VANCOUVER, Wash. - Clark County voters will be asked this November to raise their own property taxes to renovate the county jail and hire additional public safety staff, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
The Clark County Council unanimously passed two propositions Tuesday night. The first seeks voter approval of a $366 million capital bond to pay for a partial renovation of the downtown Vancouver jail, built in 1984, and a rebuild of the county sheriff's office headquarters, which currently sits in the jail basement. The bond would be repaid through property taxes over 30 years.
The second proposition would raise property taxes by $0.44 per $1,000 of assessed home value to fund staffing for the renovated jail, generating about $51 million starting in 2027. The owner of a median-priced Clark County home would pay just under $300 more per year if both measures pass, according to a July estimate from the county manager's office.
"This is absolutely essential to our community," Councilor Matt Little said during Tuesday's meeting, per OPB. "It's not a fancy remodel. It's an essential remodel to making sure that the people in the jail and the staff are safe."
The renovation would add 165 beds for inmates facing short stays. Director of Jail Services David Shook said 62 percent of arrested inmates are released within 72 hours, and the new transitional beds would let staff separate short-stay and long-term inmates while expanding the jail's acute mental health ward.
The staffing levy would also fund sheriff's deputies and employees in courts, the prosecuting attorney's office and public defense. Both measures must pass for the plan to work as designed, since county policy requires operational funding before capital projects move forward, Shook said.
A June survey commissioned by the county found 61 percent of respondents did not know the jail is located in downtown Vancouver, leaving officials a steep sales job during an election season dominated by affordability concerns, OPB reported.