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Finance presenter outlines $47M jail financing and tax impacts; committee opts for study committee instead of immediate bond
Summary
Consultant Carol Worth presented a three-phase financing plan for a proposed $47,000,002.85 jail and showed examples in which combined borrowing could raise the county—s debt-service tax rate to about $2.60 per $1,000 when jail debt begins in 2029. Supervisors voted to return the resolution and create an ad hoc study process rather than commit to immediate bonding.
Carol Worth, the remote presenter, walked the Richland County Executive Finance Standing Committee through assumptions and a detailed debt-service model for a potential new jail project.
"We're going to be looking at debt service numbers," Carol Worth said as she explained her method: grow the county—s 2025 equalized value by 5% for five years then 2% thereafter, include a recurring $2,025,000 short-term CIP borrowing, two $3.5 million capital issues, and a three-phase jail borrowing she listed at $10,000,000, $22,000,002.85 and $15,000,000. She explained the statutory 5% legal-debt limit and calculated remaining capacity under current equalized-value assumptions.
Worth projected that if all pieces were issued on the schedule she modeled the county—s combined debt-service tax rate could rise to about $2.60 per $1,000 when jail debt service first appears in 2029; she also showed the jail-only column averaging about $0.99 per $1,000 across the modeled years. She emphasized that numbers depend on interest-rate assumptions (her example used 4.5%) and on annual equalized-value growth.
Supervisors questioned the distributional effect on taxpayers, with one noting that the percent-based tax rate decline from growth does not eliminate the immediate dollar increase homeowners will see when the new debt phases in. The committee discussed alternatives including renovating the existing facility, building a smaller holding facility, or contracting for transport and housing with other counties.
Rather than approving the draft resolution that tied capital borrowing directly to committing to a new jail, the committee debated amending the language. Committee members said they wanted a public presentation of alternatives and clearer cost comparisons. After discussion the committee did not adopt the resolution as originally drafted; members moved instead to advance a process (ad hoc committee and further study) for examining alternatives and reporting back to the full county board.
