Fulton County officials expect to have less money to put toward jail upkeep while planning for a new, larger facility — even as the overcrowded facility draws unwelcomed national scrutiny for poor conditions and a rash of inmate deaths.
County staff sought to establish a reserve fund of up to $40 million from this year’s expected property tax receipts to pay for both planning a new jail and a “bridging plan” proposed by Sheriff Patrick Labat to keep the old jail functioning until a new one is ready.
That effort has stalled in county commission.
While nearly $20 million has been dredged from various existing budget lines, that won’t be enough for both planning and improvements, county officials say.
A proposed resolution to set up a jail reserve fund explicitly included the bridging plan, county Chief Financial Officer Sharon Whitmore said. But that language was removed after the resolution failed to pass, and before it came back to commissioners Aug. 16.
“At the second meeting we made it explicitly about setting aside funds for the replacement jail,” Whitmore said.
Then, the resolution was held again.
“We are not planning to bring it back at this next board meeting,” Whitmore said.
At the Aug. 16 meeting, commissioners also voted to keep the county’s property tax rate unchanged. County staff had proposed a rate hike that, coupled with a nearly 12% increase in property valuations this year, would have brought in millions more.
But leaving the rate unchanged means the remaining excess revenue would “not be that beneficial” for funding the bridging plan, County Manager Dick Anderson said.
Future funding uncertain
County departments are just starting to work out their budgets for the next fiscal year, Whitmore said. They’re revising their requests in light of the unchanged property tax rate, she said.
Fulton County’s fiscal year is the same as the calendar year.
Those revisions mean some county priorities, such as expansion of health services, may be put off as the new jail takes priority, Whitmore said.
“It may very well end up that the only thing that we are going to look to move forward with out of our multi-year plan … is trying to find the funding for the design work for the replacement jail,” she said.
County staff are looking at various options to fund the estimated $1.7 billion cost of a new jail, including state permission for another local sales tax, but all such discussions are in early stages, Whitmore said.
At commissioners’ direction, staff are proceeding with planning for the new jail, Whitmore said. That includes working on an agreement for a third-party authority to issue bonds for the project.
Whitmore said there are no impending requests from the sheriff for more money, but expects that to come.
“He has previously indicated that he would be coming back to the Board of Commissioners for additional funding, but that predates at least the last two to three weeks’ worth of news stories,” she said.
Getting from here to there
County commissioners have endorsed the general idea of spending nearly $1.7 billion on a new jail four times the size of the existing facility at 901 Rice St. It would have room for about 4,500 inmates, but would also have space for mental health care, education and reentry programs that the current jail lacks.
In June, Labat called for spending $27.6 million on a “bridging plan” to maintain jail operations until a new facility is ready in 2029. No new appropriation was immediately approved, but county staff identified $19.8 million from various funds in the current year’s budget to start with.
“We looked within the sheriff’s budget first,” Whitmore said.
The $19.8 million includes $7.4 million from pay allocated for the sheriff’s office, available since many jobs remain unfilled, she said. Another $5 million comes from open jobs in other county departments. The remaining $7.4 million comes from various county appropriations that hadn’t yet been spent, Whitmore said.
Of that money, $4.5 million is going to the jail’s health care provider, NaphCare, as part of its revised contract for the rest of this year, Whitmore said.
Other spending includes a new food services contract, which will feed inmates and staff without bringing in any premade outside food; and hiring about 85 private security personnel to man the jail’s observation towers that oversee cell blocks. Those personnel would not be in direct contact with inmates, but their presence would free up jail deputies to be in the housing units.
And about $8.3 million will go for repairs.
Labat has touted a “floor by floor, month by month detailed plan” to refurbish the jail, Whitmore said. It was expected to start in July and be done by May 2024, but is running about six weeks behind, she said.
All that is just for this fiscal year. Ongoing maintenance funding will be considered in the 2024 budget — but planning until now has been based on the assumption of a higher millage rate, Whitmore said.
Reporters Jozsef Papp and Shaddi Abusaid contributed to this story.
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