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Cumberland County buys 32,500-square-foot North Deering building with ARPA funds to reduce lease costs
Summary
County managers reported the purchase of a 32,500-square-foot building in Portland's North Deering neighborhood for $4.5 million using ARPA funds, expected to save about $250,000 a year by terminating two leases and provide space for county operations.
Theresa Grover, Cumberland County finance director, told the Finance Committee that the county purchased a 32,500-square-foot building in the North Deering neighborhood of Portland for $4.5 million. Grover said the county used ARPA funds and revenue-loss accounts to buy and outfit the building so there would be no impact to the county tax rate.
Grover said the building purchase replaced an earlier plan for a 22,000-square-foot new building on the jail and law-enforcement campus that an engineering study estimated would cost about $17 million and require a lease-purchase structure. "We ended up purchasing the 32,500 square foot building, for $4,500,000. And, we used ARPA funds, to do it," Grover said. She added the county expects to save roughly $250,000 a year by releasing two existing leases.
County staff said design work is underway and they expect to begin construction and move into the new facility around the same time next year. Committee members asked about solar panels and Grover said staff applied to the condo association and the county has an $88,000 federal Department of Energy grant for solar.
The county described the purchase as a cost-saving alternative to a higher-cost new build and said ARPA funding covered acquisition and fit-out to avoid tax-rate impacts.
