Multimillion-dollar measure just added to Ada County’s November ballot. What it’s about

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In addition to electing city and school officials, Ada County voters will have one more item on their ballots this year.

Residents will vote to decide whether the county should take on debt to pay for an expansion of the Ada County Jail.

The Ada County Commission voted Thursday to bring the matter — which is estimated to cost $71.6 million — to voters.

“We have seen unprecedented growth in the community, and with that goes along the obligations to keep our community safe,” said Commissioner Rod Beck.

The Ada County Sheriff’s Office has long argued that the jail is overcrowded, as it hasn’t seen an expansion of available beds since 2013, despite years of steep population growth.

The plan would expand the jail by more than 30%, to a total of 1,243 beds, according to permit applications filed in July. It would also add a new food warehouse, larger kitchen, inmate transport area and a new road into the jail.

The county will ask voters for $49 million of the jail’s $69 million construction cost, with the other $20 million already available in accounts where it has been set aside. Interest payments on the $49 million in bonds over their 20-year lives will boost the total to $71.6 million.

Michael Keith, a vice president at Zions Bank, told the commissioners the cost to an average property taxpayer would be $13.35 per year for the duration.

If the measure passes, the county could have money in hand after selling bonds in February, Keith said, and the two-year construction project could begin in August.

The commission hosted a municipal advisory firm, Clearwater Financial, on Tuesday to discuss the possibilities of putting the jail issue on the November or May ballots.

Cameron Arial, Clearwater’s founder, explained that the May election would be expected to have 25% fewer participants, who would skew older and more Republican. He also detailed preliminary results of a survey sent out by the county earlier this month, which found that a large majority supported taking action to improve the jail.

But fewer than 1,000 people responded to the survey, which is less than half of 1% of the electorate. Arial told the Statesman the commission could be “pretty reliant” if the survey got responses closer to 5% of the electorate.

People who were opposed to the survey emphasized that the county should do more to put arrestees in alternative custody programs, or to stop arresting nonviolent offenders.

Sherriff Matt Clifford said Thursday that 90% of jail inmates are there on felony charges, and that the sheriff’s office has over 2,000 people in custody who are on pretrial release programs, misdemeanor probation or who are participating in a job training transition center.

The 2020 commission, then led by Democrats, attempted to expand the jail through a lease-purchase agreement, which would have allowed the county to essentially pay annual rent for the property, and would have sidestepped the need for explicit voter approval. That plan faltered, and in December the county purchased an adjacent property from Darigold, a dairy company, which is needed for the expansion. Since 2021, the commission has been controlled by Republicans.

“This is really the first time that the jail expansion has been possible,” Beck said Thursday.

Municipal bonds require two-thirds approval by voters in Idaho. The lease-purchase option the 2020 commission aimed for now also requires voter approval after the Legislature passed a law requiring it. But only a simple majority.

“We want to make sure we have broad support, which is the two thirds, to expand the jail,” Beck said.

Under Idaho law, public officials cannot use public money to advocate for ballot measures, though they are allowed to do so personally. They can provide factual information neutrally as part of their jobs.

Clerk raises concern about funding

Ada County Clerk Trent Tripple cautioned the commission Thursday to issue debt for more than the needed $49 million because of how the use of funding might affect other county projects.

Tripple said the county often uses its “fund balance” to pay for capital projects, meaning that leftover money not included in an annual budget is used to pay for long-term expenses like infrastructure.

Of the $20 million the county already has on hand to pay for the jail expansion, about $10 million is money budgeted toward building-project needs in the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. If all of that money is used to pay for the jail, that could leave other projects unfunded, Tripple said.

“The county has lots of needs, the jail being one of them.” Tripple said.

He recommended the commission put another $4 million or $5 million in municipal bonds on the ballot for voters, which would free some of the building funds for other projects. He said that change would mean only a few more cents per property taxpayer and could stave off having to raise more taxes in the future.

The commission did not discuss or adopt his recommendation.

After the vote, Beck told the Statesman that the commission has discussed that issue previously, and “we feel we will be able to do just fine with our other needs.” He said the county is considering adopting impact fees for the jail, emergency medical services and the coroners office, which could give the county other accounts to pull from if other funding needs arise.

Impact fees are charged to developers to help cover public costs associated with new building.