While several City Council members weren't too happy Monday about being asked to signal whether they'll help Lancaster County finance a new jail, the council gave the concept a hesitant green-lig
DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, July 6, 2008 7:00 pm
While several City Council members weren’t too happy Monday about being asked to signal whether they’ll help Lancaster County finance a new jail, the council gave the concept a hesitant green-light anyway.
However, the vote is not binding, and in order to actually help finance the jail, the City Council will have to approve an interlocal agreement later.
With four of the five Lancaster County commissioners watching, the council approved a resolution that says it supports exploring the idea of helping finance the $65 million county jail. Construction of the jail is expected to begin this winter, with inmates expected to move in by early 2010.
The vote is really not much more than a message to the county that the council is open to the idea.
State law prevents the county from financing the jail beyond 10 years, and since county voters rejected the County Board’s proposal to finance the jail over 26 years, the county has been exploring other options.
To avoid sharp property tax increases caused by a shorter repayment period, the County Board wants the Public Building Commission — which manages and maintains public property for both the city and county — to finance construction of the jail over 20 years. They’ve proposed that the $1.4 million the city now pays the county annually for jail operations be used instead for debt payments.
For that to work, the city would have to sign off on an interlocal agreement with the county and building commission.
The county’s financial advisor, Scott Keene of Ameritas Investment Corp., said if the city does not help finance the jail, it would cost city property taxpayers about 1-cent per $100 in property value for the next 10 years, or $15 per year for the owner of an average Lincoln home.
Rather than wait for the issue to get to the council in the form of an interlocal agreement, Councilman Ken Svoboda proposed a resolution to signal the city’s inclination. He said given the fact that 92 percent of the county’s property tax revenue comes from Lincoln residents, it’s important for the city to have a debate about the issue.
County Commissioner Bob Workman said the city’s involvement would be similar to the county’s cooperation on other projects, such as the joint landfill and a $10 million expansion of the health department.
“Time is of the essence,” Workman said. “As we wait, favorable interest rates continue to creep higher while steel and concrete prices show no signs of easing.”
Councilman Jonathan Cook unsuccessfully tried to get Svoboda’s resolution withdrawn, saying the public had not gotten sufficient notice of the public hearing and that it was premature to vote on the issue before negotiating many complex issues with the county.
His motion was supported only by councilmen Dan Marvin and Doug Emery.
“This just seems to me to be an exercise in futility,” Emery said of the vote.
Marvin agreed, saying, “This kind of feels like a shotgun wedding… and I haven’t even been on a date yet with the county commission.”
On the final vote, only Marvin and Cook voted “no.” The Public Building Commission meets today, and is expected to take up the issue.
In other business, the council:
* Increased the minimum fines for people convicted of violating the city housing code. The court fine for a first offense was increased from $25 to $200; from $50 to $250 for a second offense and from $100 to $300 for a third offense.
* Was formally delivered the mayor’s proposed 2008-2009 budget, after which some council members questioned how many of his proposed employee reductions would be pure layoffs, and whether a tax increase is really justified. The council must sign off on a budget next month.
Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.