Six months after voters overwhelmingly approved a sales tax hike to pay for a new jail and behavioral health facility, Whatcom County and its seven cities have agreed on how the project will be financed.
A letter sent Monday, April 22 to the seven mayors formally laid out how the jail and behavioral health treatment facility proposed in Ferndale will be paid for over the next four to six years by the cities, including contingency plans if construction costs were to rise. It also details future funding obligations for the Justice Project plans that were part of the 2023 ballot measure.
The revenue stream from the 0.2% sales tax on retail goods and services, split 60% by the county and 40% by the cities, is expected to start in June with an anticipated $14 million to be collected by 2025.
Bellingham, Blaine, Everson, Ferndale, Lynden, Nooksack and Sumas will initially contribute 75% of the revenue collected from their portion of the sales tax into the capital funds project, which includes paying the construction bond, while Whatcom County will contribute 100% of its portion.
Bellingham’s remaining contribution will fund the Justice Project Implementation plan, which includes investing in behavioral and social services. The smaller cities’ remaining contribution will go toward public safety expenses, such as hiring additional police officers.
Unlike past jail proposals, this one went to the voters without a meaningful design or cost estimate for the facility. One estimate was 440 beds at a cost of $150 million, but those numbers are not expected to be final.
It took nearly eight years to approve the construction of a new jail. A Cascadia Daily News special report in 2023 found conditions in the jail — such as overcrowding, windowless cells and no facilities for those in mental health crisis — inhumane for inmates and correctional workers.
The cities sent a letter to the county in June 2023 expressing a willingness to participate in funding a new jail facility. The next month, Whatcom County Council passed an ordinance to put a 0.2% sales tax on the November ballot.
Currently, cities are charged a capital fee when they use the jail. The new sales tax acts as an upfront contribution to paying for the construction of the proposed Ferndale facility, Whatcom County Deputy Executive Tyler Schroeder told Cascadia Daily News.
“Why pay for something twice when you’re helping in collaboration with the county to use that sales tax to build the new facility,” he said.
The estimated $150 million cost of the project includes the design and construction of the jail and behavioral health facility, and demolishing the existing county jail in Bellingham.
Additionally, the plan allows room for cities to adjust their contributions if costs either rise or drop. Schroeder pointed to construction costs or interest rates as a factor for why the debt service payment might change.
A finance and facility advisory board of city and county representatives is also established in the plan, and that group is expected to start the design process of the jail in either late 2024 or early 2025. The new jail is likely to be built on 40 acres in south Ferndale at the intersection of La Bounty Road and Sunset Avenue.
The total cost of the project should be known by July 2026.
“We will be able to adjust the calculations and the sales tax share to be consistent with the overall tenets of the agreement,” Schroeder said. “The overall tenets are: We need to fund a new jail and we need to invest 50 percent for behavioral health. Then the cities keep their collections after those two things are accomplished.”
The earliest the jail facility could open is in 2028, according to the county.
By 2031, Bellingham and the small cities will have paid off their portion of the debt service for construction of the jail, Schroeder told the Ferndale City Council on Monday, April 15. Whatcom County would still have to contribute a portion of revenue to debt services on top of helping pay for incarceration prevention services, like re-entry programs and diversion programs.
At that time, Bellingham would contribute 100% of its revenue to the implementation plan while the smaller cities would contribute a portion of their revenue to public safety.
Overall, Schroeder said the spirit of the collaboration between the cities and the county has continued from last year’s letter to the formalized plan sent on April 22.
“The agreement is just a formalization of the things that we’ve already committed to, and all of the councils have been really receptive to the agreement and to the framework that’s already in place,” he said.
City councils have until June to approve the plan. Once approved, it’ll head to Whatcom County Council for final approval.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
