GREENFIELD — Faced with an increasingly overcrowded jail and a failed referendum that would have helped pay for a new criminal justice facility, the Hancock County Council is trying to decipher the best way forward.
After a two-hour discussion Wednesday morning during the council’s monthly budget meeting, the only answer set in stone is the council will vote next week on a resolution allowing the county commissioners to move forward on land acquisition discussions for the new jail building. Other than that very small promise, which still needs approval from the full council during the June 13 meeting, nothing is decided about the jail project.
The commissioners said they think it will cost about $750,000 for land acquisition. The desired property is several lots along Meek Street adjacent to the current community corrections building. Brad Armstrong, president of the board of commissioners, said the county may have to use eminent domain to acquire the property.
On Tuesday during the commissioners’ meeting, Shelley Clark spoke to the commissioners on behalf of her father, Jack Mathes, who owns one of the houses that may need to be acquired for the jail building. Clark said she would like to know some kind of timeline in case they have to find another place to live if eminent domain is used to buy their current house.
The commissioners said they don’t have a definitive timeline until the county council approves some kind of funding.
During the May primary elections, voters rejected a referendum that would have allowed the county to hike property taxes to help foot the proposed $55 million jail project. The original project plans included a new jail building, renovations to existing buildings as well as relocating several departments including probation and the county prosecutor’s office.
With the property tax issue dead for at least a year, the county is left with income tax as the only resource for raising money for the new jail. On Wednesday, the council’s budget committee, with members of the board of commissioners in attendance, went over their options with the county’s financial advisor Greg Guerrettaz, a CPA for Financial Solutions Group, Inc.
With the county’s scope limited to income tax, the $55 million price tag seems to be well out of reach at this point. State law prohibits the county from putting another referendum before voters for at least a year, so if the county wants to move forward, the temporary solution will have to come from income tax.
Councilman Jim Shelby said the council has to decide, after Wednesday’s meeting, what it is willing to finance.
“The question we need to ask ourselves is what are we willing to do to finance this?” Shelby said.
Thanks to a new law from the Indiana legislature, the county could dedicate a portion of its income tax to the construction of a new jail facility but that allocation would not be allowed to pay for maintenance or staffing costs. The council also has the option of raising the county income tax as a way to make bond payments but members expressed concerns about the impact that could have on the county and its attractiveness to potential employers.
Councilwoman Martha Vail said she would be uncomfortable moving forward on the jail project if the county didn’t have a revenue stream to pay for operational costs identified.
Armstrong has been adamant that the project move forward because of the severe overcrowding at the current jail. While the commissioners are in charge of the project, they need to get financial approval from the county council.
“Right now, we’re at a standstill,” he said. “The problem is we’ve let it get to crisis level. We need direction, we’ve proposed a long-term solution and we’re incrementally working towards that.”
If the $750,000 is approved, the commissioners will be able to at least move forward on land acquisition discussions while the council decides the next steps. Even if the county decides to just focus on the new jail, construction and additional soft costs, like design and inspection, would likely cost about $30 million. The immediate next step, according to Armstrong, is finalizing design by RQAW, the architecture firm the county has hired to design the jail building. Getting a finalized design would let the county put the project out for bid, but would cost more than $2 million.
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Hancock County Council meeting
Where: Courthouse Annex building, 111 American Legion Way, Greenfield
When: 8:30 a.m. Wednesday
What: Council members will vote on resolution to allow commissioners to move forward on land acquisition for new jail building.
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