crist had some nice things to say about the station.

“WMNF provides a great service to the community,” said Commissioner Crist. “Your audience is my audience. It’s important to me and my family’s quality of life. We are working to bring new business and dollars back to the community and WMNF contributes to the quality of life. It’s the salt and pepper of the community, not just playing top 40 music, but music you can’t necessarily hear anywhere else.”

This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2015.