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| Washington Department of Corrections plans for a decade of projects |
| By oregonlive.com - Kari Bray, The Oregonian |
| Published: 09/18/2012 |
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The Washington State Department of Corrections is looking for about $700 million in new funds over the next decade to preserve current state prison facilities, acquire new spaces and expand to house a growing number of offenders, according to the DOC 10-year capital plan. The 10-year plan outlines prospective projects, and there is no guarantee as to how many of those will be completed, DOC Capital Programs Director David Jansen said. While operating budgets are planned on a two-year, or biennial, basis, capital plans look forward 10 years due to the nature of capital funding. State operating funds are generated from taxes and fees while capital funds come from bonds and dedicated cash accounts. In order to develop an idea of how much money the government will need in bonds for capital projects, the state requires 10-year outlooks from agencies. Part of the DOC’s 10-year plan is predicting when facilities will need to replace and repair things like roofs or alarm systems. The DOC evaluated projects and prices, then tried to place them along a 10-year timeline, Jansen said. “Not surprisingly, the further out you get in years, the more amorphous these requests tend to get,” he said. The plan assumes about $700 million in new requests from state funds. Of that total, about $182 million is designated for the coming biennium, not including any additional costs for expansion. Jansen said the 2013-15 biennium is the DOC’s biggest concern in the 10-year plan. “Everything else is more of a mathematical forecasting exercise,” he said. The DOC capital plan is divided into two major categories – preservation and programmatic. A preservation project is one that maintains current structures, such as replacing a leaky roof or updating old plumbing. Programmatic projects are new work, such as building a vocational education building or expanding facilities to accommodate an increase in prisoners. Other projects fall under the minor works category, which consists of repair and improvement that cost less than $1 million. The Legislature and governor typically award a lump sum to an agency for minor works, and that agency completes as many of those smaller projects as possible. Jansen said the first priority in the DOC capital budget is to deal with expansion to house greater numbers of offenders in the most efficient and economical manner possible. The Washington State Caseload Forecast Council predicts a 1,081-person increase in male prisoners and a 91-person decrease in female prisoners by 2022. As of June 2012, 17,679 beds are needed for the prison population and 17,396 are funded. By 2022, the DOC predicts that 18,766 beds will be needed with a funded capacity for 711 beds less than that total, according to the 10-year plan. Read More. |
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