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Administration recommends upgrades and continued operation of Issaquah jail after financial analysis
Summary
After a four‑year financial forecast, the administration recommended the city keep operating its 72‑bed municipal jail while implementing operational and safety improvements; council asked for ongoing monitoring of revenues, rate impacts, and regional options including SCORE membership.
Dale Markey Crimp, assistant to the city administrator, presented a four‑year financial analysis of Issaquah’s municipal jail to the council on May 13 and asked for council guidance on whether to continue operating the facility or to close and contract for jail services.
The analysis summarized operations and costs: the Issaquah facility is a 72‑bed jail; current staffing includes a jail commander, four correction sergeants (one per shift), 12 corrections officers (three per shift) and one transport officer. Crimp reported the city spent about $3.8 million in 2024 to operate the jail and received roughly $1.65 million in jail revenues, producing a 2024 net cost of about $2.6 million; over the past two biennia (four years) the jail cost the city about $7.5 million.
Why it matters: Operating a municipal jail creates recurring operating costs and potential liability the city must fund; the administration’s analysis modeled four options and included an adjusted approach to allocating insurance costs to better reflect risk.
Insurance allocation and methodology: Crimp said the analysis used actuals rather than budget projections, forecasted across two biennia (2027–2030), and applied a…
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