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4 <br /> 1 <br /> 2 County Debt Service and Debt Capacity— based on the Manager's recommended funding, <br /> 3 the County's annual debt service as a percent of the General Fund budget would remain under <br /> 4 15% until FY 16-17, when it would reach 15.35%. <br /> 5 <br /> 6 Note: An additional summary is provided in the Appendices section, which reflects the debt <br /> 7 service percent if all the Recommended and the Requested, but Unfunded projects were <br /> 8 included during the FY 2012-17 CIP period. This would increase the percentage to 16.97% in <br /> 9 FY 16-17, and would approach 20% by FY 17-18. <br /> 10 <br /> 11 Active County Capital Projects—also included in the Appendices section is a list of all <br /> 12 currently active County Capital projects with available balances as of January 31, 2012. <br /> 13 <br /> 14 <br /> 15 Paul Laughton made reference to the old Ag center and the cost of updating this for <br /> 16 $1.5 million. He said that this should be discussed before renovating this building. <br /> 17 Frank Clifton said that this money could be used to update the Blackwood property <br /> 18 instead. <br /> 19 Commissioner Gordon encouraged this type of thinking and having a long-term space <br /> 20 needs plan. She said that it important to get out of rental space and consolidate County offices. <br /> 21 Commissioner Yuhasz asked if there was adequate space in the office buildings to <br /> 22 accommodate the staff that are currently located in the Environmental/Ag space. Frank Clifton <br /> 23 said that there is not enough space right now in one place to be functional. He said that his <br /> 24 concern for suggesting this was the cost of maintenance and operation of the older buildings. <br /> 25 The Blackwood property would be an opportunity to invest the $1.5 million into this. <br /> 26 Commissioner Jacobs said that he agreed with Commissioner Gordon in that they need <br /> 27 to have some basic principles on how to analyze space needs. He said that there are two <br /> 28 different Blackwood Farms—one is near Hillsborough and one is not. He thinks that one of the <br /> 29 principles is to try and keep the services as close together as possible. He thinks that this <br /> 30 should still be a priority. Either way, there are buildings for sale that are not being used. There <br /> 31 is also the Annex, the Whitted Building, and downstairs of the Link Building. He said that there <br /> 32 needs to be a systematic way to analyze space needs. There are two space needs plans and <br /> 33 he suggested starting with these plans first and see what changes need to be made. He wants <br /> 34 to make the best of the County's resources. <br /> 35 Chair Pelissier asked Frank Clifton when something might come before the Board. <br /> 36 Frank Clifton said that the staff could do some analysis and come back next fall for <br /> 37 Board review. <br /> 38 Commissioner McKee said that he realizes that the costs of maintaining a building can <br /> 39 sometimes exceed the cost of doing something new, however, he would caution the County <br /> 40 Commissioners to remember the fiscal constraints the County has faced, and that the services <br /> 41 to their citizens should come first. <br /> 42 Commissioner Gordon said that there was a notebook at one time with all of the County <br /> 43 buildings and the space analysis. She said that before Pam Jones retires, she hopes that this <br /> 44 information will be updated. <br /> 45 <br /> 46 Paul Laughton continued going through the components of the CIP notebook. <br /> 47 <br /> 48 Northern Human Services Center: <br />