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September 3, 1997
Cost projections for new jail shock Pierce County officials
TACOMA (AP) -- A new jail for Pierce County could end up costing millions of dollars more to build and staff than originally expected.
Jail designers told County Executive Doug Sutherland that building a jail with all the features the county wants -- 1,000 beds, two courtrooms and other facilities -- could cost $51 million or more.
And Pat Kenney, the county's director of administration, said that, as currently planned, the county won't have enough money to run the jail when it opens.
Staffing and operating the jail will produce an annual cost overrun of about $8.3 million by 2002 or 2004, Kenney said.
"This is a major problem," Kenney said. "It may well be the deficit is really bigger than this."
Initial estimates put the cost of the jail at $30 million to $35 million, and they were later revised to $40 to $45 million.
Members of the County Council were astonished when Sutherland told them of the latest cost projections on Friday.
"This is shocking," Councilman Wendell Brown said.
Much of the price of a new jail is to be paid for with a voter-approved sales tax increase of 0.1 percent.
Design team leader Gary Chandler said the figures were based on the county's needs compared to the costs of other jails.
"There are no plans (yet). This is basically a list of spaces and requirements," he said. "At this point, it's always the case that the stated needs are always much greater than the piggybank has available."
Chandler, an architect with McGranahan Partnership of Tacoma, said designers will come up with a plan tailored to the county's budget.
The jail will be built behind the County-City Building, at the corner of South Ninth Street and Yakima Avenue South.