Leasing responsibilities of the director

(1) The director shall: (a) prepare and submit a yearly request to the governor and Legislature for a designated amount of square footage by type of space to be leased by the division for that fiscal year; (b) lease, in the name of the division, all real property space to be occupied by a leasing agency; (c) in leasing space: (i) use a process consistent with the best interest of the state, the requirements of the leasing agency, and the anticipated use of the property; and (ii) comply with any legislative mandates contained in the appropriations act or other legislation; (d) apply the criteria contained in Subsection (1)(f) to prepare a report evaluating each high-cost lease at least 12 months before the lease expires; (e) evaluate each lease under the division's control and apply the criteria contained in Subsection (1)(f), as applicable, to evaluate the lease; (f) in evaluating leases: (i) determine whether the lease is cost-effective when the needs of the leasing agency to be housed in the leased facilities are considered; (ii) determine whether another option such as construction, use of other state-owned space, or a lease-purchase agreement is more cost-effective than leasing; (iii) determine whether the significant lease terms are cost-effective and provide the state with sufficient flexibility and protection from liability; (iv) compare the proposed lease payments to the current market rates, and evaluate whether the proposed lease payments are reasonable under current market conditions; (v) compare proposed significant lease terms to the current market, and recommend whether these proposed terms are reasonable under current market conditions; and (vi) if applicable, recommend that the lease or modification to a lease be approved or disapproved; (g) based upon the evaluation, include in the report recommendations that identify viable alternatives to: (i) make the lease cost-effective; or (ii) meet the leasing agency's needs when the lease expires; and (h) upon request, provide the information included in the report to: (i) the leasing agency benefitted by the lease; and (ii) the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst. (2) The director may: (a) subject to legislative appropriation, enter into a facility lease with a term of up to 10 years if the length of the lease's term is economically advantageous to the state; and (b) subject to legislative appropriation, enter into a facility lease with a term of more than 10 years if the length of the lease's term is economically advantageous to the state.