County resolution sets budget cap for jail and behavioral care center; task force to form finance and population work groups

A county-council resolution setting a planning budget cap for a new jail and an off‑custody behavioral care center prompted a lengthy discussion at the May 18 meeting of the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force (IPRTF).

Heather, co‑chair of the task force, summarized the resolution and the next steps, saying the council’s text lays out design principles and endorses a budget cap consistent with the Finance and Facilities Advisory Board recommendation. "The reason that's so important, of course, is because that was part of what voters understood," she said, adding that declining sales‑tax revenue means the "50%" investment referenced in ballot materials needs further work to reconcile with new revenue projections.

Councilman Barry Buchanan said the resolution aims to reassert the project’s values and asked the IPRTF to form two work groups: one to account for and recommend funding options for implementation‑plan projects (including legislative and grant possibilities) and another to study average length of stay and average daily population — "two big drivers in the bed count," he said. Buchanan said he will meet with council staff and the IPRTF co‑chairs to craft specific tasks for the groups and report back.

Mayor Cortez pushed back on reductions in estimated jail size, warning cities would not accept plans that risked booking restrictions. "We wanted a jail that has no booking restrictions," she said, noting cities have committed $27 million and may be asked for an additional $18 million under an interlocal agreement. Cortez said cities expect a clear guarantee against booking restrictions before further contributions.

Heather described preliminary finance modeling that shows the county’s maximum bonding capacity would fund about 44% of the project as currently scoped, not the 50% referenced in earlier voter materials. "So what's that 6% delta? Could we find that just for the, like, honor of we said 50, so let's try to do 50," she said, and urged volunteers to join a finance work group to analyze options.

Sheriff Tanksley said the public conversation should avoid an "either/or" framing between jails and services. "We want both," he said, urging the group to make that clear to the public. Several participants raised practical suggestions — for example, using behavioral‑health funding to underwrite in‑jail clinical positions — while others warned against relying on uncertain revenue sources.

Heather and Buchanan said the work groups will be stood up quickly, will include the players the resolution lists, and will report to steering with concrete work plans. The design and programming outputs from the STV design‑build effort will be offered to advisory boards in June–August for input prior to final council review in early August.