The plan to build a new jail was first approved in 2019 in an effort to close the aging jail in the City-County Building, as well as the outdated Ferris Huber Center.
But after the pandemic hit and the cost of labor and materials skyrocketed, the projected budget for the project quickly skyrocketed. Originally, it was estimated that the new jail would cost around $148 million, but that original plan would now cost around an additional $24 million.
At the board’s last meeting two weeks ago, county officials voted to postpone the vote to approve the additional funding to tonight, but a new plan, released yesterday, may help to bring the project closer to the original budget.
This new plan would lower the amount of beds to around 825, which is 97 beds less than the original plan, and close to 200 beds less than the current jail.
Supervisor Melissa Ratcliff, who helped to write the plan, says that she still supports the original plan, but yesterday’s changes were a compromise to get the project started.
“I’m still in support of the 922 bed facility, and the additional $24 million in funding. But I understand that others on the board had concerns about the scope of the project and the amount of funding, which is why I appreciated the collaboration with my colleagues to work on this and put forward this sub,” Ratcliff says.
The smaller jail would help bring the project closer to its original budget, this time around $16 million more than what was originally planned. It would also be enough to close the jail in the City-County building, which the writers of the amendment say was their number one priority. The new proposal would also give room for medical beds, and would close solitary confinement within the Dane County Jail.
The biggest change in this new plan is that it would not allow the Huber Center to close. The Huber Center, located near the Alliant Energy Center, is currently used for jail residents on work release.
Under the plan, the Huber Center would have to remain open for at least another three years so they can find a new space for jail residents on work-release.
Not everyone is on board with the new plan. Supervisor Yogesh Chawla says that he feels it is imprudent for the board to vote on a plan that has only been released for a single day.
“Essentially what we’re looking at here is a completely new plan and a completely new resolution, so I don’t think it’s prudent for the County Board to take this up as a whole tonight. I think this definitely needs to be looked at in committee because there are a number of fairly significant changes and I think we need a lot more detail on them, and I think they need to flesh out a lot of these ideas. I think this resolution still has a way to go,” Chawla says.
Supervisor Patrick Miles also helped to write the new plan. He says that the reason the plan came out so late is because they had not finished writing it until early this week.
“Unfortunately it’s a simple case of logistics of our schedules lining up so we could meet up, those of us who wanted to come together and hammer out a compromise. We were only able to meet late last week, almost last weekend. Then there was some language I wanted in the resolves clauses that required consultation with council so we could make sure we could do what I wanted to do in the resolved clause, which is the enforceable part of the resolution, ” Miles says.
Dane County Executive Joe Parisi says that he is happy the board is working to compromise, but is worried that the resolution came out too late to have support from the full board.
“You know, it’s a move in the right direction. It’s good to see people are looking at options and trying to find some common ground to make something work. Now we have to see how much support there is for it on the board, if they have the votes to pass it or not. I’ll be watching, and let’s see what they come up with tonight,” Parisi says.
The vote will happen at tonight’s Dane County Board meeting, which starts at 7PM. The resolution to increase the funding needs approval from three-fourths of the board to move forward.
Photo courtesy: Brian Standing / WORT Flickr
