Washington County, Arkansas recently broke ground on a new Emergency Operations Center.
So did Washington County, Oklahoma.
The difference is that Washington County, Arkansas forked over $9 million for an 11,000 square foot building, whereas Oklahoma got a 23,000 square foot facility for the relatively modest sum of $6.6 million.
In fact, a casual internet search reveals that over 300 such Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) have been going up over the past two years, all across the country. This is because federal funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 (Covid $) are running up against a hard “use it or lose it” deadline – to be used by December 31, 2026.
The per-square-foot (PSF) cost of the Washington County, Arkansas EOC building is around $818, compared with a PSF of $287 for the Oklahoma facility.
And Oklahoma is far from the only jurisdiction which appears to have gotten a better deal for its citizens.
When we compare the PSF of Washington County, Arkansas’s EOC, with all 300 other EOC projects across the nation, we find only four in the entire country with a higher PSF. These are EOC’s which are set to serve the entire state of Texas, the southern half of California, Tallahassee, Florida, and the entire Dallas, Texas region.
Sampling of EOC projects, including all those with higher PSF than Washington County, AR
Why is it that the only EOCs in the country more expensive than the one commissioned by Washington County Judge Patrick Deakins are those set to serve populations from 500,000 to 31,000,000, in some of the most affluent states in the nation?
Is this responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars? Judge Deakins owes Washington County residents an explanation.
