Johnson County hears facilities capital plan; commissioners weigh $852,000 energy-efficiency scope

Tony Barron, director of facilities management for Johnson County government, told the Board of County Commissioners on June 11 that the county’s facilities portfolio includes 66 buildings and roughly 2.6 million square feet valued at more than $800 million and that planned capital work for FY2027 emphasizes health, safety and operational impact.

Barron said the capital renewal program (CRP) and energy-efficiency measures (EEM) requests reflect a strategy that prioritizes health and safety first, with operational impact and end-of-life considerations next. "We estimate that approximately 725,000 of the 5,200,000 requested will be directed towards energy efficiency improvements," Barron said. He highlighted a New Century Adult Detention Center (NCADC) air-handling-unit project that, if completed through the EEM program, would reduce electricity use by approximately 850,000 kilowatt-hours and yield an estimated annual savings of about $110,000, with a simple payback of six years.

Why it matters: Facilities work affects daily operations across county services, creates long-term budget pressures and offers potential operating-cost savings. The board must weigh a mix of ongoing and one-time funding to capture maximum efficiency while balancing limited county dollars.

Barron described several FY2027 priorities: advancing ADA-compliance work into phase 5 (covering public spaces, warehouse and detention centers), replacing aging systems such as chillers and fire-alarm components, and pursuing envelope and roofing improvements to reduce energy load. He said three MARP (major asset replacement program) projects account for about $8.1 million of a roughly $15.4 million MARP request, and that some replacements—because they exceed EEM payback thresholds—should be considered under MARP or a blended funding approach.

The presentation included concrete examples of past savings: at the North Central Multi Service Center, facility upgrades (LED lighting, retrocommissioning, exhaust fans and a new chiller) led to a 26% reduction in energy use since 2021. Barron also noted progress on county solar: "As of '25, we just haven't heard back yet" on an EPA green-power application, but longer days mean the county is currently building net-metering credits from photovoltaic systems.

Commissioners focused on trade-offs and implementation details. Commissioner Hanslick suggested adding a targeted one-time $352,000 to the revisit list so the full NCADC AHU scope could be completed alongside a $500,000 ongoing EEM allocation. "I would ... suggest that you may want to put on the revisit list that $352,000," Hanslick said, asking budget staff to identify funding options. Chair and other commissioners asked facilities staff for a consolidated project map showing opportunities, estimated costs and return-on-investment timelines so the board can prioritize larger investments.

Staff also described custodial staffing pressures tied to changing building uses. Barron said courthouse custodial staff now cover about 27,000 square feet per custodian—above the industry target of roughly 21,000—and that courthouse custodians currently clean 347,000 square feet that include 120 restrooms and extensive specialty finishes. Commissioners flagged Youth and Family Services and the juvenile detention center as 24/7 operations with greater custodial needs; Commissioner Brewer said he would "be marking for revisits so that we can think about at least 1 additional custodial staff resource for that facility." The facilities team requested two extra courthouse custodial positions to move closer to the industry standard.

On utilities, Barron said facility staff and budget partners recommended reducing the utility line by $1,000,000 for FY2027 and reallocating savings to CRP and EEM projects after lower-than-budgeted utility costs in 2025 created approximately $1.8 million in cost avoidance. The board discussed options for debt financing and external partnerships to accelerate larger projects that have multi-year paybacks.

Other details: the county plans EV-charging support at the new HSB project (two single-port level-3 chargers and 12 dual-port level-2 chargers, yielding 26 charging ports) to serve roughly 30 EV fleet vehicles and future purchases. Barron said public EV charging deployment remains a conversation and that the county has a draft public-charging policy but has not yet acted on fees.

What happens next: Commissioners asked staff to prepare an opportunity plan that quantifies candidate projects, costs and expected ROIs so the board can consider one-time funding options in the revisit process. The meeting moved on to a DTI presentation; staff said June 18 will be a full day of additional department budget presentations.