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State Building Fund Bill Passes House
HB 444 Allows State to Collect Fees to Cover Maintenance

(JUNEAU) - State-owned public buildings would be better maintained, more efficient tools for state government under a bill passed by the House today to allow the state to collect fees in a public building fund to help pay for maintenance.

House Bill 444, sponsored by House Majority Leader Jeannette James (R-Fairbanks), expands on a pilot program established by her own successful 2000 law authorizing the state to collect fees to cover maintenance costs from both public and private tenants of state-owned buildings in Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks.

"That bill was aimed at addressing the loss of our valuable government infrastructure through proper management and a steady source of funding," James said. "The Public Building Fund pilot program has been a remarkable success, halting the deterioration of those few buildings involved and allowing us to make progress toward addressing long-deferred maintenance needs."

Now that the program has demonstrated its value in halting deterioration of state-owned infrastructure, James introduced HB 444 this year to expand the program's reach to cover other state-owned structures managed by the Department of Administration, she said. The bill calls for that department to gradually replace the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities as the primary agency responsible for operating, managing and maintaining state buildings.

"Deferred maintenance is the result of no maintenance," James said. While HB 444 will not generate enough money to fully address the state's deferred maintenance needs, it will help prevent the accumulation of a bigger backlog by addressing day-to-day maintenance work, she said.

Not only does HB 444 provide a mechanism for providing ongoing maintenance funding, it also allows the state to charge each agency for each square foot of office space, which may prompt agencies to consider getting by with less space, saving money for the state, James said.

HB 444 moves next to the Senate for consideration.

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