COUNTY TO BEGIN WORK ON PROPOSAL FOR VOTERS
A public safety committee has recommended to the county commission the proposal of an additional 312 new beds for the Platte County Jail.
The committee recommends that the Platte County Commission seek voter approval to build a “stacked” addition to the current jail on the northwest corner of the current county complex in Downtown Platte City. The area where the jail addition is recommended currently serves as a small parking lot for some county officials and county vehicles.
The recommended jail addition would cost an estimated $69.6 million, the public safety committee says, based off estimates provided by an architectural firm.
Adding 312 new beds to the existing 152 beds would allow for 464 beds in at least 13 pods built in the same general arrangement as the current cells, day rooms and security hub, according to the committee’s final report.
Expansion of service areas, including kitchen, laundry, holding areas and attorney-client meeting rooms are to be included.
The committee, which met over the course of the past few months, further recommends that the county commission submit a proposal to the voters to approve a sales tax, with a 10-year sunset, in the amount of either a quarter cent or a 3/8th cent rate.
“Assuming a three percent growth in tax revenue, based on the 2022 general sales tax (after most of COVID) at a quarter cent would generate $64 million,” the committee’s report says.
The $64 million would be short of the committee’s estimate of a $69.6 million project.
“A 3/8th cent tax for 10 years would generate $96 million,” the committee says.
“The county would need to seek financing, probably through general obligation bonds,” the committee report says.
Michael Short of Stifel provided information about how the bond process would work. Short informed the public at that meeting that the county’s financing costs would be negatively impacted by the fact the county’s credit rating is currently in junk bond status, due to the county’s decision a few years ago not to cover the Zona Rosa parking garage bonds. The legality of that decision was upheld by the courts but the choice left the county’s bond rating in junk status.
UP NEXT
Next, the county commission’s work is just beginning, according to Scott Fricker, presiding county commissioner.
“Our task is to take this recommendation and turn it into a new jail. We’ll be working with financial advisors, architects, bond underwriters, lawyers, consultants, and contractors. We’ll review many different designs, financial structures, and other details along the way. We’ll reach out to the public for their feedback and we’ll work to educate them about the importance of this project,” Fricker said.
No specific timeframe has been announced, but if the county commission wishes to place a jail proposal on the April ballot, the certification deadline with the Platte County Board of Elections is Jan. 23 at 5 p.m.
Joe Vanover, second district county commissioner, offered these thoughts after receiving the report from the public safety committee:
“Everyone can agree some criminals need to go to jail. In my 14 years as a prosecutor, I saw judges make decisions every week about who needs to stay in jail and who can be released. Anyone that studies the issue will see that our judges individually review each criminal defendant. We cannot let Platte County get to the point where we are forced to release inmates simply because we don’t have room in the jail.
“I met with the Kansas City officials that are trying to solve their detention center problem. Kansas City regularly is forced to release inmates against judges’ orders because they don’t have the space.”
Vanover remarked that it’s his feeling “the Platte County Jail is full of inmates that need to be there. We have run out of jail space. We need a long term solution.”
The jail committee reported at a recent meeting the average daily population of the jail in 2022 was 214. That average daily population number has dropped by 20, to 194 this year, according to information presented by the committee at an Oct. 30 public meeting.