Property tax first step in jail, justice expansion

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

Neither cheers nor celebration greeted recent agreement on a ballot proposal for financing expansion of the county jail and associated diversion programs for offenders.

Rather, the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee completed that troublesome task with resignation. That's because members knew the tougher challenge will be convincing voters of the need for a permanent 5-mill property tax increase.

Two major obstacles will complicate the advocates' efforts.

"This is way off everybody's radar screen except those who deal with it all the time," cautioned county budget manager Bob Keister.

Further, surveys consistently show that residents of the county overwhelmingly feel safe and have confidence in the competence of police.

Together, they make for a hard sell on a proposal that would cost the owner of a $250,000 house an additional $100 annually. The cost for commercial properties would be about four times the residential tab.

"The polls haven't exactly been in our favor," acknowledged criminal justice coordinator Angela Erker.

Still, district court judge Terence Gilmore said his fellow committee members should take pride in achieving this "significant milestone" that most agreed should be the most presentable proposal possible.

"I'm thinking positively about it," said Larimer County Commissioner Karen Wagner.

The proposal to be placed on the November ballot calls for a perpetual 5-mill property tax increase. Revenues would go toward retiring a $62 million bond issue with $56 million dedicated to a 289-bed expansion of the detention center and $6 million for expansion of pre-trial programs offering incarceration alternatives to reduce the jail population.

In addition to retiring the bonded debt, a portion of the tax revenues also would go toward building a reserve fund. It would be set aside to cover contingencies, deal with unexpected developments and possibly finance additional criminal justice programs or facilities if the reserve funds are not otherwise needed.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for us," said Erker. If the reserve fund remains intact, by 2009 it could finance a work-release facility capable of housing 150 offenders, she said.

Keister said the reserve fund was a crucial component added to the final proposal to provide greater flexibility and allow for "mid-course corrections," given the imprecision of predicting needs so far into the future.

That surplus fund could prove to be an important buffer, considering the uncertainties for meeting the county's nearly $1.1 billion in estimated criminal justice needs for the next 20 years.

To accomplish that, the plan calls for returning to the voters in 2008 to seek approval of a 0.2 percent sales tax. It would finance operations at the expanded jail, providing this year's property tax proposal is approved. The plan further anticipates seeking an additional 3-mill permanent property tax increase in 2013 and again in 2019 and a 2-mill increase in 2026. If additional revenues are required, Keister said, future commissioners may consider seeking extension of the current 0.2 percent justice building sales tax that expires in 2012 and the current 0.2 percent detention center sales tax that expires in 2014.

"If we show people we've done well, it's easier to come back later," said Wagner. "We need to prove ourselves to the voters."

While he conceded that there's a risk in depending on future tax increases to finance operation of detention facilities, Keister said that is a chance the county has to take. But if the current property tax proposal is approved, he said, the physical facility would at least be built and could be opened later when operational funds become available.

The commissioners have until Sept. 8 to formally place the property tax issue on the ballot. Community information manager Deni LaRue said they are expected to wait until that date or slightly before to allow time for a marketing consultant to perform nuts-and-bolts duties such as preparing informational materials and presentations. Harter Marketing Solutions will be paid a maximum of $15,000 for those efforts based on the hours of work performed.

After the issue is placed on the ballot, the county is forbidden from spending any public money or allocating any staff time on the issue. The county staff can still serve as a source of information, and the commissioners and other elected officials still are free to advocate for the issue.

Wagner said the commissioners do not plan to make any further significant changes in the proposal before it is placed on the ballot.