Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Ken Tingley asked today is the $16.1 million court expansion really worth it* – It is a good question.
My belief is $16.1 million is too much and I will not be voting for this plan. My assessment below is why.
Background
Based on the case load, Warren County asked the state for a new family court judge and the request was granted. The judge position was not mandated, but once granted there are mandated requirements to provide a judge’s chambers and new court room.
There also is the need to update the old court facility and address NYS Office of Court Administration (OCA) compliance issues. One example is an existing court room does not have wheel chair access. There are a number of others.
I’m not questioning the mandated requirements or OCA violations, but I do question the cost.
Warren County Court Expansion Cost
$16.1 million of county taxpayer money – no federal or state support – funded by a 20 year bond at approximately $1.1 million annual payments starting in 2016.
How does this compare to other institutions?
I was curious to see what other institutions pay, so I reached out to Glens Falls Hospital (GFH) to ask how they go about deciding whether to reallocate existing space, build new or lease. Here is what I found:
- The hospital builds highly sophisticated operating theatres for around $250/square foot. This is substantially less a square foot than the $392/square foot projected for the new court facility.
Note – Warren County must pay prevailing wage for projects. This justifies some of the premium cost, but $392/square foot is highly questionable for office/administration space.
• Glens Falls Hospital leases office space in Glens Falls for $12/square foot versus $17/square foot the amount estimated by the court expansion engineers.
• Glens Falls Hospital refurbishes space for much less than the $200/square foot estimated by the court engineers. Refurbished space can go below $100/square foot.
The significance of this analysis is the court engineers used these numbers to demonstrate a relocation and renovation option did not save the county money. The accuracy of this analysis can be highly questioned. Some on the board believe a lot of money can be saved by looking at relocation and renovation if there is a will and leadership to do so.
Example of Building with Public versus Private Money
Last week, I was in Schenectady touring a new state of the art nursing home built with private money. The owners saved $10 million by building one showering/bathing facility per hall versus putting one in each room. Residents are scheduled during the day for bathing. Schenectady County also just built a new nursing home about the same size. They put a showering/bathing facility in every room.
This is an example of the difference in thinking private versus public. The private builders got creative, saved a lot of money, and there have been no complaints, and eliminated a safety hazard for residents by eliminating a bathing facility in each room. I’m sure when the plans for the Schenectady county nursing home were presented to the legislature it was presented as a “need” to have a shower in every room. No it is not.
Does the Court Need All of these Changes or are they Wants?
In the case of the Warren County Court expansion everything has been presented as a “need” and strongly supported by the judges. Imagine yourself sitting in a meeting with four or five Judges and the engineering experts all saying “this has to be done.” It is very difficult for supervisors to refute this.
The other thing that has been alluded to in meetings is money may be withheld in the future by the state if the court doesn’t come into compliance with a number of the OCA violations. Even though there has not been compliance with some issues for decades. How do you counter that?
Is there another way?
After going through a series of meetings, listening to a number of experts and seeing what the hospital pays, I’m convinced we can get the job done for a lot less money. The relocation and renovation option can save millions of dollars. There was a perfunctory review of other options with the court engineers “documenting” those other options didn’t save money. I don’t buy it.
$16.1 million is too much and I will not be voting for this plan.
*http://poststar.com/news/opinion/columns/ktingley/is-project-really-worth-it/article_67553bbe-6ffd-11e4-8ffe-435937023797.html.