Story County engineer says detailed design raises shop expansion to $1.8 million; officials weigh using carryover funds

Darren Moon, Story County engineer, told supervisors at a Jan. 30 budget work session that the proposed shop expansion’s detailed cost estimate rose from about $1,340,000 to $1,800,000 after more refined engineering and drainage design.

Moon said the higher estimate, combined with other construction needs, requires the board to decide quickly whether to move forward. “We did get an extra almost 400,000 of road use tax that bumps up our carryover balance that we could put towards this as well,” Moon said, adding that the project likely must be let within “the next month or two” to complete work in the coming construction season.

Why it matters: the shop expansion is the single largest building line in the engineer’s FY26 reestimate and would draw on the office’s carryover. Moon said the county’s FY25 road-use tax receipts exceeded budgeted amounts and that applying that surplus would reduce the need to draw other local reserves. Finance staff noted the department’s ending fund balance would fall but remain within the range the county generally monitors.

Details and tradeoffs: Moon said the original, higher-level estimate left more uncertainty; when consultants refined the design they identified additional drainage work that raised the total. The engineer’s office also flagged recurring and one-time equipment needs — including roughly $30,000 for replacement GPS survey equipment and bridge inspection costs that occur every other year — as items that affect overall affordability.

County administration described the budget math at the meeting: with the updated expense estimates and the proposed use of reimbursements, the ending fund-balance projections move from a previously healthier position toward an estimated mid- to high‑20s percent range depending on revenue realized in the remainder of the fiscal year. County staff emphasized the need to preserve cash flow for payroll and big replacement purchases that occur cyclically (for example, motor graders every five years).

Quotes and next steps: Moon said he and staff had discussed timing with consultants and contractors and urged supervisors to authorize letting the project soon if they wanted construction to occur this year. “If you’ve got the money, move forward and get that — get it done,” one supervisor said during the meeting. The engineer’s office said it will update the board at a subsequent meeting with a revised reestimate and a proposed funding plan if supervisors want staff to proceed.

The meeting included no formal vote on the shop expansion; supervisors agreed only that the board should consider moving forward if the funds and reestimates support it. The engineer’s office will provide updated numbers and a recommended funding approach for the board’s next decision point.