Governor Perdue Reforms Management of State's Capital Assets

Appoints Ray Crawford as Georgia’s First State Property Officer

ATHENS, GA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today seven reforms to consolidate the management of the state’s capital assets and improve the stewardship of state resources, including the appointment of Georgia’s first State Property Officer and the formation of a Capital Assets Management Council. Ray Crawford will serve as the State Property Officer in addition to his positions as Executive Director of the Georgia Building Authority and the State Properties Commission.

“Based on the findings of the Commission for a New Georgia, I will issue an Executive Order to designate Georgia’s first State Property Officer, charged with consolidating the management of all real estate assets owned and leased by the state of Georgia,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “I will also establish a Capital Assets Management Council, composed of state agency and private sector representatives, to work closely with the State Property Officer on policy and practices. This ‘portfolio’ approach will apply smart business principles and best practices to effective space utilization, cost-efficient management, and sound stewardship of the state’s capital assets.”

Governor Perdue will sign an Executive Order containing seven directives reorganizing the state’s management of capital assets:

• Create the position of State Property Officer and designate current Georgia Building Authority Director Ray Crawford to assume responsibility for consolidating real estate management.
  
• Establish the Capital Assets Management Council, including state agency and private sector industry representatives, to work closely with the State Property Officer on policy and practices.
  
• Order the development of Georgia’s first State Capital Assets Database to provide a comprehensive portfolio of all state property, owned and leased, for making fact-based strategic decisions.
  
• Order an immediate inventory of state-owned lands which do not meet programmatic needs and present opportunities for sale. The revenue and savings from taking surplus property off the state books and putting it back on the tax digest could result in average estimated proceeds of $2 million a year over five years.
  
• Direct the State Property Officer to seek out and analyze opportunities to consolidate leases on properties being rented across the state. Consolidating leases and negotiating multiple-year contracts could save up to $8 to $10 million a year for the first five years. The State Property Officer will design pilot projects on lease consolidations and other innovative strategies, which may involve sale leasebacks, ground lease options, and public private partnerships.
  
• Order the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission, in coordination with the Board of Regents, to complete a State Construction Manual by January 1, 2006. This will begin a coherent and efficient “end-to-end” process of management policies, procedures, and tools for building the state’s major capital projects, with estimated savings of 2-5 percent per project. The state could avoid costs of $10 million a year which could be made available for other projects.
  
• Direct the Office of Planning and Budget and other state entities to consider the total operation and maintenance costs required over the life of a proposed facility to ensure full disclosure of the total cost of ownership.

The Governor’s executive action is based on recommendations by the Commission for a New Georgia and endorsed by an implementation team of state agency leaders and experts. The Commission formed two separate task forces to examine the state’s space management and capital construction practices. The task forces independently reached the conclusion that state property – real estate and space, both owned and leased, and capital construction projects – should be centrally governed to bring comprehensive and consistent statewide standards, practices, and a strategic business approach to managing the state’s largest capital investment.

The recommendations of the two task forces were combined for further study by a unified Implementation Team for Space Management and Capital Construction. The team of 14 administrators represented 11 agencies with substantial responsibility for state properties. The implementation team strongly concurred with the task force conclusions and recommendations.

Crawford, 61, has served as executive director of the Georgia Building Authority since March 2003 and executive director of the State Properties Commission since June 1973. He is also a member of the MARTA Board of Directors, Sapelo Island Heritage Authority, State Board of Equalization, and various high school and community programs. Crawford earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Georgia and a J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Following law school, he was an artillery officer in the United States Army where he received two Army commendation medals for outstanding service. Crawford and his wife, Susan, have three children.