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Administrative Services outlines capital-budget process, asks committee to prioritize building repairs and ERP funding
Summary
Department of Administrative Services officials described how agencies create and prioritize capital requests, urged more funding for state building repairs and an ERP modernization reserve, and detailed several projects the governor included such as an annex renovation and courthouse maintenance.
Charlie Arlinghaus, Commissioner of Administrative Services, told the House Public Works Committee the capital‑budget process begins with agency-level facility assessments and forms that roll up to the governor’s hearings. "We do 3 days of hearings and everybody gets up," Arlinghaus said, describing the binder of agency requests prepared for the governor.
Arlinghaus and Karen Rantomaki, Director of Plant and Property, described DAS’s biennial triage: agencies inspect buildings and estimate rough costs, then DAS and the governor’s office pare requests down to what can be estimated and funded. Ted Kupfer, Director of the Division of Public Works, said his team produces detailed project estimates by December 1 for the governor’s capital book.
DAS officials asked the committee to consider restoring funding closer to historic levels for state building maintenance. Arlinghaus said the governor’s proposal includes an emergency fund of $1.5 million and $12.25 million for phase two of the state annex renovation. He also pointed to projects included in the governor’s recommendation: sprinkler replacement at the DMV, elevator replacement for the main building on the former hospital campus, and other repairs.
Rantomaki highlighted prioritized courthouse projects, listing DPW estimates of $4.3 million for HVAC work at Portsmouth and Coos county courthouses and $2.85 million for boilers and controls at Carroll County and Lebanon circuit court. She also asked the committee to consider masonry repointing of the main building exterior ($600,000) and window replacement requests for Spaulding and other aging buildings.
Arlinghaus urged the committee to consider $5 million for ERP (New Hampshire First) modernization as a sustainability fund to support cloud migration, bank-reconciliation modules and other add-ons that may be identified during the ERP upgrade. "It's particularly important this year because we're upgrading," he said, and argued the request would allow the state to capture synergies during implementation.
Committee members pressed DAS on project timing, the impact of ARPA work on schedules, and how bids and tariffs may affect costs. DAS staff said many projects now take four to six years from appropriation to completion because of pandemic-era slowdowns, ARPA priority work and construction backlogs.
Looking ahead, DAS said it will provide the committee with courthouse prioritization materials produced with the judicial branch and a more detailed accounting of the annex renovation scope and elevator requests.
Ending: DAS officials asked the committee to weigh historic maintenance levels against other budget priorities and to consider the ERP sustainability request and the governor’s recommended building repairs as the committee drafts its capital allocations.
