Human Resources Building pays off for Clarion County

Pinched for space, many county governments are forced to pay for office space on the local rental market at a high cost — except in Clarion County, which has found a way to turn an expense into income.

The county purchased the former Clarion Hospital building on Seventh Avenue and converted it into the Human Resources Building. That building generates $291,120 in income annually for the county, according to the county’s budget director, Rose Logue.

“That helps to offset the cost of running that building,” she said. “We do make a little bit on it,” and the extra funds are returned to the general fund.

Clarion County Commissioner Ted Tharan said while there is not a direct mortgage on the building, there is a debt service assessed on all county buildings. He said, however, that is offset by the debt service tax.

“All of the agencies in that building have a subsidy for rent that comes from the state or the federal government,” he said. “We were able to offer these agencies office space at a lower rate than they would have paid elsewhere.”

In the Human Services building, yearly rent costs are: Central Accounting, $30,240; Community Guidance Center, $19,800; Children and Youth Services, $136,800; Clarion County Promise, $11,760; Clarion Vocational Services, $28,080; Clarion Vocational Services, $2,400; Human Services Department, $8,160; Mental Health, $41,400; and Roads to Recovery, $12,480.

There is no county match with any of the leases.

The cost to lease space in the Human Resources Building is going up. The cost has been $8.30 cents per square foot and will increase to $8.75 cents this year.

“We have been able to maintain and improve the building,” Tharan said. “We have installed air conditioning and new carpet. This is an investment for the county.”