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Marion County Building Authority outlines $36 million property budget, cites efficiency and vendor diversity gains
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Summary
The Marion County Building Authority presented a multi-property operating budget totaling just over $36 million, highlighted new facilities coming under management, energy and automation projects and increased spending with MBE/WBE vendors.
Mark Peterson, general manager for the Marion County Building Authority, presented the authority’s 2026 operating budgets to the Admin and Finance Committee, saying the package covers 23 property budgets and totals just over $36 million.
Peterson said the authority absorbed some expenses for the Denison parking garage operations on behalf of the Office of Finance and Management and added new facilities including the Belmont Waste Garage (about 102,000 square feet, due to open in January), a new animal care facility (about 61,000 sq. ft., opening in 2026) and a larger animal-care site at South Harding. The authority also added the housing hub and a Family Youth Intervention facility at a former juvenile site; the latter will run 24/7 and required budget adjustments.
City-County Building operations (731,000 square feet) were described at an operating cost slightly over $11 per square foot. The authority said the combined adult detention center, Quartz Building and central utility plant operate at about $11.93 per square foot. The authority requested $500,000 in capital-repair dollars from OFM for calendar year 2026 to support major repairs.
Peterson highlighted strategic goals and vendor-diversity results: the authority said it spent more than half a million dollars with XBE vendors this year, achieving 21% spending with minority-owned (MBE) vendors and 9.5% with women-owned (WBE) vendors, increases over the prior year. The authority also reported adding 12% more XBE vendors to its vendor pool.
Operational priorities include bringing building automation controls in-house to reduce reliance on external contractors and lower service costs. Peterson said the authority is pursuing an automation strategy to service more properties on an in-house automation platform, replacing costly third-party contracts.
Committee members raised comfort questions about indoor climate control during the hearing; staff said recent climate-control work and scheduled air-handler adjustments may have affected room temperatures at the meeting and pledged to investigate schedules to reduce overheating during meetings.
Peterson described workforce metrics: the authority employs about 124 people with seven positions open, an internal promotion rate near 30% and an annual turnover rate that has fallen from the mid-30s percent range to about 18.4% in the most recent reporting year. He also noted an apprenticeship program and ongoing compensation and skills-based pay work to retain trades staff.
