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Buildings & Grounds trims preventive maintenance, holds headcount but cuts contracts
Summary
Joe Butler said the Buildings & Grounds 2026 operating budget is proposed at $12.3M, an 11% reduction that reduces preventive maintenance frequency, trims contractual services and preserves current employees by removing vacant allotments but not conducting layoffs.
Joe Butler, director of Buildings & Grounds, told the council the department’s 2026 operating allotment is $12,316,000, a reduction of about $1,565,000 from prior allotments (an 11% cut). Butler said the department reduced allotments from 65 to 63 and expects to accomplish the reductions without layoffs by eliminating frozen/vacant positions.
Butler described the specific program changes: preventive maintenance cycles will be reduced to quarterly PMs, a number of contract maintenance crews will be reduced by about 50% (which will lengthen response times for lower‑priority work), and the department will redeploy general labor employees for interim work and emphasize contractor‑led on‑the‑job training. He said the department is prioritizing HVAC and other rotating equipment to avoid catastrophic failures, citing a vibration analysis that identified a failing bearing and averted an expensive breakdown.
The department will continue rolling out a computerized maintenance management system (MaintainX) to allow agencies to submit work orders, attach photos and track completion; Butler reported a current completion rate of roughly 92–93% since the CMMS adoption. Butler noted several capital priorities that remain unfunded or awaiting approvals: ongoing waterproofing/leak issues at the juvenile detention center (JDC), window replacement and elevator upgrades at City Hall (awaiting FEMA/other approvals), security enhancements for parking garages and continued work on prison HVAC and chiller replacements completed earlier this year.
Council members pressed Butler on preventive maintenance cadence and work‑order turnaround; Butler said prior PMs varied from weekly to monthly to quarterly depending on equipment and that average turnaround on work orders is about three to four days under the new system. He confirmed the department plans to reduce some contract crews and prolong response times for lower‑priority items but singled out that HVAC preventive maintenance has been prioritized to avoid service interruptions.
Butler said buildings and grounds did not lose facilities with the formation of Saint George and that three facilities are being evaluated for possible sale, but he cautioned that selling them would not materially change the maintenance budget. He also noted that several major projects — including window retrofits at City Hall — are contingent on FEMA capital outlay approvals.
