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Talent may pay more following council's jail vote By Vickie Aldous of the Mail Tribune Jan 15, 2020 02:47 PM A A If voters approve a new jail in May, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office may start charging the town of Talent for the support services it provides to Talent police. That’s because Talent City Council voted 4-3 in November 2019 to stay out of a proposed property tax district that would raise money for a larger jail along Highway 62. City councils in Jackson County’s other cities voted to let their residents vote on the proposal for a $170.9 million jail. If county voters approve the measure, property owners in those cities will pay into the new tax district. The new district would cost 87 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, or $174 annually for a home assessed at $200,000. The move by Talent to stay out of the proposed tax district has set off grumbles about fairness from some supporters of the measure. Jackson County Sheriff Nathan Sickler said county officials are exploring how to deal with the issue. But capping the number of people arrested in Talent and lodged in the new jail is not a likely option. “We have not formalized any plan yet as to what exactly we’ll do,” he said. “We will probably not limit jail services. If we’re able to offer enhanced services for mental health and addiction to inmates, we don’t want to make it worse for the person because of the choice of a city council.” With more funding and space, the county might boost mental health care and addiction treatment in a new jail. Sickler said the sheriff’s office provides a range of support services to local police departments. For example, it provides 24-hour access to records seven days per week. Small communities would have to hire more records clerks without the help of the county. The sheriff’s office could stop providing free services to Talent or charge for services, Sickler said. “We do all of that for the ease of operations for small communities. We would evaluate all those things and look for a way to charge for those services or not do them,” he said. Talent Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood said she and councilors weren’t given any specifics about financial repercussions if Talent didn’t join the property tax district. “We asked those questions before we made our decision. The answers were an array of answers. It boiled down to we would still be provided with jail services like every other city,” she said. In presentations to city councils, county officials said they hadn’t worked out a plan if Talent opted out. “When you make a decision, you want to be presented with all the facts before making a decision. We were pushed up against a deadline,” Ayers-Flood said. Both Talent and Ashland opted out of a jail funding district in the spring of 2019, eliminating the possibility of a jail measure on the November 2019 ballot. County officials made the rounds to city councils again in late 2019 in hope of landing the jail proposal on the May 2020 ballot. That time they got all cities but Talent to agree to put the issue before their voters. Ayers-Flood said even without Talent’s participation in a funding district for a larger jail, the town’s residents still are paying taxes to the county for the current jail. They would continue to pay for those baseline costs even with a larger jail. The funding district would raise $170.9 million to build the jail, plus ongoing taxes to fund the increased cost of operations for the larger facility. The current fiscal year operating budget of $13.5 million for the 315-bed jail would jump to approximately $29 million if a new jail opened in 2024 with 800 prisoners, according to county figures. Operating costs would increase over time due to inflation and other factors. During the first 20 years of the new district, taxpayers would pay $514 million for jail construction and increased operating costs, according to county figures. Jackson County would pay $60 million toward the cost of the new jail. It already has paid $6.6 million to buy 47 acres for the proposed facility. Opponents of the proposal for a larger jail say it will siphon off millions of dollars from taxpayers and hurt the chances of future property tax measures to support schools and other community needs. They say higher taxes will put even more of a burden on people struggling to afford housing in the Rogue Valley. Many jail-tax opponents advocate putting more money into addiction treatment, mental health care and other areas that prevent people from being arrested in the first place. Supporters of a bigger jail say Jackson County’s jail is too small, leading to a catch-and-release system in which repeat offenders continue to victimize people — often while sinking deeper into drug addiction. Many offenders fail to show up in court, don’t comply with probation requirements and violate domestic violence restraining orders because of the lack of consequences, local judges say. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @VickieAldous. file photoTalent City Council voted 4-3 in November 2019 to stay out of a proposed property tax district that would raise money for a larger jail along Highway 62.