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Permanent Building Fund recommended projects total $122.9 million; committee asks about timing and deferred maintenance
Summary
Legislative analysts reviewed the Permanent Building Fund structure and FY2026 recommendations, including six capital projects, major deferred-maintenance funding, and active project totals. Committee members pressed officials on project timelines, cost escalation and agency needs.
Frances Lippitt, the Legislative Services analyst, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that the Permanent Building Fund (PBF) is structured to support multi‑year capital projects: “Projects receive an appropriation once, and at the end of the fiscal year, any unexpended funds become continuously appropriated pursuant to Section 57‑1105 of Idaho Code,” she said.
Lippitt said the division of public works and the Permanent Building Fund Advisory Council oversee planning, design and construction of state public works projects. She told members that the total value of active public works projects is about $1.9 billion, of which approximately $1.4 billion is capital projects and about 42% of capital funding has been committed. Lippitt said the division typically expends $50 million to $70 million of an appropriation in the first year; in FY2024 it expended $11 million of the original appropriation.
The Division of Public Works requested and the analyst recommended multiple FY2026 items totaling $122,861,900, including requests for:
• $6.5 million to expand the Department of Lands’ Ponderosa office to improve office space and add secure reception and restrooms; officials told the committee the site has tight circulation and staff expressed security concerns at the front entrance.
• $5.56 million to install utilities for a future Idaho National Guard readiness center in Bonneville County; the readiness center is expected to support up to 350 military personnel at peak occupancy.
• $5.525 million for Idaho State Police District 2 in Lewiston. Administrator Dale Reynolds told the committee the legislature appropriated roughly $9.975 million in FY2024 to purchase and retrofit an existing building; after the owner raised the asking price, the agency requested funding to purchase land and construct a new facility.
• $2.5 million to expand labs in the Micron Center for Materials Research at Boise State University to build out shelled space for additional research labs.
• $14 million toward a larger life-sciences complex at Idaho State University, with a total estimated project cost of $127.77 million using a combination of permanent-building-fund monies, agency funds (about $35.77 million) and bonding (about $78 million).
• $8 million for a joint military science and veterans assistance center at the University of Idaho.
Lippitt described a $544 million statewide deferred maintenance appropriation that is being managed under contract and noted that the FY2026 recommendation includes $68.2 million for alterations, repairs, building maintenance, accessibility improvements and facilities maintenance for the Capitol Mall and Chinden Campus.
Committee members, including Representative Miller and Co‑Chair Herrmann, pressed Administrator Dale Reynolds and Deputy Kelly Berard on project timelines, bottlenecks and contractor capacity. Reynolds said projects vary by delivery method and scale; some multi‑year projects, such as a new prison, can take roughly two and a half years from construction start to completion while other planning and procurement phases lengthen total schedules.
Reynolds acknowledged industry challenges such as labour shortages, material procurement issues and cost escalation; he said some projects under contract cannot be paused without cost consequences, although projects not yet under contract may be reconsidered depending on market conditions.
Senator Cook asked for clarification of “deferred maintenance,” and Lippitt described it as end‑of‑life replacement for building systems (for example, roofs and HVAC) and noted the contractor-managed statewide deferred-maintenance program is functionally similar to other facility maintenance projects.
Administrators agreed to provide the committee the division’s detailed capital‑project report and a list of projects that have not advanced within the four‑year reporting window set in recent budget language.
The committee did not take formal action on any specific capital projects during the hearing.
