COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — The city of Columbus is facing what will be the most costly single construction project in its history.
A new jail.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Sheriff Countryman's case for a new jail
WRBL News 3's Chuck Williams has been looking at the cost of a replacement for the Muscogee County Jail.
Jails are not cheap. And the decision to build a new jail will have to be made sooner rather than later.
"It's staggering," said Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson.
That is how Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson describes the cost to build a replacement for the Muscogee County Jail.
Construction costs alone are estimated to be almost $400 million. Architect, engineering, and consulting services could drive that number to $478 million.
Just how much taxpayer money is that?
If you put the $200 million judicial center, the $50 million spent to renovate Synovus Park, and the $50 million needed to buy and renovate the old CB&T building to turn it into city hall. And you are still going to need $150 million – or more.
"It's a lot of money to have to come up with. And it's for a capital investment that we only have X amount of control over. Because you are going to end up... the Justice Department could come in at any time. And tell us the jail is not functioning as it should... and I don't care where you get the money." Henderson said.
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The current Muscogee County Jail towers were built in 1983 and 2002. The facility is in bad shape with leaks and outdated infrastructure.
The city council was briefed on Tuesday about the ongoing process to replace the jail. The consultants have been looking at three possible sites.
The discussion has now shifted to a fourth site. A city-owned piece of property where public works is located.
"There are multiple locations. There are also multiple designs. There has been nothing actually put on paper as far as the design of a jail," Henderson said.
The plans call for increasing the capacity of the jail from 1,067 beds to 1,600.
This jail could cost almost $100 million more than the city's annual operating budget. That leads to the half-billion dollar question: How do you pay for it?
"Now, the only available way is through bonds. Or perhaps combining that with some type of SPLOST. And if SPLOST doesn't pass, then the burden will fall on bonds... there are other funding mechanisms we are looking at," Henderson said. "We are calling DOJ. We are calling everybody we can think of calling to see if there is any type of grant funding available to help mitigate some of the costs."
When the mayor talks about bond funding, what he's talking about is borrowing the money. Property tax revenue is one of the ways to pay off that bond debt.
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