WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. — The Whatcom County Council has scheduled a special meeting for May 5, 2026. The agenda includes discussion regarding Resolution AB2026-340, which establishes a preliminary planning budget cap for the capital construction of the Whatcom County Jail and Behavioral Care Center.
Changes to the agreement are needed after determining construction costs have increased while sales tax revenues have not met initial forecasts.
The resolution lists principal elements of the project to include the following.
- construction of the care center and the jail
- design of the jail with health treatment space, detoxification capacity, and education space
- design-build team shall provide review and public input opportunities before scope and financial decisions are made
The current draft resolution establishes a budget ceiling of $205 million dollars for the jail and $34 million dollars for the care center. Funding for the care center includes $20 million dollars from sales tax and $14 million dollars from state sources and grants.
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Qualifying investments include the following.
- behavioral health facilities
- incarceration reduction programs
- community-based treatment
- re-entry
- supportive housing
- diversion
- accountability measures
The resolution also establishes a subgroup to coordinate with the Incarceration Prevention and Reduction Task Force and the Law and Justice Council. The subgroup is tasked with developing a minimum of 2 financially viable pathways to achieve the 50 percent funding floor for qualifying investments.
According to the resolution, the subgroup will be made up of the following.
- community members with expertise in behavioral health
- community members with expertise in housing
- community members with expertise in public finance
- individuals with lived experience of incarceration
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We’ve been fiddling around discussing how to pay for a new jail now for 20 years in Marcon County.
In the meantime, we built up a huge and very inefficient WTA, bus service, managed and operated by government people.
The WTA was voted in by the people and at the time represented to be 2 1/2 million dollars per year operation. The budget for 2026 is $74 million we provide bus rides for three dollars per ride and the cost is $25 per ride. Half of the buses run with a bus, driver, and one or two riders.
We could easily pay for the jail by cutting WTA budget by 50% or $35 million per year and pay for the new jail and its operating cost.
At theWe could easily pay for the jail by cutting WTA budget by 50% or $35 million per year and pay for the new jail and it’s operating cost.
At the same time this would force of WTA to either be more efficient or shut down. The majority of the bus rides are for Western Washington University students who are from out of town and pay no taxes.
Like everything else our solution is raised taxes and never look at inefficiencies in cost cutting to make ends meet.