Jail cost projection skyrockets

Latest price tag ranges to $19 million

A new jail for Spartanburg County will cost $16.4 million to $19.3 million - 40 percent higher than earlier projections - according to consultants' preliminary estimates.

The price tag, discussed yesterday at a Jail Advisory Committee meeting, has raised debate among county officials - some say the county can't afford to build the facility; others arguing it can't afford not to.

County Councilman David Dennis called the projected cost "totally unrealistic," saying it's far more than the county can afford and twice what he expected. County Council Chairman Lach Hyatt, too, said the estimates are higher than he expected, but he joined other judicial and law enforcement officials in calling the new jail essential.

The county eventually will have to build a new jail, and the cost likely will increase the longer construction is delayed, they said. At the heart of the funding debate are questions of whether the project will fall within the county's bond debt limits. If not, a bond issue to fund construction will have to be approved by county voters.

Steve Carter of Carter Goble Associates of Columbia, a consulting firm specializing in jail and prison design, said yesterday the preliminary cost estimates are based on projected population and standards set by state laws and federal courts. Carter and John Stucker, the firm's systems analysis specialist, said jail population trends and time-in-jail averages led them to estimate that the county would need about 300 jail beds by the year 2000.

Five cost estimates, based on various options, were discussed yesterday. They were: renovating and adding to the existing jail, with an estimated cost of $16.4 million to $18.4 million; demolishing the existing jail and constructing a new facility at the same site, $16.8 million to $18.9 million; building a new jail on the parking lot adjacent to the existing jail, $16.8 million to $18.8 million; building a new jail across Daniel Morgan Avenue from the existing facility, $17.3 million to $19.3 million; and building a new jail on a site outside the city, $16.4 million.

Each option has advantages and disadvantages, said Ted Prosser, Carter Goble construction manager. Cost estimates for the various options, he added, are tentative because there are so many variable still involved. Actual cost could be significantly less than the estimates.

Dennis said the county should consider other options, such as continuing to lease space at the city jail or building a facility to meet only the county's existing jail needs.

Don Dease, Jail Advisory Committee member and employee of the state Department of Corrections, said, "While this is awful expensive, we can't afford not to do it. We've got to have a new jail, and it will only cost more to build down the line."

Dease and other committee members noted the existing county jail has exceeded its rated capacity for more than eight years. State officials have been lenient in enforcing the capacity ratings because the county has continued to work to try to alleviate the problem. They noted the overcrowded problems and other problems at the jail are likely to get worse, particularly if the proposed Omnibus Crime Bill wins approval of the state Legislature. That bill would require counties hold persons sentenced to jail terms of less than one year, increasing the number of people in county jurisdiction.

Failure to continue the progress could subject the county to state sanctions and possible intervention by the federal courts, which already have set minimum standards at jails and state prisons across the county.

One problem facing the county is whether it can issue construction bonds without voter approval. State laws limit a county's bonded indebtedness based on total assessed value.

County Administrator Ken Westmoreland said the county now has about $10 million in its debt limit, but the debt ceiling should increase based on a property revaluation now underway. He said the reassessment, which will be completed next year, is estimated to increase the total assessed value by 15 percent or more. The total assessed valuation for the past fiscal year was $344 million.

Carter said his staff will work to update jail population estimates, particularly the effects of the Omnibus Crime Bill, and breakdown estimated costs. He said the breakdowns will attempt to better identify the cost of each component of a new facility, allowing county officials to manipulate those areas and possibly reduce total cost.