The next new commercial renter at the Park County Complex in Cody or the Park County Annex in Powell after Jan. 1 will need to pay more for the privilege.

On Wednesday, the commissioners approved raising rent from $12.50 to $18 per square foot. For a 600-square-foot office, that means the cost would rise from $7,500 to $10,800 for a one-year lease.

Chair Dossie Overfield said the increase was intended to stay in line with the rental rates being charged by private facilities in the area.

“We don’t want to undercut the normal landowners and buildings in town,” Overfield said. “That’s not our intent, so we wanted to make sure that we were in the right ballpark.”

Overfield got feedback from “four or five commercial landlords” in the area, she said, to determine what they charge on average.

“Part of the thing is comparing apples and apples, because some places cover the utilities, some places don’t. Some places have snow removal and parking, some places don’t,” she said. “So we were looking at the whole picture and trying to figure out what was best.”

For instance, the county can’t separate utilities at the complex because the building was originally built for just one company, Husky Oil.

The Cody complex now houses many different offices, only some of which will be affected by the change. That’s because the tenants include a number of government entities, such as the public defender’s office and Department of Family Services, amongst other state and county entities; those entities pay different rates because it’s basically “trading tax dollars for tax dollars,” Overfield said.

She said there are about five commercial renters at the complex in Cody, including a law office and an energy company. Those renters will not be affected by the change as they are under approved contracts, and when those are up, they can renew with a standard 2.4% annual increase.