Salt Lake County residents will vote this fall on a half-billion-dollar bond that would fund expanded mental health treatment and criminal justice reform.
If approved, $507 million in general obligation bonds would create a new facility for low-level offenders, combine the two existing jails into one and provide more mental health resources at the Salt Lake County Jail.
Repaying the bonds would cost property owners nearly $60 a year.
In a statement, the Salt Lake County Council said the bond is part of a bipartisan effort across the county and state to address mental health services, housing and criminal justice reform.
“We believe the public safety bond reduces the number of offenders on the streets,” the council said, “keeps our neighborhoods safer, protects our businesses, and ultimately is the most fiscally conservative way to invest in public safety and improve quality of life.”
Under the plan, Oxbow Jail would close. The county’s other jail would be expanded to include more beds, an improved substance use disorder treatment unit and a transitional unit to prepare inmates to “rejoin society,” according to a county presentation on the bond.
About $100 million will fund the planned Justice and Accountability Center for low-level offenders. The center would provide dedicated case workers, job training and employment services, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, and facilitate connections to housing options, according to the county council’s presentation.
The Justice and Accountability Center would ultimately save the county money, according to the presentation.
According to county estimates, housing an offender at the Justice and Accountability Center would cost Salt Lake County residents about $75 a day — roughly $60 less than keeping someone in jail.
The Oxbow Jail’s demolition would cost about $10 million, but officials estimate the sale of the property would bring about $20 million in revenue that would be used for the total $627 million cost of the county’s public safety and criminal justice reform plan. Another $100 million in COVID-19 pandemic relief money would also chip away at that total price tag, leaving property owners to foot the bill for $507 million.
Based on an average property value of $602,000, the bond would cost residents about $5 a month, or roughly $59 a year. Businesses would pay about $9 a month, or about $107 a year, according to the county council’s estimate.
It’s an investment that Wilson says is worth it.
“What we’re asking the public to approve is a revolutionary change to break the cycle of criminality and homelessness and put people on the path to self-reliance,” Wilson has said. “This bond is a key part of our plan to make homelessness brief, rare, and nonrecurring.”
The full breakdown of the $627 million includes:
• $90 million in necessary maintenance for the current jail facilities.
• $427 million for the consolidation and expansion of the new, combined jail facility.
• $100 million to establish the Justice and Accountability Center.
• $10 million for demolition of the Oxbow Jail.