Senate backs HP campus purchase on 30-5 vote
Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, presenting HCR 29 on authorizing the possible state purchase of the HP campus in West Boise, told the Senate, “Today we get to vote on a sweet deal that will bless the lives of generations to come.”
Hill recalled years ago when he served on JFAC, being appalled at a big lease rate increase at the state Tax Commission, and suggesting instead that the agency move. He learned that was easier said than done, with few suitable locations and major, complicated equipment to move.
Now, he said, the building where the Tax Commission and other state agencies are housed is being sold. The state Department of Administration put out a request for proposals, and received 46 responses. One of them, Hill said, was for a building at the HP campus. That led to talks about the state possibly purchasing the entire campus. “That’s almost 200 acres of land,” he said.
“And HP, I have to tell you, was so good to work with. They have no intention of moving out, but they’re only occupying a little under half the facility there,” and owning the entire campus no longer fits their business plan. “They’re willing to enter into a seven-year lease back and pay us lease payments for it,” Hill said.
The campus has eight primary buildings, and 1.346 million square feet of office space, Hill said. Overall, the state would save about $8.3 million a year through the deal, he said.
Hill said rather than being spread throughout the valley, state offices that aren’t located in the Capitol Mall could end up being consolidated at “what we may end up calling the ‘Capitol Mall West’ out there.”
“In case you can’t tell, I’m excited about this,” Hill told the Senate. “I think this is something that we are going to feel good about. I think that the price, the facility, the convenience, everything about it as we look at it, and we’ve looked at it for a long time, is something that I feel very good about being here and asking for your support.”
Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, the Senate member of the Permanent Building Fund Advisory Committee, said the move will address longstanding concerns about office space needs for state agencies, while also reducing costs.
Hagedorn said the state lost out on an opportunity to purchase another building last fall that would have been a good deal for the state because it didn’t have authorization from the Legislature. He said HCR 29 will make sure the state doesn’t lose out again on this deal.
Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, said he supports the deal, but objects to a clause at the end of HCR 29 that says it’s the “intent of the Legislature” that the taxing districts that include the property “should remove the assessed value of this property from their budget capacity,” to avoid a tax shift to others in the districts when the property comes off the tax rolls because it’s been purchased by the state. “I trust my local units of government to make that decision,” Burgoyne said, “and answer to their voters on what they do.”
Burgoyne said a better solution to that would be to continue to charge property taxes on government-owned property that is leased to a private business. Hill said that would require a change in the Idaho Constitution.
Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, said he was concerned that the state has said it doesn’t plan to get an appraisal on the property; the state isn’t required to by law, but the Legislature has passed laws requiring other levels of government to get appraisals before major land purchases.
Hill, in his closing debate, said, “I have a great deal of confidence that we’re going to do something good for the people of Idaho. This truly is a unique opportunity, it’s an exciting opportunity, it’s an opportunity not only for the people’s government but for the people of Idaho.”
The Senate vote was 30-5. The measure already passed the House, 65-5; the Senate vote marks final passage, as concurrent resolutions don’t need the governor’s signature. The Senate then voted 35-0 in favor of HB 315, a companion bill that authorizes the state to accept lease payments from private tenants; that bill goes to the governor.
