Faced with cost increases that have exceeded the combined budget for county building construction and remodeling projects from a 2021 total of $70M to a current estimate of $108M, the Yuma County Board of Supervisors has voted to realign the projects’ budgets and cut nearly $16.8M.
The newly updated budget now stands at $91.6M. The Board will review the individual projects to see where or if additional funding can be procured.
The projects addressed include:
- The Administration Services building (currently under construction);
- University of Arizona Cooperative Extension;
- Yuma County Public Health Services Expansion;
- A new facility for ITS, Public Fiduciary and Facilities Management;
- Remodeling the Historic Courthouse, and
- Relocating Emergency Management.
Officials said the project cost increases had been due to several factors, including general cost inflation in the construction industry, increases in projects’ scopes over time, and general initial underestimation of some costs.
With the Administration Services building under construction, its budget remained unchanged.
The Cooperative Extension’s 16KSF facility had a budget of $8M, which was reduced to $5.5M.
The Health Department project had an expected budget of $27M, with the District contributing $2M. The budget has now been cut to $20.5M.
Public Fiduciary was separated from ITS and Facilities Management and may be moved into space currently used by the County Recorder and Election Services after it moves into the new Administration Services Building. As a result of the rearrangement, the ITS and Facilities Management project was cut from $18M down to $10.23M. (Source)