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1. Is the new jail proposal a response to public response after the Justice Complex proposal was defeated in the May 2021 election? Yes. The new jail proposal is the result of extensive feedback that was provided by the community to county professionals and elected officials. This feedback was obtained from the community over the months leading up to the election, and the months afterward. Feedback was provided from other local government officials, community leaders, law enforcement agencies and the public at large. The county also did a survey monkey on its Facebook page as well. The survey monkey didn’t have a large response, but we appreciate those who took the time to fill it out. Those responses were also included in the county’s discussions. 2. What is the cost to the taxpayers? The total cost to the taxpayers for the Jail/Sheriff’s Office proposal over the course of 20 years HAS BEEN REDUCED SUBSTANTIALLY from the former Justice Complex proposal, and is broken down as follows (these figures are rounded): Current proposal for Jail/Sheriff Office ONLY OLD proposal for entire Justice Complex Building Cost $15,000,000 $30,000,000 Interest Cost $4,785,000 $6,790,000 Operations $14,460,000 $17,520,000 20-year Total $34,245,000 $54,310,000 Please click here for more details on these figures: Cost Breakdown Jail Only vs. Justice Complex Also, please review the debt service schedule as prepared by bonding professionals, which shows the annual projected amounts as well as the total figures which agree to the information above. Click here: Debt Service Schedule for proposed millage request - Jail Sheriff Office only ---PAGE BREAK--- 3. How did you come up with the cost/square footage of the jail? That figure comes from Byce & Associates, an engineering and architecture firm based in Kalamazoo, MI. Byce & Associates is a Michigan Corporation since 1959 and has extensive experience with correctional facilities. Their Michigan projects include correctional facilities in Branch, Berrien, Delta, Livingston, Kalamazoo, and Allegan counties. Click here to be directed to Byce & Associate’s website: Byce & Associates, Inc. 4. How do we pay for the additional operations cost? The operations costs are included in the 1.15 mill request. There will be no separate millage request for operations. It is included in the 1.15 mill request 5. What are the Operations costs? The operations costs include staffing, inmate food and healthcare, and utilities. Staffing: The current staffing level of Corrections Officers in the jail is 10. It has been determined that an additional 4 or 5 Corrections Officers will be needed with the larger jail. Even though the new jail will be more than double the size of the current jail, we don’t need to ---PAGE BREAK--- double the staff because the pod-style design of the proposed new jail is safer and more efficient than the linear-style of the current jail. Safer: Corrections Officers are less likely to be harmed performing their jobs since the design allows officers to better see and assist each other rather than being cornered or out of sight. Allows for separation of arrest categories and crime severity or even age and those with contributing mental or medical factors. Provides a more humane and safer facility to protect inmates from each other and reduce the county’s chances of liability lawsuits as a result of inmate bodily harm or death. Processing Area - Marginally Compliant – Control Centers - Building configuration requires In Corridor, no security 2 minimum - staff intensive Limited Visibility of jail More Efficient: Our jail built in the 1960s was not built with many of the energy cost savings materials, insulation and utilities that we have as a standard today. Our County Maintenance Department spends countless hours including overtime responding to endless plumbing problems, heating and cooling issues as well as deteriorating infrastructure that at times requires welding or fabricating a just in time fix. Some of this recurring damage can be attributed to jail population taking advantage of the facility’s age and old design. Inmate food and health care: The county is required to provide food and pay for the healthcare needs of inmates. While these costs are managed very they will increase because of the potential for an increased number of inmates. Utilities: The proposed new facility will operate at a higher efficiency for its utilities than it does now. However, the county has included in this operational plan, an increase in cost due to the building being larger. 6. What happens to the current jail? If the millage is successful, the current jail/sheriff office space, once vacated, will be repurposed. It is the intent and goal of the county to bring the Building Department offices, Equalization, and Planning/Zoning down to the downtown county building to occupy the vacated space. Any potential renovations to modify space are expected to be minimal and will be funded internally. ---PAGE BREAK--- More detailed information is provided; Click this link: Downtown-County-Building-Information- PDF (otsegocountymi.gov) 7. Has the justice complex concept been completely abandoned? One of the most common feedback comments the county received regarding the justice complex proposal was – we support a jail but not an entire complex. Therefore, the new millage proposal doesn’t include the “complex concept” and now includes only a jail/sheriff office. However, the county still must address the infrastructure and security concerns of the court system. The county is evaluating options on how to accomplish that. One possibility might be to fund internally, a scaled back version of court offices to be placed adjacent to the proposed new jail site. That is what you see on the drawing labeled “future expansion”. A size for this potential project has not been determined yet, as it requires further evaluation and will depend on what the county can afford to fund internally. To reiterate, the county WILL NOT be seeking a millage to fund any court infrastructure or building costs. That feedback was loud and clear – the millage is for a jail/sheriff office ONLY. One question that may come to mind is, if the county potentially has internal funds available to pay for scaled back court offices, why weren’t those internal funds factored into the original plan? The answer is, the county has a NEW revenue source - American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding - that might be able to be used to assist with addressing aging infrastructure needs. It is a possibility that the county might be able to use a portion of this funding for this type of project. Final guidance on ARPA funding has not been released, so there is still uncertainty. If it is determined that ARPA funding is not able to be used in this way, then the county will likely need to forgo any future expansion and instead chip away at doing improvements to the Alpine Center over time. ---PAGE BREAK--- 8. Who are in jail? Please see the inmate roster, by clicking this link: Inmate-List-PDF (otsegocountymi.gov) 9. Is there anything else proposed on ballot in November? There are no other millage proposals on the November 2, 2021 ballot. The City of Gaylord has their offices on the ballot (Mayor, Clerk, Treasurer, City Council).