VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – The Vigo County Building Commission Board approved a lease agreement between the county and the Building Corporation for the new jail Friday morning.
Board members voted unanimously to approve the lease.
“This process has been going on for years, the new jail. There has been delays and I attend the commissioners meetings and it’s just something that we’ve gotten to the point now where we’ve got to move forward,” explained Patrick Ralston, Vice President of the Vigo County Building Commission. “There is a federal court order to get this jail built. And so this is a final step on the building commission, our step to approve the process.”
As of right now the building commission owns the annex, the juvenile center, the courthouse and the current jail.
This lease agreement, according to Vigo County Attorney Michael Wright, will hold the county accountable until it’s time to pay off the new jail.
“The county agrees to use tax dollars to support those lease payments so that the building corporation knows that the money is, that the full faith and credit of Vigo County is standing behind the debt,” said Wright.
The debt will be paid off via funds from the special purpose local income tax as well as the correctional rehabilitation rate local income tax.
Wright went on to explain that the local income tax rate was increased by 75 cents, 45 of which will be put towards paying off the jail.
“Those two tax rates are not distributed to the other unites of local government in our community and are dedicated solely to pay for the security center, the jail,” said Wright.
The taxes have already been collecting funds, however they cannot be put towards the jail until the County Council pledges the income tax to the jail funding at their September 10 meeting.
