Judges and Constitutional Officers are facing a serious space shortage, but the price tag for a long term solution was greatly under estimated a year ago by the Space Needs Committee.
The Board of County Commissioners hired a company called CGL to complete a “Space Utilization Assessment” in September of 2016. The cost of this assessment was $80,700. The BOCC approved the RFP (Request for Proposal) for the assessment following the findings of the County’s Space Needs Committee which advocated for a government expansion project estimated to cost $30 million. Commissioner Nicholson was the only commissioner to vote the RFP down. The assessment by CGL provides costs ranging between $105 million and $130 million for the two options for the long-term government facility and courthouse expansion project.
The two projects are very similar in scope, the differences being where the new Constitutional Office headquarters will be built, the size of the courthouse parking garage and the phased renovation of the Government Center.
Both options call for the construction of a new 6 floor 168,000 square foot courthouse with a 2 floor “lobby” estimated to cost between $68.9 million and $76 million. This would be located where the courthouse parking lot is currently. Both options call for the demolition of the Records Storage Building (and relocation of records) costing between $375,000 and $525,000. A parking garage would be constructed in its place. In option 1, the parking garage would have 4 floors, providing 530 spaces costing between $13.25 million and $15.9 million (for phase 1), while in option 2 the parking garage would have 5 floors, accommodating 750 cars costing between $18.75 million and $22.5 million. Both options call for the demolition of the Annex adjoining the historic courthouse for a cost ranging between $1.64 million and $2.19 million.
Option 1 calls for a “Phase 1” partial renovation of the Government Center (cost estimated $7-7.8 million), while Option 2 includes the full renovation ($14.8 – $16.5 million).
In option 1, the new Constitutional Branch Office would be constructed at the Spring Hill Drive airport site ($13 million – $14.3 million). Below is the footprint of the Constitutional Office Building for option 1:
In option 2, it would be constructed at the West Side Center on Forest Oaks Blvd ($11 million – $12 million). Below is the footprint of the Constitutional Office Building for option 2:
The total cost estimate for Option 1 is $105 million – $117.9 million while the total cost estimate for option 2 is $116 million – $130.8 million.
To ease the situation of spatial deficiencies on the short term, an intermittent plan has been put together. Several Constitutional Officers as well as judges presented their office space/ courtroom deficiencies to the Commission at the April 4th, 2017 workshop on the matter. Many cited privacy, customer service and safety issues. “It’s an issue of service to our citizens, quality of government service…” said Judge Daniel B. Merritt. Supervisor of Elections Shirley Anderson was the only Constitutional Officer to not request an interim solution to her space needs, stating, “The long term solution is my temporary.” Anderson was concerned for the costs associated with a temporary relocation and lease.
• The Property Appraiser would lease 10,000 square feet of Office Space in the SunTrust Bank Building.
The Public Defender could be relocated to the 4th floor of the Government Center, vacated by the Property Appraiser.
• Judicial Office would be moved to the 3rd Floor Courthouse vacated by the Public Defender’s Office.
• Health and Human Services and Clerk of Court Audit Department would be relocated to the Housing Authority Building on West Jefferson providing 2500 square feet of leased space.
• The State Attorney would take over the 4th Floor Government Center vacated by the Court Administrative Offices.
• The Tax Collector would move into the First Floor Government Center vacated by Health and Human Services.
• Guardian Ad Litem would move into the 2nd Floor Courthouse vacated by the Audit Department.
• A building leased near the airport would relieve the Westside Government Tax Collector and the transfer of drivers license operations to the new office. Simultaneously, they’d end the lease for the US 98 location.
• Finally, the West Side Government Center vacated by the Utilities Department would provide office and storage space for the Clerk of Court and Record Storage Facility.
Commissioner John Mitten stated that he was very impressed by the “spatial calisthenics” the constitutional officers and judges have been doing in order to deal with the problem and service the needs of the tax-payers.
Commissioner Champion brought up the potential use of the former Utilities Building which currently is being offered for surplus sale. The county indicated that it is an option which could be decided at a later meeting.
Commissioners Steve Champion and John Allocco were both reticent of the idea of a $30 million government expansion project during their 2016 campaigns. We asked them both, “What is your position on the potential construction of a new courtroom complex and building for additional government offices ( near the airport), which has been projected to cost $30 million?” Mr. Champion stated, “I am opposed because our history is Brooksville, I believe we should keep the courthouse as our main government offices for the county. As it is we are having funding problems for our Sheriff etc.. A 30 million dollar complex is not necessary now and we can’t afford it.”
Commissioner Allocco responded, “ Until we can find a way to properly fund our Fire/EMS and Police forces without raising taxes, my position is this project is not appropriate. There is a difference between needs, wants, and desires. I would say this fits in the desires category.”
Both Commissioners were against using a half cent sales tax to fund the project.
Commissioner Nicholson mentioned that there is a possibility to fund a portion of the project by financing judicial funds over a 20 to 30 year period, which could make approximately $75M available to them over that time period. “The Judicial Fund has so much money in the bank and they get so much money every year. And that amount of money will fund a certain dollar amount. I think it’s about $75M.” He stated that the money in this fund has to be used for judicial needs.
Commissioner Nicholson explained further, “Based on what they have in the bank now which is $3-$6M, and getting somewhere between $300,000 and $600,000 coming in every year, if you capitalize that over a 20 or 30 year period of time, it comes up to $75M which can be repaid by the $300,000 – $600,000 coming in every year,” explained Commissioner Nicholson.
At the workshop on April 4th, it was the consensus of the board to vote on the temporary leases at the first meeting in May, giving the county time to examine potential funding solutions for the long-term expansion project. The subject of demolishing the records building may also be on the table at that time.