Barbara McAllister presented a five‑year capital outlook that included a pilot forensic services laboratory (estimated $30–60 million, mid range $45 million), the Tahoe Justice Center (~$97 million), the West Oaks acquisitions (5750 and 5700 West Oaks) expected to house sheriff and other county departments, and Placer Parkway phase 1 (high‑end ~$160 million). She told the board that existing reserves include about $27 million set aside for the Parkway and staff recommended designating an additional $20 million from available fund balance to reduce debt issuance and annual debt service exposure.

Supervisors pressed staff about what is included in tenant improvement (TI) cost estimates for the West Oaks properties. Concerns centered on why TI projections could exceed acquisition cost. Steve Newsome, general services, explained the drivers: IT infrastructure, ballistic/transactional glass, secured parking, locker rooms, showers and locker facilities for sworn staff, and other MOU‑required items for the sheriff’s operations — components that can be costly when retrofitting an existing structure for specialized public safety use. Newsome said staff are pursuing design‑build procurement and will focus initial forensic lab scope on high‑use testing equipment to reduce near‑term cost.

McAllister also walked the board through the capital funding plan scenario which would draw general fund capital reserves to low levels (below $5 million by FY 28–29) if the plan were fully funded without additional transfers. The staff proposal to allocate an additional $20 million to capital reserves is intended to reduce the county’s need to issue larger amounts of debt and to keep annual debt service affordable relative to projected tier 2 fee reimbursements.

Board direction: members asked for more granular cost breakdowns for tenant improvements and for ongoing consultation with departments and facilities staff as designs and scopes are refined. Staff said any project appropriations and contracts will return to the board for approval once scope and bid estimates are available.