Sedgwick County staff seek authorization for $20.3M forensic lab project while awaiting outcome of state bill that could raise borrowing costs

County staff told Sedgwick County commissioners during an April 3 agenda review that they plan to ask the commission to authorize work on a proposed Regional Forensic Science Center costing roughly $20.3 million and later reimburse those costs from a bond sale.

Lindsay, a county staff member, said the request is the second step after the county approved the project in its budget and that staff view moving forward on authorization as appropriate even though a bond sale has been deferred until mid-May. "We will go through the process of going through bid. You'll have the opportunity to approve cost then," Lindsay said, noting the sale itself has been delayed to May 19 and ratified May 20 to allow the county to observe the outcome of pending state legislation.

The staff presentation connected the timing decision to HB 2745, a bill before the governor. "We are still in limbo on 2745," Lindsay said, adding that if the governor does not veto the bill the county anticipates a possible downgrade because counties could lose full faith-and-credit backing that helps keep borrowing costs low.

County staff provided specific figures to illustrate the stakes: for a roughly $10 million issuance the county expects to pay about 5.25% interest with its AAA rating; an illustrative two-notch downgrade in rating could raise lifetime interest costs by about $500,000 over 20 years (moving toward roughly a 5.5% cost), producing measurable increases for taxpayers across the county's roughly 240,000 parcels.

Tom, the agenda presenter, told commissioners the deferred bond sale also affects a separate $11.6 million package that covers four special-assessment projects, two bridges and three facility projects (including a household-hazardous-waste expansion, chiller work and land purchase for COMCARE Crisis). Those projects must meet IRS rules for reimbursement; staff said the sale must be completed by July for already‑spent work to remain eligible for tax-advantaged reimbursement.

Commissioners and staff framed the request as fiscally standard: speakers argued long-lived infrastructure is typically financed with bonds to spread costs across generations and to avoid large near-term property-tax increases. Commissioner Andrew described the financing approach as a form of intergenerational equity for assets that will last decades.

What happens next: the authorization for the forensic center will be on the commission’s upcoming agenda for formal consideration; the actual bond sale and final interest-rate outcome will depend on legislative action on HB 2745 and market conditions at the time of sale.

Notes: figures reported by staff at the meeting included a project authorization amount of about $20.3 million for the Regional Forensic Science Center and an illustrative deferred package of about $11.6 million for other completed projects. The county expects to use a competitive bond sale process when it moves forward.