Benton County officials think moving human services out of pricey office space and into empty rooms at the health district complex in Kennewick not only would save money, but free up about $50,000 for the general fund.
County commissioners learned this week that relocating the human services department's 10 employees to vacant space at the Benton-Franklin Health District about 11/2 miles away would cut about $56,000 in annual lease expenses, not including the cost of needed improvements, said Ed Thornbrugh, director of the Benton-Franklin Human Services Department.
Benton County commissioners have offered to let the bicounty agency occupy office space that initially was planned for the Benton Clean Air Authority, which opted to have its own building elsewhere.
The new home for human services would be at 7102 W. Okanogan Place, which is near the Benton County Justice Center and the county coroner's office.
"They can offer the space for quite a bit less," Thornbrugh said.
The bicounty human services department currently uses leased offices that cost nearly twice what it would cost for rooms at the health district complex.
Thornbrugh said the actual costs, including the improvements, won't be known until negotiations with the county are finished.
But he said the annual fee is expected to be about $65,000 a year on a 15-year lease. The annual cost at the human services' current location was $97,000 until recently, when the lease expired. The new holdover lease fee is much higher, at $121,000 a year.
That's what makes the offer to move so appealing, Thornbrugh said.
"I'd like to move as soon as possible. Every dollar saved means more services available from human services for Benton and Franklin counties," Thornbrugh told the commissioners.
The move also would help Benton County financially, said David Sparks, Benton County administrator.
When the Clean Air Authority chose not to have offices in the newly built health district complex, the county was stuck with $50,000 more in costs to pay off the construction bond payments, Sparks said.
Having the human services department leasing the space at $65,000 will cover that $50,000 annual debt payment and have extra available to pay for the office improvements.
"It will free up $50,000 a year for our general fund if we don't have to pay that cost," Sparks said.
Working out the details of the lease and move for the bicounty agency will require action by commissioners in both counties.
"I haven't talked to Franklin County yet, but I hope to have this all done by the end of the year," Sparks said.
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