Reno County official outlines roughly $12 million in 20-year facilities needs

Reno County received an annual facilities and maintenance update in which the presenter said the county faces significantly larger capital demands over the next two decades.

Aron reviewed projects completed in 2023 — earthquake repairs, courthouse remodel work, new windows at the extension office, shelving installed for a youth shelter, tuckpointing and weatherization at the health department, and landscaping — and said his team handled 5,027 work requests last year, about 1,256 of which were completed at the county correctional facility. He noted challenges with inflation and staffing but praised long-tenured core staff.

Looking ahead, Aron presented a long-range capital forecast included in the commission packet that aggregates expected replacements and upgrades across county facilities. He said equipment installed during a 2008 energy project (HVAC, boilers, chillers, pumps) will approach end of life around 2028; the RCAT building and certain mechanical systems will similarly need replacement as they near 20 years of service. Aron said the county is projecting a little over $12,000,000 in capital improvements over a 20-year window, which averages about $600,000 per year compared with an estimated historical average of roughly $200,000 per year in capital maintenance spending.

Aron described current and near-term work: replacing about seven miles of network cable (upgrading from Cat 5 to Cat 6), carpet replacement and relocation of district attorney staff during renovations, shelving assembly for nearly 2,000 boxes of district attorney and district court documents, and plans to reconfigure the law library.

Quotes

"According to our maintenance tracker program, we completed 5,027 work requests," Aron said, adding that "about 25% of our routine work is happening out there at the jail."

"You need to be prepared to replace those items sometime in that general time frame," he said of systems installed in 2008.

Why this matters

Aron framed the forecast as a planning tool: if replacement years cluster (for HVAC, roofs and jail mechanical systems), the county could face a multi-year spike in capital demand that would exceed historical annual reserves. Commissioners were urged to consider reserve funding or budget adjustments as the county prepares for those larger expenses.

Next steps

Commissioners will use the forecast as part of capital improvement planning. Aron said staff will continue to budget and move funds to reserves where possible and to sequence projects (for example, scheduling network upgrades in stages).