‘Be a good partner’: Fulton commission offers $56.5 million for Atlanta jail

Fulton County Commissioners on Monday sent a formal counter-offer to the city of Atlanta, suggesting the county purchase the city jail for $56.5 million.

The offer is the latest negotiation in what is shaping up to be a public letter-writing campaign to determine future of the Atlanta City Detention Center.

The commission’s price is significantly less than the $80 million Mayor Andre Dickens previously sought for the sale of the city jail.

The mayor also wanted support for his controversial plan to extend six of Atlanta’s eight tax districts over the next three decades, a $200 million contribution toward a new hospital on the city’s southside and other “county commitments,” commissioners have said.

By extending the Tax Allocation Districts, also known as TADs, the local governments would forego property tax revenue growth for 30 years within those districts. The funds would be used for redevelopment within those specific boundaries.

But Dickens formally withdrew that offer two weeks ago, writing that it was “no longer on the table” after a majority of commissioners opted out of Atlanta’s plan to extend the TADs. The county’s letter makes no mention of changing the commission’s opposition to the TAD extensions.

In all, commissioners said the city’s previous offer would have amounted to paying $1.4 billion for a jail valued at about $144 million.

Fulton County is operating under a federal legal agreement, known as a consent decree, to improve conditions at the Rice Street jail, which a Department of Justice investigation found to be deplorable and unconstitutional.

The county commission has agreed on a $1.3 billion plan to build a new facility for detainees with special medical or mental health needs, then refurbish the Rice Street facility. The new building will house inmates from sections of the Rice Street jail as it is refurbished.

In an earlier letter, Dickens criticized the county’s decision to invest in the jail over his plan to extend the taxing districts.

“This is not only bad governance, but also a regrettable decision that will cost more and deliver less for our city, county and region,” Dickens said in his letter to the commission last month. “To be clear, Fulton County desperately needs humane detention facilities.

“Unfortunately your $1.3 billion option is the wrong answer.”

Monday’s offer, signed by five of the six sitting commissioners, was based on a 2025 valuation by real estate services and investment firm CBRE, they said. Only commissioner Marvin Arrington, Jr. didn’t sign the letter. Former commissioner Mo Ivory stepped down this year to run for commission chair — a race she won against chairman Robb Pitts. She will now face a Republican in the November general election.

“In addition to being consistent with the third-party valuation, this price takes into account the $75 million in renovations required at (the detention center) given its age and the purpose for which the facility is needed,” commissioners wrote.

For the past four years, the city has leased jail space to the county so Fulton can house its detainees there as it works to improve conditions at the troubled Rice Street jail. That agreement is set to expire in December, meaning Fulton could see the amount it pays to house detainees triple, from $50 to $150 per day.

Commissioners said the county has repeatedly tried to acquire the city jail over the last 17 years “to improve public safety and to address the need for adequate detention space that primarily serves the city of Atlanta.”

Those negotiations have spanned several administrations, the letter said, and there were even discussions about transferring control of the center for free “to avoid charging taxpayers twice.”

“We agree that (the detention center) should be fully available for utilization by the county, but Atlanta has consistently resisted finalizing a deal to make that happen,” the letter said.

Over the last quarter-century, the county said it has contributed more than $550 million toward Atlanta’s redevelopment initiatives, including $53 million in property tax revenue that went to Atlanta’s TADs over the last year.