County supervisors prepare for final jail borrowing
The Crawford County Administration Building in Prairie du Chien. County Supervisors hold meetings in the building, which is across Beaumont Road from the new jail and courthouse.
By Steve Van Kooten
The final piece of financing for the county’s jail and law enforcement center project is scheduled to be completed next month.
At the County Board of Supervisors meeting on Feb. 17, the county passed a resolution to “set the sale” before accepting bids, which is referred to as a “heads up” resolution.
“You’re not giving yourselves any new authority, and you’re not approving any borrowing. You’re just saying, ‘[We’re] aware of the fact that we’re proceeding with the third and final phase of a borrowing,’” said Carol Wirth, president of Wisconsin Public Finance Professionals.
The resolution also stipulates that the bonds will be sold at a competitive sale at a future date, according to Wirth, who acts as a financial consultant for the county and has worked extensively on the financing of the jail and law enforcement center project.
The county supervisors approved borrowings for the jail in the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025 for $13 million and $18 million, respectively.
“This third, final phase of borrowing is for $4 million, which uses up the full $35 million of authority you adopted back in 2024,” said Wirth.
The county cannot borrow more than $4 million due to resolutions they made two years ago that limit them to $35 million (the guaranteed maximum price of the project).
The county is using general obligation bonds, which are income investments typically repaid through taxes (often property tax). The bids are going to be on sale on March 9, with a special board meeting scheduled the next day to accept a winning bidder. These dates are changed from March 2 and 3.
“There will be a resolution at that time that you will take action on,” said Wirth. “It will contain the final interest rate, it will show you all of the bidders, and at that time, you will be locking in all of the financing.”
According to the timeline provided by Wirth, the county should receive the money on March 26.
The bidding process is expected to generate extra income the county can use to pay off its debt quicker, while also determining the final interest rate and other financial details for the borrowing.
“There’s also some funds coming from the underwriter,” said Wirth. “There’s some activity occurring between them and the investors, so that’s what’s called a premium, which comes back to the county after the underwriter keeps his portion of it to pay all expenses.”
According to Wirth, all expenses associated with the financing are paid for by the underwriter using the premium money, and the remainder will be given to the county.
“The county uses that money to offset its debt service tax levy,” she said.
The county’s previous two borrowings generated thousands of dollars in premium; the second phase of borrowing (for $18 million) resulted in an additional $474,759.
In the previous borrowings, the county has received lower than expected interest rates and higher reoffering premiums, which has helped curb the overall bill for the project.
“When we started these three phases, we estimated all of these interest rates to come in at five percent, all three phases to be repaid in 22 years and the total principal interest to be repaid over that time to be $56.9 million,” said Wirth. “Now, with two phases locked in, both of them in the 3.8-3.9 percent range, we’re actually one year shorter, and the principal interest over that time is $50.7 million.”
On Feb. 18, the Finance Committee recommended depositing the money for the bond sale with Community First Bank. People’s State Bank also made a deposit proposal.
Finance Committee Chair Gary Koch, Wirth, County Clerk Robin Fisher and Treasurer Deanne Lutz met with Moody’s after the supervisors meeting for a bond rating, which will influence the county’s prospects in the bond market.
Jail progress
According to Supervisor Gary Orr, the county sheriff’s department is interviewing candidates for positions in the new jail.
Nate Bremmer, a member of the county’s jail transition team, said the new facility has to operate with a certain number of jailers due to requirements from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC).
“With the old facility, we were grandfathered in under the DOC rules and regulations. Now that we’re moving into a new building, we have a staff number resulting in increases by one due to Master Control,” he said.
Bremmer said the old jail facility in the law enforcement center is out of compliance with DOC regulations and requirements.
“It’s got a lot of things: it’s not ADA compliant, it’s got a lot of issues with plumbing and electrical, we’ve got one cell currently out of commission because the wall is falling apart and the lighting is deteriorating. We’re literally falling apart piece by piece as time goes on,” said Bremmer.
The supervisors will take another jail tour after their meeting in April. Bremmer added that the county hopes to have the go-ahead from the state building inspector’s office and a start on working with the DOC for their approval.
The project is scheduled to finish at the end of summer or early fall of this year.
