Expected to be completed by the end of May, Bulloch County’s new government annex building will provide improved services to the public and more room for county employees.
Located adjacent to the current county annex building on North Main Street,  the new structure is 13,437 square feet in size and will house the voter registrar/elections offices, as well as the offices of the county’s tax commissioner and tax assessor, said Bulloch County Manager Tom Couch.
The project’s final cost is forecast to be about $2.4 million, Couch said. Lavender and Associates, the firm handling the construction project, issued the county a “guaranteed maximum price” of $2.4 million, and the end expense will be close to that, he said.
A contingency fund of $120,000, for unforeseen expenses, still has about $90,000 left, he said.  An additional $160,000 was set aside for other expenses as well, and Couch said those funds will likely be spent on furnishings, landscaping and other needs.
“It will be right on budget,” he said.
The monies funding the construction came from SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) revenue from the 1997, 2007 and 2013 SPLOST, he said.
The county commission offices, as well as some other department offices, will remain in the current building. The two buildings are connected via a breezeway, Couch said.
The tax commissioner’s and tax assessor’s offices, now located in the current annex, have experienced overcrowding for some time, he said. So has the voter registrar and elections office, located currently in the Bulloch County Courthouse. Often, people visiting the tax offices are seen standing in a line that stretches into the hallway.
Project manager Warren Holland said everyone seems to be pleased with the building.
Construction progress “went really good,” he said Thursday. Construction crews encountered no major problems or setbacks, except some slight delays due to rain.
“You’ve got to deal with (rain delays) in construction.”
Other county offices are experiencing overcrowding as well. While the courthouse continues to offer adequate space for the state court, the Bulloch County Judicial Annex is facing serious challenges as the superior court caseload increases, Couch said. In the near future, the county will have to address those needs. “The courtrooms there are small” and with heavy caseloads, court officials are often requiring family members and friends accompanying people “with business there” to wait outside in the lobby, as the courtroom capacity is limited.
County residents may appreciate the additional room the new building offers for some offices, however. The new county annex will allow employees, as well as members of the public visiting these offices, to expand and enjoy adequate room, he said.
The county’s human resources offices will likely move into the space vacated by the tax assessor’s office, while discussion is still taking place about the possibility of the county’s developmental services and county engineer’s offices moving into space vacated by the tax commissioner’s office, Couch said.
Couch said other county offices in the current annex building will also expand, with the commission chairman’s office being moved into more suitable quarters, and a new office to be shared by other commissioners will be added in available space so commissioners will have a place in which to meet with citizens.
County leaders are still discussing what to call the two buildings other than the “old annex” and “new annex,” he said. “We’ve got to think about that a little more.”

Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.