Staff of the Sonoma County Water Agency, the Human Services Department and the General Services Department are recommending the project be cancelled because of proposed staff reductions in the Human Services Department and the uncertainty of state funding that would have helped reimburse the county for renting the facilities.
The Sonoma County Water Agency says "wholesale water rate increases would be needed to cover the proposed rent projected at more than $2 million a year.''
The Human Services Department and the county District Attorney's Family Support Division originally were to share the building in a 10.5-acre parcel, raising expectations that the project would be a boost to the economy in the Roseland area.
To reduce the cost of the project, the developer, Orix Real Estate Equities Inc., substituted the water agency for the Family Support Division, now the Department of Child Support Services, and redesigned the buildings.
The Human Services Department is expected to reduce staff by 80 employees by July 1 and possibly more by the next fiscal year, and county staff members said the state budget situation is not expected to improve and will likely worsen over the next several years.
That could mean a reduction in state funding to the Human Services Department. State officials anticipate a $34.8 billion budget deficit.
The county anticipated that the state and federal governments would reimburse 90 percent of the rent and other project costs, and the county's net costs would be only $766,000 for the first year of occupancy.
The Sonoma County Water Agency is searching for alternative property to house its staff, currently occupying two other locations.
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