County reports HHS building finished under budget, outlines $684,000 in savings and funding sources

County finance staff told the committee that the Health and Human Services (HHS) building project closed with savings across several budget lines, leaving roughly $684,000 unspent.

“Originally for 18,669,000…and total savings on the project of $684,000,” Heather told the committee while walking through the project budget and the River City Construction guaranteed maximum price (GMP). She said the largest savings were in non-GMP soft costs — notably furniture, fixtures and equipment — with about $465,000 unspent, and that IT line-items were about $116,000 under budget. The hard-construction savings were recorded as roughly $101,960.

Heather also outlined the project’s multiple funding sources: the health department fund and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds were primary for the River City contract, with smaller contributions from the general fund, capital projects fund, solid waste management fund and an IT services fund. She emphasized that most of those funds are restricted special-revenue or internal-service funds and cannot be reallocated freely.

On ARPA usage, Heather said the county had over-obligated ARPA dollars compared with an earlier total — staff had identified roughly $39–40 million in obligations against about $34.8 million originally — but interest income and other planned uses let staff cover the over-obligation and avoid returning funds to the federal government.

Board members responded with congratulations and questions about how unused balances will revert to departmental reserves. Several members urged staff to present clear line-item backup so elected officials and the public can see whether unused funds are true rollovers or new appropriations.

Next steps: staff will return requested line-by-line backup to the committee and confirm the disposition of unspent amounts and whether any will be available for appropriation.