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Legislative Analyst's OfficeAnalysis of the 2002-03 Budget Bill |
The California Conservation Corps (CCC) has 16 residential centers and approximately 40 nonresidential satellite facilities in urban and rural areas. The Governor's budget proposes $12.9 million for capital outlay for the CCC. This amount includes $12.3 million from lease-payment bonds for one major capital outlay project and $659,000 for minor capital outlay projects (less than $500,000 per project).
We recommend deletion of $11.7 million for working drawings and construction for the Delta Service District Center Construction project because the California Conservation Corps has not yet acquired a site on which to construct the facility and preliminary plans are not scheduled to be complete until September 2003. (Delete $11.7 million from Item 3340-301-0660[1].)
The CCC operates the Delta Service District Center on a site owned by the California State University (CSU) in the City of Stockton. The CSU is planning to develop the current CCC site as a part of its CSU Stanislaus, Stockton Center site and wants the CCC to vacate the site. The CCC's lease with CSU for the Delta Service District Center will expire on March 1, 2002, at which time CSU can direct the CCC to vacate the site with 180 days notice. The budget proposes $12.3 million from lease-payment bonds to fund preliminary plans ($588,000), working drawings ($645,000), and construction ($11,022,000) for a new Delta Service District Center consisting of a 2,964 gross square feet (gsf) administration building, 10,684 gsf warehouse, 150 gsf hazardous materials building, 9,000 gsf multipurpose room/kitchen and dining facility, 16,300 gsf dormitory, and 10,454 gsf education and recreation building.
The Legislature appropriated $1.5 million (General Fund) in the 2001-02 Budget Act for the selection and acquisition of a new site for the Delta Service District Center. However, the 2002-03 Governor's Budget proposes to fund the acquisition with lease-payment bonds and revert the 2001-02 General Fund appropriation.
We have two main concerns with the proposal. First, the project schedule indicates that site acquisition will not be completed until September 2002. Without a specific site, the project cost estimate is unsupportable because it cannot account for various site-related issues. For example, how facilities will need to be positioned on the site, the type of soil conditions at the site, or the location of utility connections to the site, will all affect the cost of project design and construction. We understand that the Department of General Services is reviewing approximately 20 potential project sites. Second, the preliminary plans for this project will not be completed until the end of September 2003. The preliminary plans will provide a site plan, architectural floor plans, outline specifications, and a detailed cost estimate. Without these plans, the Legislature is unable to carryout its project oversight and determine if the project can be completed within the proposed project scope and budget.
For these reasons, it is premature to fund working drawings and construction for the project at this time. Consequently, we recommend the Legislature delete the $11,667,000 requested for working drawings and construction. This would leave $588,000 for preliminary plans.