HSB 765 (LSB 6931YC (1) 91)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS BILL BY CHAIRPERSON MOHR)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the review and sale of state buildings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  8A.321A  State property optimization.
   1.  For purposes of this section:
   a.  “State building” means the same as defined in section 8A.318.
   b.  “Underutilized property” means a property that has an occupancy rate of less than fifty percent or for which the cost of operations and deferred maintenance exceeds the current market value or replacement cost of the state building.
   2.  The director shall maintain a digital inventory of all state buildings. The digital inventory must be available on the department’s internet site.
   3.  The director shall establish a four-year review cycle. In each fiscal year, the department shall review and evaluate at least twenty-five percent of the state’s building inventory. The evaluation must assess the utilization, condition, operating costs, and market value of each property. The director may contract with a third party to perform the review and evaluation.
   4.  On or before December 1 of each year, the director shall submit a state building optimization report to the governor and the general assembly. The report must identify each state building found to be an underutilized property during the review cycle.
   5.  An agency in control of a state building identified as an underutilized property in the state building optimization report shall, within sixty days of the report’s release, initiate the process to vacate and dispose of the property.
   6.  If an agency seeks to retain an underutilized property, the agency head must submit a written request justifying retention to the legislative council detailing the necessity of the property for the agency’s mission and a plan to improve the utilization of the state building within twelve months.
   a.  The agency shall not base a retention request on any of the following:
   (1)  Anticipated future growth that is not funded in the current fiscal year’s appropriation.
   (2)  Storage of obsolete records or equipment that can be digitized or disposed of.
   (3)  Convenience of location for staff.
   b.  The agency must demonstrate, with quantitative data, that no other currently owned state building can accommodate the agency’s needs, and that the cost of retaining the underutilized property is lower than the cost of leasing comparable private sector space.
   c.  If the property requires deferred maintenance that costs more than ten percent of the property’s value to become fully functional, the agency must provide proof of all of the following:
   (1)  Funding for the repairs has already been appropriated or secured or will be sought during the next session of the general assembly.
   (2)  A contract for the repairs is ready to be executed within ninety days of receiving funding.
   7.  Subsections 5 and 6 do not apply to underutilized property at a location required by law.
   8.  The legislative council may reject a retention justification plan by majority vote. If rejected, the agency shall immediately proceed with disposal of the property.
   9.  Fifty percent of the net proceeds from the sale of an underutilized property under this section shall be deposited in the rebuild Iowa infrastructure fund created in section 8.57. The remaining fifty percent shall be deposited in the general fund of the state.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill requires the director of the department of administrative services (department) to maintain a digital inventory of all state buildings on the department’s internet site and to establish a four-year review cycle of the state’s building inventory. The evaluation must assess the utilization, condition, operating costs, and market value of each property. The director may contract with a third party to perform the review and evaluation. The director must submit an annual state building optimization report to the governor and the general assembly that identifies each state building found to be an underutilized property, defined in the bill, during the review cycle.
   The bill provides that an agency in control of an underutilized property must, within 60 days of the report’s release, begin the process to vacate and dispose of the property. If an agency wants to retain an underutilized property, the agency head must submit a written retention justification to the legislative council detailing the necessity of the property for the agency’s mission and a plan to improve the utilization of the state building within 12 months. The legislative council may reject a retention justification plan by majority vote. If rejected, the agency must immediately proceed with disposal of the property. Half of the net proceeds from the sale of an underutilized property shall be deposited in the rebuild Iowa infrastructure fund and half shall be deposited in the general fund of the state.