Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Facilities Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council hears details on Government Office Building repairs, chiller replacement and HQ lease costs
Summary
Procurement staff told council the city shares operation costs for the Government Office Building with the county, has one funded CIP item for exterior waterproofing and seeks future funding for a chiller replacement; council asked for breakdowns of shared taxes and lease costs for Salisbury HQ.
Jennifer Miller, director of procurement for the City of Salisbury, told the council on Oct. 12, 2025, that the city shares operation and maintenance expenses for the Government Office Building with the county and that several facility projects and leases are affecting the city’s facilities budget.
Miller said the city pays one-half of the Government Office Building (GOB) operating costs and the county pays the other half. "We pay one half of the expenditures. They pay one half of the expenditures," she said. She said the city occupies about 45% of the building’s square footage.
On capital projects, Miller said the city received $175,000 in the previous budget to perform exterior waterproofing and window replacement focused on the building’s west wall, where water infiltration has been noted. She said she had requested an additional $25,000 that appears unfunded in the current draft; the city will proceed with the $175,000 allocation.
Miller also said the replacement of the building’s HVAC chiller is in the capital-improvement plan. She characterized the chiller as approximately 15 to 20 years old and noted the city and county previously replaced the air handling unit in 2023 and the return-air fans in 2024.
A line item labeled "existing lease" (account 558700) was described as an older energy-savings agreement between the city and county that the city is still repaying; Miller said fiscal 2026 is likely the last year for that payment. "We reached a settlement with the county maybe back in 2017," she said, describing the line as recouping costs the county felt the city should have paid.
Council members also discussed Salisbury’s downtown headquarters lease. Miller confirmed the budget line 554400 is for Salisbury HQ and includes an annual lease payment and associated taxes. She said the lease carries a monthly payment of about $9,000 and that, because the contract is structured as triple net, the city now pays property taxes passed through by the landlord. Miller said recent electricity-rate increases also pushed operating costs higher for occupied leased space.
Council members asked for a detailed breakdown of county taxes and the specific line-item composition of shared building expenses; Miller said staff would provide a more detailed breakdown. The manager of procurement and other staff answered questions about which entities pay rent or utilities for various municipal facilities during the session. No formal action or vote was taken on these facility items during the meeting.
The council asked staff to return with additional line-item detail and tax calculations for the shared facilities before final budget adoption.
