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Where Did the 2003 Bond Money Go?
Posted
8-23-2004
In early 2003, Westmoreland
County did a major bond issue to finance a number of important projects. At
the time, interest rates were very favorable, and we conducted a competitive
process to select underwriters for the bonds. This month, I would like to
update you on the status of our investments, and share why some of the
proceeds from this bond issue also will be important for future projects.
The 2003 bond issue was done
for three primary reasons. One was to provide most of the funding for the
county's 800-MHz emergency radio communications project. The roughly $15
million was needed to build the basic infrastructure for the project,
acquire some additional frequencies, and obtain as many radios as possible.
U.S. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge praised our initiative to make
such an investment and said that it enabled us to get $6 million in grant
money to acquire additional radios for first responders. The project is
still on course, as we are developing the final tower sites and beginning to
train users of the system.
Another portion of the bond
issue, approximately $6 million, was spent to upgrade a variety of physical
plant items in county facilities. We did it through a program called the
Guaranteed Energy Savings Act that allows governments to invest in capital
improvements with companies like the one we used, NORESCO. The company
guarantees the improvements will show a reduction in energy consumption
equal to the amount of the investment over an agreed time frame. We may not
see a dollar for dollar savings, because of rate increases, but the
measurable units of energy will be reduced. We replaced HVAC systems,
lighting, water fixtures, and some windows, and so far the measuring process
is showing the reduced consumption we expected.
The third project we
originally envisioned to fund with the bond issue was a new $10 million
juvenile detention center/juvenile probation office. When this project was
initially planned in the late 1990s, statistics on juvenile detainees made
construction of an expanded juvenile detention center necessary. However, by
the time the bond issue was done, those statistics were not telling the same
story. Because of the high cost of new construction for detention
facilities, we decided to reconsider the previous plan and look at upgrading
our existing detention center and building a new office building for
juvenile probation. This entire process had been delayed for nearly three
years because the Pennsylvania Legislature had to approve a land swap
between the county and the State Correctional Facility at Greensburg.
Recently, a new proposal has come to light. The county was approached by an
organization that has built and operated juvenile facilities in other
counties. Discussions are in the early stages, but it seems reasonable to
examine a more detailed proposal from that group.
So, what is happening to this
$10 million portion of the bond issue? It is still available, and the
landscape of county government needs is evolving. At the time of the bond
issue, we did not know the City of Greensburg would offer us a part of the
old Troutman's Building for only a dollar. With that space available, we are
moving the Children's Bureau to that location to improve services for
families. It will take approximately $2 million of bond proceeds to make
that facility suitable for the Children's Bureau. But over time, the state
Department of Public Welfare will pay the county rent for the Children's
Bureau space, and we can recoup that investment. Also, we recently had to
spend $300,000 to rectify parts of the county Geographic Information System
(GIS) with tax maps, so that the data would be useful to a variety of
parties. With the 800-MHz radio system, we found out it made sense to
purchase, rather than lease certain tower locations, and we need money for
upfront acquisition rather than long-term operational costs.
Ultimately, issues arise that
no one can foresee. After the fiasco with the 2000 presidential election,
Congress, in its infinite wisdom, passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
The federal government is partially funding a mandate to have all voting
machines provide a paper trail. It is a great idea, but, in our county, we
have lever machines that are virtually tamper-proof and have worked just
fine. The partially funded mandate that we must replace those machines by
the end of 2005 will cost the county as much as $3 million.
So as you can see, just a few
projects that were not on the horizon two years ago are eating up half of
that final $10 million. If we do not contract with the private firm to build
a new juvenile facility, we still have to address the needs of our existing
juvenile detention facility and the inadequate space for our juvenile
probation office. With extremely tight general fund budgets for the
foreseeable future, having some money available for unexpected, yet,
meritorious, capital projects will allow us to continue to better serve the
citizens of this county.
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