Commissioners approve 15-year lease for Muncie Recovery facility; approve multiple contracts, benefits changes and routine payments

Delaware County commissioners on Oct. 20 approved a 15-year, triple-net lease for the county-owned mental-health facility to Indiana Treatment Centers (doing business as Muncie Recovery OPCO LLC), and took a series of related votes on contracts, employee-benefit changes and routine county expenditures.

The lease transfers operational responsibilities to the tenant. Under the agreement the tenant will seek Medicaid certification for the facility, recruit and onboard staff and assume billing and day-to-day operations. Lease rates begin at $17 per square foot in the initial term and escalate annually through the first 15-year term to a stated per-square-foot rate ($25.71 at the first-series escalation). The lease includes tenant obligations for property taxes and options for multi-term extensions; the county described the arrangement as a revenue-generating, triple-net lease that reduces the county’s staffing and billing responsibilities for the facility.

Commissioners also voted to: allocate up to $20,000 from Edit project 9 to Guardian Advocates (a local 501(c)(3) that provides guardianship…