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Nonprofits bemoan county building’s high rents

Health center tenants say cost affecting care but county says bond must be repaid

By Jake Thomas, Columbian political reporter
Published: May 22, 2017, 6:05am
5 Photos
The waiting room at Community Services Northwest, a social services nonprofit, is surprisingly expensive real estate says John “Bunk” Moren, its executive director.
The waiting room at Community Services Northwest, a social services nonprofit, is surprisingly expensive real estate says John “Bunk” Moren, its executive director. Amanda Cowan/The Columbian Photo Gallery

When Clark County’s Center for Community Health opened in 2005, it was meant to be a one-stop shop for the county’s most vulnerable residents — where they could access substance abuse treatment, as well as mental health and other services from local social service nonprofits and government agencies.

But over a decade later, the leaders of the three nonprofits housed in the building say their rent, which is paying back the county’s bond that financed the $38 million building, is too high and affecting their ability to offer services.

“It’s a little frustrating when you feel like the debt burden of this building is being balanced on the back of community nonprofit organizations,” said Jared Sanford, the CEO of Lifeline Connections, a substance abuse and mental health treatment center. The heads of these nonprofits said they want to work out a solution.

Bob Stevens, who oversees those facilities as deputy county manager, said that the county has tried to keep costs down for the nonprofits, but the bond needs to be paid.

“That’s the whole point of the lease they signed,” he said. “We have no flexibility as far as the bond payment piece goes.”

The county broke ground on the four-story, 175,000-square-foot Center for Community Health in 2004, built on land owned by the U.S. Department Veterans Affairs. It was meant to keep a VA medical campus in Vancouver. The building provides space for three social services nonprofits, two county departments, the for-profit mental health services provider Telecare and a small coffee shop.

Sanford said that the concept of the building makes sense and allows individuals with transportation barriers or other issues to more easily access nonprofits and government offices. But he said the issue of rent became a problem early on.

“We pay more in rent than the benefit packages we pay our employees,” he said.

In December, the three nonprofits sent a letter to the county seeking a solution to a rent increase beginning January.

According to an email from Sanford, before the rent increase, Lifeline Connections (the largest tenant) paid the county $1.2 million annually for its 57,056-square-foot space, as well as maintenance, phone services and security. Community Services Northwest (CSN), another social services nonprofit, paid $270,847 annually for its 12,624-square-foot space and similar amenities. Consumer Voices are Born (CVB), a mental health and addictions recovery nonprofit pays a total of $58,872 for its 2,744 square feet and other services.

The county now charges $12.29 per square foot, $8.65 per square foot for maintenance and operations and 51 cents per square foot for security. Sanford and Brad Berry, executive director of CVB, and John Moren, the executive director of CSN, said they can get better deals on rent elsewhere but can’t because they are stuck in leases with the county that extend to 2035.

“The county just can’t do that,” said Stevens of breaking the leases. “That means the taxpayers have to pick up the bond.”

Stevens said it’s not even a rent hike. He said that bonds that funded the CCH as well as other facilities such as Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds were refinanced in 2012. He said that at the time, the county directed all the savings from the refinancing to the nonprofits at CCH. But he said the Washington State Auditor’s Office instructed the county that it couldn’t use the savings to just benefit the nonprofits.

“They didn’t have an increase in rent,” said Stevens. “They lost a discount they’ve been receiving. … We haven’t ever raised the rent, even though our lease allows us to.”

Stevens added that the county has kept the amount it charges the nonprofits for maintenance and operations flat since 2007 and has absorbed increase in costs.

All the directors said the high rent limits the services and programs they can offer. Moren said it also limits their ability to adjust to a changing business climate, which has included an influx of clients from an expansion of Medicaid.

While the building is considered high-quality, the nonprofit directors said they’ve had issues with maintenance and that parking has been chronically cramped. Moren said that clients will drive around the parking lot and cancel their appointment when it’s full, leaving in a worsened mental state.

“That is a weekly story,” he said.

Sanford said that the county has been a good partner in many ways, but wants it to find some solution to save costs such as his nonprofit doing some janitorial work. But Stevens said that wouldn’t work, because the county needs to ensure that all work is done to its standards.

Craig Pridemore, a former county commissioner who stepped down in 2004, said that since the center was built, counties have been restricted from raising property taxes by more than 1 percent a year and the Great Recession strained the county’s finances, limiting its ability to offer relief. He said the Legislature could offer some relief, but said it’s unlikely.

“I think it’s a bad situation all around,” he said.

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Columbian political reporter