Grand Jury Report: Deferred Maintenance

The Contra Costa Grand Jury has released a report (available here) concerning the backlog of deferred maintenance in the County. The report's summary follows:

This report on deferred maintenance is a follow-up to Grand Jury Report #1203, issued in June 2012. 

For many years the County has struggled to chip away at the backlog of deferred maintenance on county-owned facilities.   To better understand the magnitude of the situation and tackle the problem, the County’s Facilities Life-Cycle Program (FLIP) report in 2007 evaluated deferred maintenance for a portion of county-owned buildings.  Although progress has been made in some areas, the County still lacks an adequate deferred maintenance budget.   A comprehensive review of deferred maintenance needs and a coordinated effort to address the problem is required.

The cost of deferred maintenance on 89 county-owned buildings is currently estimated at $265 million.  The longer needed repairs are delayed, the greater the potential for increased deterioration of the structures and the greater the future cost of repair or replacement.

Areas where improvements are still needed include addressing the high priority projects in the FLIP report, expanding and updating the report, and placing more effort toward the integration of coordinated shared databases that track and report deferred maintenance needs, priorities and completed tasks.