By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
Current Lake County jail facility in downtown Painesville.
Since we were unable to attend today’s Lake County Commissioners’ meeting, we decided to ask the Lake County Administrator, Jason Boyd, some questions we had after reviewing the meeting’s agenda items:
Administrator Boyd,
After reviewing the agenda, I do have several questions that I would like answered in the “New Business” portion of the meeting:
1. With the resolutions for $80 million in Notes, $80 million in Bonds, and $85 million in cash that you previously indicated will be paid upfront for the new jail that means that the new jail will cost $245 million when the final bond and note payments are made. Is that correct?
Answer: The resolutions proposed today are to authorize the sale up to $80m in both notes and bonds, with the intent of only selling between $115m and $120m in total. Giving our underwriters some flexibility when it comes to the sale with respect to the ratio of notes and bonds could lead to us lowering the collective interest rate on the offering. We are still on track for +/- $205m total project including contingencies. I believe in the packet there is a memo from Mr. DiMare outlining this for the resolutions today.
2. How much per month will be required to repay the Notes and Bonds, and how will those funds be generated?
Answer: In addition to the above, we are still projecting an estimated annual payment of $7m for the new Public Safety Center. This payment will be made from the General Fund, specifically utilizing the annual appropriations currently being used to pay the existing Courthouse renovation, the projected increase in real estate revenue, and utilization of the funds we have been consistently setting aside every year to save for the Public Safety Center that will now be used to make the annual payment.
3. With the major change from an “incarceration model” to a “rehabilitative model”, what are the estimated annual operating costs of the new jail compared to the current facility?
Answer: Currently, we are estimating a General Fund neutral operating cost for the new facility, realizing some savings on decreased maintenance costs versus the current Jail. With that being said, we will be looking to utilize other funding sources (state and federal grants, Opioid settlement dollars, etc.) to enhance services within the new Public Safety Center, or to offset the current costs of these services where applicable.
We thank Mr. Boyd for his prompt and transparent responses to our questions.
Lake County is fortunate to have such a dedicated, talented administrator guiding this project.
Categories: Community Activism