What you need to know about voting to fund the new Beltrami County Jail

By Nicole Ronchetti

October 21, 2023 at 7:00 AM

BEMIDJI — With Election Day quickly approaching, many Beltrami County residents will have just one item on their ballot: a referendum on how to fund the new jail for the county.

But what exactly does the referendum mean, and what does a "yes" or "no" vote entail for the project?

The county has been pursuing a solution to its aging jail since 2019 when the Minnesota Department of Corrections stated that the facility, built in 1989, no longer met state standards. An extensive feasibility study later presented seven options for the county, ranging from doing nothing to building a completely new facility.

In November 2022, the Beltrami County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted in favor of building a new jail, citing its lower long-term costs to the county. Since then, the county has looked to find a suitable site for the facility and decide on how the $80 million dollar project will be funded.

This leads to the question on November’s ballot, which will ask county residents how they want to pay for the jail — through property taxes or through a local option sales tax?

The full language for the ballot question reads as follows: “The Beltrami County Board of Commissioners has voted to construct a new County Jail at an estimated cost of $80 million. Taxpayers have a choice as to how to fund the project. Shall Beltrami County establish a five-eighths of one percent (.625%) sales and use tax to pay for constructing and financing the new jail?

“A YES vote means that the majority of the costs would be financed through the sales and use tax which would remain in effect for 30 years or until the bonds are retired, whichever comes first.

“A NO vote means that the majority of the costs would be financed through increased property taxes for 30 years or until the bonds are retired, whichever comes first.”

Voting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 7, throughout Beltrami County. Visit to see the hours and location of your local polling place.

What is a local option sales tax?

The county is expecting to take out bonds to pay for the jail project, which means it will need a source of revenue to make payments on those bonds.

In addition to seeking funding from the state and federal governments, which while not out of the question has so far been unsuccessful, two of the other options for the county are those explained on the ballot.

“The county obviously doesn’t have an established revenue stream to take out an $80 million bond for the new jail, so we have to establish a new revenue source,” explained County Administrator Tom Barry. “We’re going to have to come up with around $5.3 to $5.6 million in additional funding annually in order to make the bond facilities.”
Barry also explained the impact increased property taxes would have compared to a local option sales tax.

“Property taxes (would have) anybody who owns property, and indirectly anyone who rents property, see an increase in their property tax or rental rates,” Barry said. “The sales tax collects money at the point of purchase (of eligible items) and it doesn’t matter who makes that purchase, so visitors that come to Beltrami County would be sharing in the cost.”

A study that the county did with the University of Minnesota’s extension office estimated that 50% of funding through a sales tax would come from non-county residents, decreasing the overall cost of the jail for local residents.

Since the sales tax would also only apply to certain eligible goods, which can be found on the and largely exempts household staples, it could also mitigate the financial burden of the project for the county’s poorest residents.

“We’re the second poorest county in the state and our board is very aware of that,” Barry said. “(In a county) with a low median household income, where the majority of the purchases in those households tend to be staples (which are exempted from the tax), I believe and the board believes that it will help insulate our most vulnerable citizens from the financial impacts.”

What happens if the referendum fails?

County officials have also emphasized that if the referendum fails, the jail will still be built and a "no" vote on the ballot is not a vote against the project.

“The ballot question is not ‘Do you want to build a new jail or not?’ it is ‘We are building a new jail, how do you want to pay for it?’” Barry said, “It’s extraordinarily important to differentiate that.”

Both because the board of commissioners has already made the decision to build a new jail, and because the DOC is mandating some sort of action unless the county wants its facility forcibly closed, the new jail will still be constructed if the referendum fails.

If the sales tax isn’t approved, Barry explained that the county board could take one of several options.

First, the county could slow the project down, which Barry emphasized would come with a substantial cost.

“Right now we’re on an aggressive timetable and the reason (for that) is we’re racing inflation,” Barry said. “Inflation is adding around $250,000 a month to the project cost.”

Slowing down the project would also mean a longer period of time housing inmates outside of the county, which currently costs around $117,000 a month and is only increasing.

Another option the county board could take is to pursue another sales tax referendum next year since its legislative approval extends for two years.

The final option is the board could accept the referendum’s outcome and fund the project through increasing property taxes.

Jail size, staffing and transportation concerns

While not directly related to the referendum, other community concerns with the jail project were also addressed, such as questions about the size of the planned jail.

Currently, the planned capacity for the new jail is 242 beds, which Sheriff Jason Riggs explained is designed to meet the community’s 30-year needs.

“With our current daily population (needs) in the jail would be 190 beds. In 2023, we would need 190 beds for that flex capacity,” Riggs shared. “It’s not a far stretch to say that in 30 years we could potentially need 50 more beds.”

The reasons behind this need for space vary, from the community’s growing population to the need for room to safely house individuals away from one another.

“I can’t house a misdemeanor offense with someone (charged with a serious crime), we have to have the space to keep people separated,” Riggs explained.

Those extra beds allow for the facility to use them as needed and grow into the extra space over the years. They could also provide an opportunity for the county to offset operational costs by leasing the extra beds out to other counties, as it is currently doing with inmates unable to be housed in the current facility.

“We can either leave (those extra beds) empty and close off that wing or unit and just move into it as we need, or we can lease out that space to other communities and get revenue from them,” Barry said. “That would offset our operational costs and drive down the (amount of the) tax levy.”

By building the facility to meet anticipated future needs rather than current numbers, Barry said that it will also reduce the need to do expansions in the future and that it’s also “buying future beds at today’s price.”

“You don’t build the maximum capacity you think you’ll have today because in a year or two, or three you’ll have to do another expansion and another expansion after that,” Barry said. “We’re building it (this size) so we don’t have to keep building on and on, which is one of the reasons we’re in the pickle we’re in because we did that with the (current facility).”

Despite being a larger jail, Barry also clarified that it would not necessarily have higher staffing needs. The way the current jail is constructed, the staff-to-inmate ratio sits at one to 12. With a more thoughtfully designed facility, that ratio could be improved.

“We’re being very attentive about how we build a facility that is not going to be staff intensive because more staff is more difficult for us to recruit and keep employed,” Barry said. “We’re hoping to get as many as three times the number of inmates watched by one staff (member) than we currently have.”

Another concern brought up by community members, particularly after the county selected a property to construct the new jail on, was the cost of transportation.

Riggs explained that due to the increased use of virtual hearings, transportation to and from the jail to the courthouse will have minimal cost and that the larger transportation cost is currently coming from driving inmates several hours to other counties’ jails so that they can be housed.

Efforts to reduce recidivism

Riggs also shared that the county remains committed to its efforts to reduce recidivism and provide programming and resources to those inside of the jail — from its reset program that connects inmates with everything from treatment to housing, to its efforts to address mental health concerns among the jail’s population.

“That’s all parallel right now, in the background, because this jail project happens to be taking up a lot of bandwidth,” Riggs said. “These are things that just don’t see a lot of light in the community yet… (our community) is making efforts to try and do these things, we are working on those problems.”

Jail Administrator Calandra Allen also highlighted the current programming available at the jail, and her hope that with increased space at the new facility, those programs can be improved and expanded.

“In the jails 20 years ago you locked up the people who broke the law, that’s it. We didn’t offer a library, we didn’t offer mental health, treatment, banking, education, I can keep going on,” Allen said. “Anything you can do (outside of the jail) we can offer within those four walls at a certain aspect or level.”

All of these help reduce recidivism, and Barry shared that no one at the county is looking to increase its jail population or to lock up more community members.

“Nobody wants to lock our way out of this. The reality is we are working hard to keep people out of that facility,” Barry said. “We want (a stay in the jail) to be a one-time stint.”

In closing, Barry explained that the county has no choice but to build a new facility, both for the safety of its staff and its inmates, and that the main question now is how that facility will be paid for.

“(The county board) wants citizens to be educated and involved and ultimately have a say in how the facility gets built and how it gets paid for,” Barry said. “It’s important to our board that there’s a choice here.”