STATE AGENCY OFFICE SPACE STUDY - BACKGROUND MEMORANDUM

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4006 (attached as Appendix A) directs the Legislative Council to study state agency office space needs to determine the feasibility and desirability of transferring state agencies or state employees to rural areas.

1999 LEGISLATIVE ACTION

The 1999 Legislative Assembly addressed a number of state agency office space issues including:

1. House Bill No. 1266 provides a continuing appropriation to the Workers Compensation Bureau from moneys in the workers' compensation fund for the purchase of a building for the bureau's operations. The Workers Compensation Bureau currently leases space in Bismarck for its operations.
2. The Legislative Assembly authorized the Northeast Human Service Center in Grand Forks to lease office space from the county rather than to purchase the HEMP Center in which the facility is currently leasing space.
3. The Legislative Assembly removed $80,000 of funding from the Department of Tourism budget that was recommended by the Governor to be used for renting space from the Bismarck/Mandan Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Department of Tourism will remain located in the Liberty Memorial Building on the State Capitol grounds for this biennium.

LEASED SPACE

Appendix B (attached) provides a schedule of state agency leased space for the 1997-99 biennium prepared by Facility Management. The schedule is organized by agency and shows the square footage being leased and the annual rent being paid. In total, these agencies lease 521,713 square feet at an annual cost of $4,622,334. The average cost per square foot is $8.86.

LOCATION OF STATE EMPLOYEES

Attached is a brochure entitled State Employee Fact Sheet prepared by the Central Personnel Division which provides a map of the state of North Dakota showing the number of state employees by county. The numbers shown do not include employees of the University System, court system, Legislative Council, or Workers Compensation Bureau.

STUDY PLAN

The committee may wish to proceed with this study as follows:

1. Survey state agencies on office locations, number of employees per location, office space needs, office space being rented, and associated costs.
2. Receive information from interested organizations, including the Association of Counties and League of Cities on office space available in rural areas of the state.
3. Receive testimony from representatives of the North Dakota Public Employees Association and other employee organizations on the feasibility and desirability of transferring state employees to rural areas.
4. Receive information from select state agencies on options for locating their employees in rural areas and associated costs.
5. Consider options for utilizing available rural office space for housing state agencies and state employees.
6. Develop committee recommendations and any necessary legislation to implement the recommendations.

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