Cost of new jail in Lee County increases

DIXON, Ill. -- The county continues to work out plans to build a new law enforcement center, but recent estimates show the jail will cost more than estimated, and there will be less money than projected to pay for it.

The facility, to be attached to the south side of the Lee County Courts Building, 309 S. Galena Ave., will house an 80-bed jail, the sheriff's department, the coroner's office and the 911 Center.

Original cost estimates ranged from $15 million to $17 million, but that number is looking more like $18 million, not including parking or excavating work.

The amount of sales tax revenue the county will take in annually for the project is also expected to be slightly less than anticipated, Finance Committee Chairman Bob Olson said.

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That total could be up to $70,000 less a year than the nearly $1.1 million estimated from the half percent sales tax increase to pay for the new jail, which was approved by 64 percent of voters on April 4.

The tax increase takes effect July 1; the county should receive its first payment in October.

The county doesn't plan to issue bonds for the project until October or November, and it will likely be done in two parts -- $10 million in general obligation bonds this year and then the rest of the balance next year, to be paid across 20 years, Olson said.

"We don't want to have to pay it off in more than 20 years. The plan is still being refined, and hopefully the next estimate will come in lower."

Landfill revenue the county collects also has been steadily declining, shrinking to about a third of what was collected annually from Republic Services a few years ago.

"We're borderline deficit spending, and we can't add to that," Olson said.

The county has about $5.8 million in reserves, and the Lee County Board agreed Tuesday to put $750,000 of that into an account to pay for law enforcement center expenses.

It's a loan to the fund; the county can pay itself back after it gets a decent flow of tax revenue, Deputy Treasurer Melissa Lawrence said.

The board also hired HOK engineering and architect firm to design the center and Raymond James as the project's bond underwriter. It hired Cherry Valley-based Ringland-Johnson Construction as its construction manager last month.

Contracts for the work will go to the board in the next month or so.

Part of the planning process also will be to establish a bond rating for the county.

The county is in a good position because it doesn't have any debt, but the state's financial woes are sure to affect the rating, which drives the interest rate the county will get on the bonds, Olson said.

"Illinois is going to drag us down," he said.

The state's bond rating is one step above junk, and it could sink to that bottom rung if a budget isn't passed by the end of the month, which would start Illinois' third consecutive year without a budget.

Tribune Content Agency
Infrastructure Illinois
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