Costs grow for new health department building
Future Canadian County Health Department building.
By Jacob Sturm
More money will be spent than previously expected after the Canadian County Commissioners purchased a property that will serve as the County Health Department once the building is renovated to serve exactly what the health department officials want this past week.
That meant a revised quote would be necessary for the quote covering Property/Liability insurance with ACCO-SIG for the Fiscal Year 2022-23 that started on July 1.
Commissioners David Anderson, Marc Hader and Jack Stewart talked about the building, formerly housing the Halliburton Energy service, that will be the new Health Department during the meeting.
Before the purchase of property had been finalized Tuesday, June 26, the Commissioners had met and approved of a quote for $603,614.00. The revised version of the insurance came in at $617,414.00, good for a $13,800.00 difference.
All commissioners agreed to the payment option where the county pays for the premium property/liability insurance in one payment.
The Commissioners also discussed mileage reimbursement when it relates to county travel. That cost is rising, too.
In 2021, the county reimbursed travel for 56 cents per mile. That increased to 58.5 cents in 2022 and is now sitting at 62.5 cents per mile. This can be attributed to the increased gas prices due to a variety of factors that have seemingly impacted everyone in the Canadian County community.
In the past, the Mustang Times has reported on the issue through rock hauling costs. The county made a change to the duration of their hauling contracts to counter the issue, and will see in the coming months if the deal works better for the bidders.
Assistant District Attorney, Tommy Humphries, recommended the Commissioners vote on the item that was in front of them for reimbursement despite there not being a resolution to the problem for the Commissioners to proof beforehand.
“Tommy’s putting that together,” Anderson said. “He’s involved in the wording of the resolution to get us in compliance with what the auditors are wanting.”
The county will now recognize the IRS rate for travel and apply it to any claims for travel in Canadian County beginning from July 1.
