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Okanogan County staff consider interfund loan from landfill closure reserve to cover jail HVAC and testing costs
Summary
County treasurer and solid waste managers described a potential interfund loan up to several hundred thousand dollars from landfill post‑closure reserves to pay for HVAC/geothermal repairs and pump testing at the county jail; officials discussed terms, risks and a three‑year maximum loan period but made no final loan authorization at the meeting.
Okanogan County officials discussed a potential interfund loan from the solid waste post‑closure reserve to cover urgent repairs and testing tied to the county jail's HVAC/geothermal system.
Pam Johnson, county treasurer, told the finance committee that interfund loans carry a three‑year maximum term and that the treasurer sets the interest rate; she said the county's current registered warrant/interest benchmark for April was about 6.39 percent and that the pooled investment return was roughly 4.38 percent. Nicole Moore, Public Works office manager, described the jail problem as a system that is not functioning as designed and said engineering pump tests and other diagnostic work will likely cost about $200,000, with equipment replacement estimates shown in preliminary designs at about $489,000 (not including potential injection‑well work). Ken Kovalenko and Stephanie Palmer, solid waste staff, reviewed the closure fund balance and said there were millions available in the post‑closure account; Palmer said roughly $7–8 million was currently in post‑closure and that routine monitoring obligations extend for decades.
The committee discussed how borrowing from the closure reserve would temporarily reduce that account's invested balance but would return interest under a loan. Johnson noted historically the county has used its registered warrant rate when making internal loans and recommended keeping the same approach; she said a $500,000 to $750,000 loan amortized over three years at the historic rate would result in annual interest in the tens of thousands of dollars, not hundreds of thousands, and that the amount would likely not impair statutory monitoring or closure obligations. Staff described the sequence: fund the testing and flow studies first, then use that information to decide whether full replacement of the system is feasible. Moore said the immediate next steps are to complete the flow/pump testing and then determine whether injection wells can accept increased flows.
No formal loan motion or vote was taken during the session. Commissioners and staff agreed to assemble a formal plan and a loan resolution for future action that would include the loan period, rate and repayment source; Johnson said staff would prepare numbers showing the closure reserve cash flow and how a three‑year loan would fit the closure and monitoring schedule.
Budget and risk context: staff emphasized the closure fund is earmarked for long‑term landfill monitoring and post‑closure obligations; Johnson and Palmer said an internal loan reduces investable balance temporarily but returns interest and can be structured to avoid impairing long terms obligations. Moore and Kovalenko urged completing the pump tests before committing to major new equipment.
The discussion closed with staff agreeing to prepare a formal loan proposal and cashflow analysis for commissioners to consider at a future meeting.
Ending: The committee did not authorize any loan at the meeting; staff were directed to return with project costs, the pump test results and a proposed interfund loan resolution for formal consideration.
