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Facilities director warns of potential costs from House Bill 2618; CIP updated with placeholders
Summary
Powhatan schools— facilities director corrected a clerical CIP line and added placeholder costs tied to House Bill 2618 indoor-air-quality requirements, estimating about $20,000 per building per year and proposing phased $40,000/$60,000 entries across upcoming CIP cycles.
Tom Salzer, director of facilities for Powhatan County Public Schools, presented an updated draft of the division—s Capital Improvement Plan and called attention to two specific changes.
First, Salzer said a clerical error in the CIP attachment for FY 2027 overstated a public-works request; the figure previously shown as $600,850 should be $635,000. Salzer said this correction does not change the division—s overall request to the county but brings the CIP attachment into alignment with the county—s submission.
Second and more substantively, Salzer described how the passage of House Bill 2618 (indoor air quality testing) has introduced costs the division does not yet have precise estimates for. While guidance from the General Assembly and engineering quotes remain pending, Salzer said staff inserted budgetary placeholder amounts across the 10-year plan so the county would see the potential fiscal impact. He estimated roughly $20,000 per building per year and proposed $40,000 and $60,000 placeholders in the early multi-year cycles so costs could be spread over time rather than concentrated in a single year. Salzer emphasized these are estimates: "I'm estimating it would be about 20,000 a building a year."
Board members pressed for clarity on prioritization; one member suggested the board identify mission-critical CIP items (safety or building-failure risks) for the Board of Supervisors to consider first. Staff reiterated they lacked firm quotes and that the numbers were intended as placeholders to make the legislative cost visible in budget discussions.
Salzer noted that the indoor-air-quality requirement applies to school buildings (including non-student school buildings) and that other local government buildings were not currently required to undergo the same testing. The CIP update will remain a draft for further refinement as engineering quotes and additional guidance become available.
No formal vote was taken on the CIP numbers at this meeting; facilities staff will continue to refine estimates ahead of county budget discussions.
