KENT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES WORK SESSION Thursday, May 8, 2008 Administration Building - Room 310

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1 KENT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES WORK SESSION Thursday, May 8, 2008 Administration Building - Room 310 Meeting called to order at 7:45 a.m. by Chair Roger C. Morgan. Present: Absent: Commissioners Agee, Boelema, Bulkowksi, Dillon, Hennessy, Hiddema, Klein, Mast, Mayhue, Morren, Parrish, Rolls, Tanis, Vander Molen, Vaughn, Voorhees, Wahlfield, Chair Morgan Vonk 1 (Excused). INTRODUCTION Administrator Daryl Delabbio explained that the purpose of the work session is to bring Commissioners up-to-date with the condition of the Correctional Facility, and discuss the Corrections and Detention millage which will expire at the end of (A copy of the power point presentation is on file in the Office of the County Clerk.) BACKGROUND bed jail was constructed Additional construction & renovation added 333 beds Voter approved Corrections & Detention Millage Bennett Study recommends the County phase out 1958 construction New pods open (Millage funded construction & operation of 363 new beds) County adds Mental Health Unit & 170 beds through double bunking Harrison/Landmark Architectural & Engineering Study recommends razing & replacing 1950 s & 1970 s portion of the facility Corrections & Detention Millage expires SUMMARY In 1990, voters approved the Corrections and Detention millage to expand, equip, remodel, operate & maintain the Kent County Jail and Juvenile Detention Facility. The millage funded the construction of two new jail pods, adding 363 beds, and also has provided 43% ($16 million) of the annual operating budget of the jail. This millage expires December For the last 4 years staff has been looking at, from an internal perspective, the correctional facility s status and the expiration of that millage. The millage has accomplished the following: 1) helped pay for the 2 pods constructed in that house a significant number of county prisoners; 2) paid for facility operations. An evaluation was done in 1990 of the 1950 s & 1970 s portion of the correctional facility. Because of financial constraints those portions were not addressed in 1990 when the new pods were constructed. The recommendation was that the 1958 portion be phased out.

2 Over the last couple of years, staff has looked at the facility overall and the facility needs specifically emphasizing the condition of the 1950 s & 1970 s portion, and the potential risk that we face. With the millage expiring, it s getting to a critical decision point as far as moving forward one way or the other. The infrastructure built in the 1950 s & 1970 s, now 50 years old, is in a condition of grave concern with respect to water, electrical, & the utility systems: Heating & Cooling systems are inefficient Fire Suppression Systems are outdated Power/Electrical systems are at capacity Building codes and standards have significantly advanced since the original construction A lot of the electrical system is encased in concrete so that it is inaccessible and deteriorated through age and water damage. Built in 1958, age, design & construction obsolescence, along with outdated technology and other factors make continued use hazardous, wasteful & ineffective. This portion houses over 500 inmates (approximately 35% of jail capacity). A failure of this infrastructure would likely result in jail overcrowding & emergency releases. In the late 1980 s, there was an analysis done in preparation for the 1990 millage vote. The Bennett Group was contracted to evaluate the facilities. At that time, the Bennett Study recommended that the County phase out the 1958 construction. In 2006, in preparation for the expiration of the millage, the team contracted with a local firm, Harrison/Landmark Architectural & Engineering, to analyze what the additional capacity needs would be, and to do a facility assessment of the existing conditions. Harrison/Landmark agreed with the 1990 study recommending razing and replacing the 1950 s & 1970 s portion of the facility. The County has been involved in alternatives to incarceration through the office of Community Corrections, enabling state legislation, and through partnerships with a variety of local agencies with alternative programs There are individuals who participate in alternative programs who might otherwise be housed in the correctional facility. The Sheriff has implemented a work release program that has become a very effective program. We are looking at no increase in capacity of the facility but looking at infrastructure that needs to be replaced. The useful life of the 1950 s & 1970 s portion of the jail has pretty much expired. In order to replace the beds and continue the full operation of the jail we do need to look at requesting a renewal, not an increase. The original millage established in 1990 was.84 mills. Due to the Headlee rollback it is now at.7893 mills. If we were to ask for anything above.7893 mills, it would be an increase even though the original millage was.84 mills. What we believe should happen in order to continue funding operations, as well as provide the necessary dollars to fund the capital expenditure required to replace the 1950 s & 1970 s portion of the jail, is a renewal. We estimate that replacement cost to be about $28 million for that portion of the facility. The millage currently funds 43% of the general operating budget of the County correctional facility. We have several funding sources: 1) corrections & detention millage; 2) general fund; 3) other fees; 4) the board & care (jail per diem).

3 On a straight renewal of the millage, the annual amount paid by the taxpayer based on the taxable value of a $100,000 property would be $39.42 or.10 cents a day. If we were to start today, we could have these facilities replaced, based on planning, engineering, architectural bid process, and construction in The County funded $15,000 to develop a contingency plan for the facility to prepare for an infrastructure failure of the portion of the facility in question. TIMELINE If there is consideration to put this renewal millage on the ballot in August 2008, the last day that this can happen is May 27, Mary 27, Ballot language for county and local questions on the August primary ballot are filed with the County Clerk. August 5, Primary Election Sept-Oct (If approved) programming, schematic design takes place September Documents for construction of the project would be completed November Begin construction December Construction completed DISCUSSION Com. Agee We ve done an outstanding job the last 10 years replacing some bad county facilities and systematically created facilities that are efficient, easy to maintain and respectful both to our citizens and our employees. It is very clear that this facility has outlived its usefulness. So, the question is how and when do we replace it. We need to start very soon and is concerned about putting a millage on the November ballot since it will be a very full election. Supports getting it on the ballot in August so that we can get the facility replaced. Com. Bulkowski Will the renewal of the millage continue to fund the operations at 43%? Delabbio Looking at the same dollar amount but, depending on how costs increase in operations, that may not be the same percentage. Com. Morren What if we decide to not renew the millage? Delabbio - $16 million goes toward operations annually now. We would immediately have to cut $16 million from the County s $165 million general fund or 10% of the budget. We would have to increase the rates that are charged to local units to house inmates, if we continue to operate the facility at its existing level. Another option would be closing one of the pods or the old section thereby reducing capacity. A governing value the Board has is safety and security of our residents, so cutting $16 million from the general fund is going to have to come from somewhere. And, since so much of the budget is personnel costs, it might mean reducing 1 out of 8 employees. Com. Vaughn Supports putting this on the August ballot. What are we going to do with the 500 inmates while we are repairing this? Delabbio We would build a 3 rd pod and once that is completed, move the inmates from the 1950 s & 1970 s portion and then raze that portion.

4 Com. Mayhue Would like to see more appearance tickets to cut down on inmates. Would like documentation/study of ratio of inmates vs. appearance tickets. Once the study is completed, would like to bring police chiefs to the County in a public discussion regarding appearance tickets. Chair Morgan More appearance tickets was a recommendation of the Justice Task Force. Com. Vander Molen Unfortunately, corrections is a growth industry and we are talking about status quo. We will be back again sometime soon after we do this for more beds. We need to move on this. (Supports August ballot.) Chair Morgan How many jail beds have been saved with alternative programs? Sheriff Stelma Work release through the community reentry center is about 250 beds and the honor camp is a little over 50 beds. He is concerned about the various issues that Commissioner Mayhue has raised and encourages all police departments to use more appearance tickets. He has asked his staff to put together a chart showing the ratio of misdemeanors vs. felons. Jail growth hasn t stopped, but it has slowed down significantly which is why we re looking at no expansion of beds. Believes growth has slowed because police departments are issuing more appearance tickets. Starting to see positive results from the reentry programs. They will have an impact on recidivism. Com. Klein The appearance tickets are out of our control and is up to the individual police departments? We can t force them to give appearance tickets, but we ve asked them repeatedly to do that so that it decreases their jail per diem. Sheriff Stelma That is correct. It is really a 3-pronged approach, the prosecutor for the county cases, city attorneys for the municipalities, the judges and the police department. I can t tell city police, courts or judges how to operate their business. Com. Voorhees The city per diem issue do we have our local governments on board have we come to some understanding? Chair Morgan We are still negotiating. Com. Voorhees The regional facility is there any update? Sheriff Stelma The regional process is continuing to move along. It has a lot of potential but we are working with 2 other counties that have some severe initial problems themselves. All of the counties have to do something individually as well as the regional. Our concept is that the regional jail will deal with our future growth which is another reason while we can look at a renewal here instead of an increase and not necessarily add beds for the next 7-15 years out. We would prefer to look at those growth issues through the regional process. The first draft of recommendations is supposed to be sometime in June or July Com. Hennessy If we went with the regional jail plans, what might that cost? More interested in how this all is going to gel in the future and what the cost might be. Who would oppose this? Delabbio One of the reasons we are having this study done is to determine future costs and the potential for at least containing costs by participating in a joint venture with 2 other counties. We don t have that information yet. In terms of opposition, if there is no agreement reached between the five cities and the County that there may be some opposition to this. Believes that if we continue to talk, negotiate & educate them to the fact that a loss on this will be bad for everyone. It would be financially bad for everyone - the communities as well as the County. Hopefully, reason will prevail. This is a basic philosophical debate. A fairness issue, equity issue, perception issue, but if this millage were to fail then the sheriff could conceivably say that we are not going to accept anymore of your ordinance violators, we could increase the cost from $50/day to much higher costs.

5 Com. Mast Voted for the millage in 1990 but can t remember what it was advertised to do. Delabbio 20 year bond, 20 year millage to add 2 pods to the facility and assist in the operations of all the corrections and detentions facilities. Some of that millage was used to add on to the juvenile detention facility in the mid-90s. The millage pays for both capital and operations. Com. Mast Is the new expansion at $28 million enough? Delabbio We may actually end up with a slight net reduction in cells, but they will be more efficiently operated. Com. Dillon When this construction is completed in 2011, doesn t that then reduce the cost to the County & the facility in terms of millage dollars going toward construction? Couldn t some of that money that had gone toward construction be used to offset the per diems? Delabbio The County would be issuing a 20-year bond to pay that. Bob White The bonds were sold in 1990 after the successful millage election were used to finance the construction of the 2 pods. On those bonds, there is still a balance outstanding that will be paid off in The $28 million replacement facility simply replaces exisiting beds. That will run about $1.9 - $2 million dollars a year of new debt service starting in Your existing debt service on the old debt is about $1.2 million so you will have a slightly increased debt service if you go ahead with the $28 million bond issue. You are simply replacing one issue that expires in 2010 with a new issue in 2011, at a slightly higher cost. Com. Dillon Total cost of the correctional facility? Delabbio - $36 million - operations and maintenance. Com. Tanis The time has come for us to stand together and say let s get this in the pipeline and get it moving. (Supports August ballot.) Com. Parrish Hears from her constituents concern for aging infrastructure. Supports getting it started right away. (August) Chair Morgan (Question for Facilities Manager Steve Hudenko) On a scale of A to F, what would you rate the infrastructure at the 1950s facility? Hudenko 1950 s section varies by floor. 3 rd floor = C; 1 st floor = F. Com. Bulkowski Does the operating cost of the correctional facility also include the alternatives to incarceration or is that a separate line item in the budget? Delabbio Includes some such as honor camp and work release, but the other alternatives come through the office of Community Corrections. Com. Vaughn Is there any part of this set aside for the juvenile detention expansion or remodeling? Delabbio We have looked at that facility, but none of this is being looked at for that facility. We are looking at Juvenile Detention through our regular CIP. The County does take.2 of a mill out for capital outlay annually.

6 Com. Vander Molen - How do we get this started. Delabbio If we are looking at an August election, we only have one more board meeting this month (May 22 nd ). Due to the deadline to submit ballot language to the County Clerk, this issue would go to legislative committee on May 13 th, Finance May 20 th & full board May 22 nd. ADJOURNMENT At 8:30 a.m., the Work Session was adjourned. Roger C. Morgan, Chair Mary Hollinrake, County Clerk