The Jefferson City Council is expected to authorize a construction contract to replace a 36-year-old heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system in the Jefferson City Police Department.
At the Finance Committee meeting Thursday, staff presented two proposed bills to authorize and fund a construction contract with Harold G. Butzer, a Jefferson City-based company, for the project, which is estimated to cost about $902,000.
The HVAC system in the Police Department is original to the building, constructed in 1979. Now, 36 years later, the system is having problems, but one of the largest concerns is air quality.
Replacing the entire system has always been expected to be a costly project, which is why it hasn't been tackled in previous budgets. According to a study from MECO Engineering presented in November 2014, replacing the system on both the lower and main floors of the building was estimated to cost more than $1 million. Replacing just the system on the main floor was estimated to cost more than $700,000.
But Britt Smith, operations division director, said the city received four very competitive bids well below the engineers' estimate, allowing staff to recommend both floors of the building be tackled in the project moving forward.
The funds will come from several sources: $267,100 is being requested from the city's fund balance, while the rest will come from various capital improvement sales tax funds. Finance Director Bill Betts said the sales tax funds being proposed are not allocated, largely coming from interest generated or when funds exceeded projections.
The committee approved moving the bills forward to the council with the intent of suspending the rules Monday to allow them to be both introduced and voted on at the same meeting. Suspending the rules will allow the project to begin in September, Smith said, and it is estimated to take about six months to complete.
In other business, all three Jefferson City sales taxes fell below projections for the second month in a row, but the city's revenue forecast model is predicting the year will end with a projected $1.1 million surplus.
August sales tax receipts, which reflect the June reporting period, show the city's 1 percent general sales tax came in $51,000 below projections, but the tax is still projected to end the year with a surplus of $493,621.
The half-cent capital improvement sales tax came in $25,000 below projections and is projected to end the year with a surplus of $254,295.
The half-cent parks sales tax came in $25,000 below projections and is projected to end the year with a $256,588 surplus.
The city's revenue forecast model is projecting the 2015 budget will end with a surplus of roughly $1.1 million.
All of the financial documents from July are available online at www.jeffersoncitymo.gov/government/financial_reports.php.