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Committee reviews $1.9 billion active capital program, hears project‑level requests and timeline concerns
Summary
The Permanent Building Fund advisory process and Division of Public Works capital requests were reviewed; committee members pressed officials on project timelines, deferred maintenance and the status of key projects including an ISU life‑science complex, Micron Center labs and an Idaho State Police Lewiston facility.
The Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee examined the permanent building fund and Division of Public Works capital requests and heard that the total value of active public works projects is approximately $1.9 billion, with about 42% of funding committed.
Legislative analyst Frances Lippett summarized the fund’s structure, statutory revenue sources and recent multi‑year appropriations. Lippett said the permanent building fund receives multiple dedicated revenue streams (including a $10 filing fee per income‑tax return, portions of sales and cigarette taxes, beer tax proceeds, lottery distributions and interest) and that the fund’s accounting and multi‑year projects require a different presentation format in the budget book. She told the committee the fund “has a base appropriation of 0” because most projects are appropriated once and unexpended balances become continuously appropriated pursuant to statute.
Agency project requests presented to the committee included:
- $14 million for an Idaho State University life‑science complex (total estimated project cost $127.77 million: $14 million from the permanent building fund, $35.77 million in agency funds and $78 million in bonding); Lippett said the complex would replace the 50‑year‑old Gale Life Science Building and provide modern labs, classrooms, greenhouses and offices.
- $6.5 million to expand the Department of Lands’ Ponderosa office (added office space, restrooms, a shower and security improvements).
- $5.56 million for utilities connections for a future National Guard readiness center in Bonneville County (to support up to 350 personnel at peak occupancy).
- $5.525 million for a new Idaho State Police District 2 facility in the Lewiston area after attempts to purchase and retrofit an existing building were unsuccessful; Administrator Dale Reynolds told the committee the previously approved purchase price rose and an acquisition was no longer viable.
- $2.5 million to expand laboratories at Boise State’s Micron Center for Materials Research (build out of shelled lab space).
- $8 million for a joint military science and veterans assistance center at the University of Idaho.
Lippett said the division typically expends between $50 million and $70 million of a project appropriation in the first year and that the original appropriation for FY24 funded about $125.5 million in capital projects and $59.7 million in maintenance projects. The division’s capital‑project report, submitted to the committee in November and available on SharePoint, lists authorized, committed and remaining balances for each project.
Committee members repeatedly asked about timelines and projects that have not advanced. Administrator Dale Reynolds said projects vary by delivery method and scale; some projects remain in design while others are under construction. He said the average timeframe can be two to four years; as an example he cited a women’s prison project that, once under construction, is expected to take about 2½ years to complete. Reynolds said the division is actively hiring project managers and that about four project‑manager vacancies exist.
Senators and representatives asked for a targeted list of projects that had not progressed within committee language introduced last year (which makes funds available for reappropriation if a project does not have “a shovel in the ground” within four years). Lippett said she will provide a list of projects that have not advanced within that timeframe.
The committee also heard that a $544 million statewide deferred‑maintenance program is managed by an external contractor, and that the permanent building fund has used direct investments and general‑fund transfers in recent years to finance capital and deferred‑maintenance work.
No formal appropriation votes were taken at this hearing; administrators and analysts said the division’s November capital report and project‑level information will be provided to the committee for further review.
