New preliminary jail budget cap approved by County Council committee
The Whatcom County Council Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee has recommended a preliminary planning budget cap for the construction of the new Whatcom County Jail for approval.
The resolution, approved 5-2 on Tuesday, proposes a budget ceiling of $205 million for the jail and $34 million for the Behavioral Care Center. These numbers do not authorize debt, and are only to be used for planning purposes.
The new preliminary budget cap comes after a rise in construction costs and a decrease in expected sales tax revenue meant to fund the project. To close the gap, the county will likely have to reexamine the Interlocal Agreement between Whatcom County and the cities within it. The new resolution asks the County Council to request that the county executive negotiate an updated Interlocal Agreement that “maximizes public safety and health outcomes for the community, distributes risk equitably across the county and its cities, and keeps intact the original commitments made to voters.”
County Executive Satpal Sidhu pointed out that the existing Interlocal Agreement took six months to create, and there’s no guarantee that the cities will approve it. He urged council members to read letters from the mayors of the cities with “keen interest.”
“It is very important that we bring the whole community together for this project,” he said.
Lynden Mayor Scott Korthuis addressed the council following the vote. He said he and other mayors are concerned about changes to the Interlocal Agreement when it appears to them that the council isn’t taking their requests into consideration.
Korthuis said the cities have been “unwavering” in their request for no booking restrictions, and worries that the lower budget will lead to too low of a jail capacity to meet this goal.
“You’re willing to take our money and take our space,” Korthuis said. “We’re not necessarily pleased with that.”
An analysis completed in September found that the jail will need 480 beds in 2030, with an expected increase to 624 beds — not including intake and holding or detox and padded beds — in 2040 and 720 beds in 2050.
However, with the new budget constraints, the estimated size of the jail will likely decrease by over 70,000 square feet. Corrections Chief Caleb Erickson said at Tuesday’s meeting that figuring out how to achieve this is a “very difficult job,” and groups including the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office are looking at ways to potentially stack parts of the jail to reduce square footage.