Reno County commissioners to weigh Health Department remodel now pegged at $2.1 million to $2.7 million

Reno County commissioners on Wednesday, Aug. 26, will weigh a Health Department remodel estimated at $2.1 million — $2.7 million with roof and HVAC work — against buying a larger building to house several departments. The study session carries two items: the building and the county's proposed 2027 budget.

A memo to the commission from Facilities Director Kyle Stewart says the 10,900-square-foot building dates to 1950, when it was the first home of Central Welding, and has housed the Health Department since 1982.

After schematics were finalized in June, ICON Construction produced a rough order of materials — described in the memo as a method for identifying rough, high-level ballpark budgets — totaling $1,969,290. That figure rests on a base of $1,653,375, or $151.69 a square foot, plus 5% estimating and construction contingencies of $82,669 and $86,802, $169,471 in escalation and 3.5% each for overhead and profit. With architect costs, Stewart puts the grand project total at about $2.1 million.

The memo puts infrastructure alone at an estimated $800,000 of that: fixing the sewer for the entire facility, which sits at less than 1% grade and, the memo says, causes significant plumbing issues; rerouting existing ductwork; and what Stewart calls the most expensive piece, electrical work to bring the building to modern code. "Infrastructure costs alone would absorb almost all of the funding for this project which leaves us in a predicament," Stewart wrote.

Two capital improvement projects sit outside the remodel figure and would be additional: a $440,000 roof replacement and $110,000 for the rooftop units not yet replaced.

The 2027 Public Health Capital Outlay Fund is budgeted at $770,830 in the commission column, up from $669,593 this year, with its capital improvement and outlay line rising from $200,000 to $770,830 and a $40,000 transfer in from the Public Health Fund. The countywide CIP Fund nearly doubles, from $985,000 to $1,885,000, with ad valorem support up $1,303,690. No document in the packet identifies which fund would pay for the remodel.

Stewart toured two buildings for sale, a route the memo says would not have resulted in a more affordable option. County Administrator Randy Partington identified a different option — a larger facility housing the Health Department, Emergency Management, Human Resources and possibly Administration — for which the memo gives no cost, site or timeline.

The budget item in the same session covers a proposed 2027 spending plan of $95,695,263 in the commission column, against $90,746,371 for 2026, funded in part by property tax revenue rising $1,377,189 to $32,273,006. That carries an estimated rate of 39.486 mills against 37.800 mills this year, a 1.686-mill increase and 3.782 mills above the revenue neutral rate of 35.704 — the rate that would bring in the same amount of property tax as the 2026 budget.

Worksheets in the packet model pay raises of 5%, 4%, 3.5% and 3%, with each 1% for levied county positions costing $191,080.96 and a $286,621.43 spread between the 5% and 3.5% scenarios. The Health Department's operating fund is proposed at $3,650,739, up $157,253, with its ad valorem support down $101,874.

The study session begins immediately following Wednesday's regular session in the Veterans Room of the Reno County Courthouse, 206 W. 1st Ave., Hutchinson; the published agenda lists no action items.

The published budget summary says exceeding the revenue neutral rate requires a rate hearing and resolution under state law, and it sets that hearing for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, in the same room. Detailed budget information is available at the Reno County Clerk's office and at the hearing.

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