Ada County Commissioners voted unanimously to authorize a resolution calling for a general obligation bond election for $49M to expand the Ada County Jail. Voters in Ada County will see the question on the November 7, 2023 ballot.
The last major expansion to the Ada County Jail happened in 2003. At that time the county’s population was just over 325,000 people. The county’s current population is approximately 545,000. The Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) estimates that in the next decade our population will be 600,000. Learn more about the jail expansion project.
If you want to see how many inmates are in custody in real time – and how many people the county is keeping out of jail through our Pretrial, Alternative Sentencing, and Misdemeanor Probation programs, check out the Ada County Jail Population Dashboard. The jail dashboard also includes demographic information, (age/race and gender) and information on types of charges for which inmates are being held.
If passed by two-thirds of voters, the estimated tax impact for the average homeowner in Ada County would be just over $13 a year. ($3.60 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value (assessed property value less any exemptions).
TAX IMPACT
The anticipated interest rate on the proposed bond issue, based upon current market rates, is 3.87% per annum. The total amount to be repaid over the life of the bonds, based on the anticipated interest rate, is $71,665,875, consisting of $49,000,000 in principal and $22,665,875 of interest. The term of the bonds will not exceed twenty (20) years from the date of issuance.
The estimated average annual cost to the taxpayer of the proposed bond is a tax of $3.60 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, per year, based on current conditions.
The total existing indebtedness of Ada County, including interest accrued, is $0.00.