YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham released a 15-year financial analysis of the county’s Oak Hill Renaissance Place office building. Its operating expenses of $27.4 million have been $5.6 million more than its operating revenue of $21.8 million since the county bought the building in 2006.

Adding in capital expenditures of $15.7 million since the building was purchased raises the total net expenditures over revenues to $24.7 million, Meacham stated in a news release.

The building on Oakhill Avenue was formerly the Southside Medical Center. It is 52 percent occupied and not likely to see much improvement in that because of the condition of the remaining space, Meacham said.

The building houses departments such as the 300-employee Mahoning County Department of Job and Family Services, county board of elections and nonprofit organizations such as the Purple Cat. Some agencies pay rent to the commissioners.

But the portions of the building that have not been renovated look essentially the same as when the building was used as a hospital and would be expensive to renovate, Meacham said.

The county still owes about $11 million on the purchase, he said.

“The purpose of this review is to provide a clear, accurate and objective picture of the impact” Oak Hill Renaissance Center has had on county finances to date, Meacham said.

County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti said it would be difficult for him to comment much regarding the auditor’s release because he does not know how Meacham arrived at some of the figures. But he said Job and Family Services pays more than $1 million in rent and utilities per year.

“That’s home to our departments. We’ve owned the facility for a long time, and against what everybody said for years, Oak Hill has not put our general fund at risk. It didn’t break the county.

“We have a responsibility to put general fund departments into a county-owned building, and we did that. The Oak Hill Renaissance is a one-stop building,” he said.

Traficanti said the commissioners will be carrying out an evaluation of all of the county buildings this January or February, including Oak Hill.

Traficanti said he thinks the occupancy level of the building has been similar for a couple of years. “The building has potential for additional tenants and additional departments, and that is something we may consider when we evaluate everything,” he said.

When Meacham was asked whether he thinks a county building that houses departments such as the board of elections should be self sustaining, he said: “(There) should be a break-even at some point. If there’s more expenses in start up mode, that’s understandable, but at some point, your revenues should overtake your expenditures, but that hasn’t happened.”

He said a building of any kind, “you want occupancy north of 75 (percent) and closer to 90 percent or better,” Meacham said. “Until you get to that 85 or 90 percent range, you’re probably not going to break even on a commercial building.”

Meacham said he thinks owing $11 million on the building is a lot after 15 years “because it’s not filled, and I don’t think it ever will be filled. It’s an old building. The older a building gets, the more maintenance it takes.”