County Board eyeing $65 million jail

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By JEAN ORTIZ / Lincoln Journal Star

After years of planning for a new jail and several months of serious movement, Lancaster County leaders have agreed to the one detail taxpayers have long awaited: the price tag.

It looks like $65 million is the magic number, at least for now.

Commissioners are calling the figure preliminary, and one built on a worst-case scenario, given a slowdown in growth and on the all-important countywide property valuation.

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Lancaster County Commissioner Bob Workman.

Lancaster County Commissioner Bob Workman.

If the price sticks, the most an individual taxpayer could expect to spend to “keep the criminals out of their backyards,” as board Chairman Bob Workman put it, would be about $57 a year on a $100,000 home.

The consensus came out of discussion Thursday at the County Board’s annual mid-year budget workshop. The day served as a sneak peek into what could lie ahead, not just for the jail, but for the county’s overall tax picture.

Based on a three-year estimate and little or no valuation increase, taxpayers could be spending 34.31 cents per $100 of valuation by 2012 — not even counting the new jail costs. The county’s tax rate is now 27.55 cents per $100 of valuation.

The jail cost estimate was reached assuming meager, if any, property valuation increases over the next few years. It considered the County Board’s levying limits and factored in not pushing too firmly against their lid, which would threaten the county’s bond rating.

Relief could come if the market turns around and valuations increase, or if legislators are able to amend a law that now restricts counties to 10-year repayments on construction projects. County officials are hoping to extend that to 20 years, the time period which the city has.

The new jail cost estimate is lower than the $94 million estimate offered by consultants in a pre-architectural report. That estimate included inflationary and land costs.

The County Board late last year bought 37 acres at Southwest 40th and West O streets for $2.25 million. The new jail will replace the overcrowded jail at 10th and J streets and a minimum-security complex in Air Park.

The board could go up to $76.8 million without maxing out its levying authority, said Dennis Meyer, the county’s budget and fiscal officer.

But hitting that lid could increase the interest rate the county pays when borrowing, as well as leave little room for other subdivisions, including rural fire districts and the Lancaster County Agricultural Society, that also must fit under the levy lid, Meyer said.

If commissioners wanted to take that approach, they might be faced with choosing between the jail and needs that arise for the subdivisions, he said.

Commissioners quickly decided that wasn’t the way to go.

Yet another option left on the back burner for now is using the more than $1.4 million the city now pays annually to use the county jail toward construction. Now, that money helps offset operational costs.

Over 25 years, the city payments would generate another $20.8 million to put toward the project, which would mean the board could spend as much at $97.6 million, Meyer said.

The jail dominated board conversation this week. On Tuesday, commissioners met with representatives from project architects Clark Enersen Partners and their consulting partner, PSA-Dewberry.

Commissioners worried whether their approach to construction management is correct. The board has wavered on the issue in recent months, deciding ultimately to negotiate a contract with Sampson Construction as a “construction manager at risk.”

In such a deal, Sampson will guarantee a total project cost once the design is 60 percent along. The company will charge a higher fee than in a standard contract, but the county would gain protection from cost overruns, commissioners have said.

The design team assured them that was a good move.

“No doubt in my mind at all,” said Clark Enersen’s Greg Newport, who is team leader.

The board still has to sign a contract with the design team, which plans to begin the design process Feb. 11.

That $4.18 million contract could come as soon as Tuesday, County Purchasing Agent Vince Mejer said.

With a cost focal point now in hand, commissioners are hoping to pin down one other big unknown: the jail’s size.

A pre-architectural report compiled by Clark Enersen more than a year ago calls for a 776-bed jail, based on population projections over 25 years.

Commissioners have questioned whether they need to plan on a shorter-term basis with the ability to add on later.

Architectural representatives say that answer will come, in all likelihood, before the May 1 deadline for final schematic design.

Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.