Commissioners draw line on building budget

Initially, Kootenai County commissioners anticipated a $20 million price tag for a new attorney center.

Then it became $27 million, then $31 million.

Now it's tentatively $18 million — but the $13 million difference cut more than costs.

After a 2-1 vote in favor, with Commissioner Bill Brooks dissenting, the commissioners advised county staff and Lombard Conrad Architects to begin preliminary preparations for building designs.

During a meeting last week with Shawn Riley, the Kootenai County project manager and consultant, and Ken Gallegos with LCA Architects, commissioners attempted to hammer out the details of who is going into the future facility expansion and how much money the county was willing to spend. Since the last meeting in December, commissioners have become more resistant to the climbing project cost.

The project intends to house Kootenai County's prosecuting attorney office, public defender office, adult misdemeanor probation, district courts, and the board of county commissioners, who have grown out of their existing facilities.

LCA presented options to commissioners, ranging from a full build-out cost of $31 million to a half-finished facility for $16.9 million. While it sounds good on paper, Gallegos said, the $14.1 million difference means a loss of about 32,000 square feet, with no space for misdemeanor probation, commissioners or parking.

In planning for the building, departments were asked for a wish list of items needed for the next 15 to 20 years. While some were practical, others were not, Riley said.

"It's not realistic to have conference rooms that hold 60 to 80 people when they only get used once a month," he said. "It's not realistic to have, and it's a waste of taxpayer dollars to have the largest courtroom in the state of Idaho."

The financial decision will be one of the largest the county has seen in recent years — twice the price of the jail expansion and three times the purchase price of the Kootenai Electric Cooperative facility in Hayden.

Weighing on the commissioners' decision further were the unknown implications that legislative action could cause on the county's general fund, forgone balance, and taxing system.

"We've already had the discussion that until April, we can't make any hard-line commitments," Commissioner Leslie Duncan said. "We've already agreed to pay LCA for phase one, and once we get to the point that we know what the Legislature has done, then that will allow us to make better decisions. But for me, I don't want to go over $18 million."

Commissioners Chris Fillios and Brooks touched on utilizing the recent KEC building purchase to relocate county offices — specifically elections, community development and the assessor's office.

"I'm not prepared to spend any money until I know who is going where," Brooks said. "We've got a big chunk of space (at KEC) that we need to figure out how we're going to occupy and then move from there."

Duncan and Fillios voted to establish a tentative budget of $18 million, prioritizing public defenders, prosecuting attorneys, courtrooms and space for adult misdemeanor probation.