Proposed agreement spells out Whatcom County jail construction and operations
Whatcom County officials and the city councils of its seven incorporated cities will be considering an agreement that defines how they will receive funding from the voter-approved jail tax and share the cost of building and running a new correctional facility that they hope will do more than just keep people locked up.
Deputy Executive Tyler Shroeder submitted the document Monday, and it must be signed by June 1.
Total cost to build the jail, on land that Whatcom County owns on LaBounty Drive in Ferndale, is about $150 million. Construction will take an estimated four years.
In addition, the agreement made public Monday establishes a jail oversight advisory board and requires an annual sheriff’s briefing on its operation. It also creates a financial oversight board to make recommendations on jail construction, funding and operation.
Voters approved a 0.2% tax to pay for a new jail by 63% in November 2023, after rejecting tax measures in 2015 and 2017.
It was estimated that the tax will collect some $13 million to $14 million annually, allowing the county to finance the jail with bonds.
Collection of that tax began in April, and the first payments will be received June 1, when all parties must have approved the document, called an “interlocal agreement.”
A total of 60% of the money from the sales tax will go to Whatcom County, and 40% to the cities of Bellingham, Blaine, Everson, Ferndale, Lynden, Nooksack and Sumas. Bellingham will get the largest part of the cities’ share, based on population. The cities will pay their share of construction costs from that tax revenue.
Whatcom County will build, own and operate the jail for an estimated 400 to 440 inmates. It will be called the Justice Facility and Behavioral Health Treatment Center, according to the agreement.
In addition to inmate housing, the new jail will include booking and administration facilities and expanded medical and behavioral health facilities, both in the jail and in a “co-located” behavioral care center.
“Projections show that as early as 2029, 50% of countywide proceeds from the new public safety tax could be allocated toward Justice Project Implementation Plan priorities other than the new jail,” Schroeder said in a statement introducing the agreement.
“Whatcom County is committed to successful construction of a new Justice Facility and Behavioral Health Treatment Center while simultaneously expanding incarceration prevention services,” Schroeder said.
Jail proponents had promised that the tax would also go toward jail alternatives and treatment for behavior health and substance abuse issues. Those two issues had been cited by opponents of the failed 2015 and 2017 tax measures,
Also included in the interlocal agreement is a plan to “repurpose” the current minimum-security jail work center on Division Street into a “criminal justice, behavioral health, or re-entry facility” once the new jail is built.
In addition, the county is building a 23-hour crisis-relief center with $11 million in state funding.
The new jail tax is being collected in addition to a 0.01% tax approved in 2004, which is still being collected and was used to build the minimum-security work center and fund annual jail operations. The current jail near the courthouse in downtown Bellingham is 40 years old and requires millions of dollars in safety renovations.
Current jail capacity is 362 people, including 150 at the work center.
