By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The Ellis County Public Building Commission needs to pay some change orders for ongoing work at the recently remodeled courthouse/Law Enforcement Center in Hays, but doesn’t have the money to do that.
Ellis County Commissioner Barb Wasinger — who, like all three commissioners is also a PBC member — has suggested the payment, as well as bond payments for that project and the new Ellis County Emergency Services Center, come from the “unexpected wind farm project money.”
County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes has suggested rents for the two buildings be increased.
The bills will appear as accounts payable on the PBC agenda of its second meeting of next month, scheduled for July 11.
Sales tax revenues have declined 10 percent the past two years, according to Treasurer Ann Pfeifer. In May, she warned Ellis County commissioners the county might have to transfer money from the general fund to make the bond payment on the courthouse/LEC and Ellis County Emergency Services building projects because of a timing issue. She said the PBC, which was created to manage the county building upgrades, would then pay back the money later in the month when it receives money from the sales tax fund.
“PBC actually doesn’t actually have funds available to pay those change orders that will be coming,” Smith-Hanes told county commissioners Monday night. “PBC’s sole source of revenue was the bond proceeds, and then the funds to pay back those proceeds are lease payments of the buildings to Ellis County.
“I need the PBC to request of Ellis County that we up the rental amount of those buildings in an amount sufficient to cover the change orders that will be incurred in July,” he said. “It’s really just an accounting mechanism recommended by our auditor,” Smith-Hanes explained Tuesday morning.
The increase request would be considered by Ellis County at its July 5 meeting.
Wasinger requested that “Ellis County use the money that has been put aside from the (Buckeye) wind farm project that we weren’t expecting and put it into the PBC account to not only pay for those change orders, but also set aside wind farm money for bond payments that are upcoming, so that we don’t have to dip into the general fund or into the taxpayers’ pockets.”
Commission Chairman Dean Haselhorst, who is also president of the PBC, agreed it was a good idea “because last year we got that (wind farm) payment.” The 200-megawatt Buckeye Wind Energy Center operated by Invenergy LLC northwest of Hays went online in October. Ellis County and Buckeye signed an agreement for payments in lieu of taxes, and the first $600,00 has been paid to the county.
Smith-Hanes said he had verified Monday afternoon with Pfeifer the wind farm payment is set aside in a special account.
“So we can bring that up on July 5 and figure out how those funds offset these increased payments,” Wasinger added.