Walton County BOC punts on jail again

By Stephen Milligan – The Walton Tribune

The money is there, but the Walton County Board of Commissioners remains reluctant to spend it as the board once again voted to table discussion on the proposal to transform the former Walton County Sheriff’s Office and jail complex on South Madison Avenue into administrative offices.

The BOC voted 6-0 to shelve the topic until its November meeting, following a new briefing from county manager John Ward on the spending plan necessary to fund such an endeavor.

“I think this conversation should continue,” board member Amarie Warren said.  “I don’t think anyone is ready to vote on this, though. We have other questions and concerns.”

There’s been a lot of inquiries into the proposal to transform the former jail complex into government offices, including the county’s accounting offices and other administrative issues, the emergency management offices and the Walton County Board of Elections.

Moving the various agencies to the location could alleviate downtown parking concerns for emergency vehicles, provide more storage for voting machines and election records and provide additional room for growth, particularly for the possibility of a new circuit judge should the county require it in the future.

But critics have concerns over the cost of the project, particularly in the wake of funding battles for the new WCSO and jail complex across town and the increase in millage rate last year that followed.

Ward said the county could well afford the project, however, without having to increase taxes or sell bonds to fund it.

The county has proposed funding the conversion with monies from the county’s fund balance, which currently has $84 million in reserve.

Even after removing two months of operating expenses from that total, as suggested by the state, and other debt service needs, that leaves around $36 million the county can spare on projects, which would easily cover the projected $21.9 million budget of the jail conversion, which is expected to take about two years to complete fully.

Ward also laid out how much the project would cost if split into phases, with Phase 1, converting the front part of the old WCSO offices into administrative spaces, costing about $15 million, while Phase 2 would cost about $5 million for the board of elections and Phase 3 would cost nearly $2 million for emergency management.

That split would increase costs by more than a million dollars extra, costing about $23 million total for the entire project.

Ward said, however, the county could easily spend the money without impacting its financial status, including its newly announced top bond rating.

“It would not affect the bond rating at all,” Ward said.

County chairman David Thompson, who has prominently pushed the project, including clashing publicly with critics and skeptics on the project at a recent public work session, was not in attendance at Tuesday’s monthly meeting of the WCBOC and could not weigh in on the decision to table the much-belayed discussion yet again.