The first of three public meetings to address the findings of the DLZ Corporation and Umbaugh and Associates concerning the Starke County Jail project will be held tonight at 6 p.m. in the Knox Middle School Cafeteria.
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem says different options for a jail will be discussed by the DLZ Corporation.
“One is doing nothing – which of course really is not an option at all – or building an entirely new jail on a green site, retrofitting an existing building to meet the needs of a jail, or remodeling or expanding the current jail,” Norem explained. “They do have some dollars and cents figures attached to each of those options and those are the things that we will be sharing.”
A representative from Umbaugh and Associates will sift through the financing part of each option during tonight’s meeting. Norem said it’s important that you attend this meeting to understand how you will be affected by this project.
“In the State of Indiana, there are only two ways to pay for Capital Projects such as this. That is namely income tax or property tax,” she explained. “So, we’ve engaged Umbaugh and Associates to tell us what the cost is going to be to the individual taxpayer, whether we go with income tax, property tax, or a blend of the two. We’ll have a full presentation on that. This is important and it will affect you.”
If you can’t make tonight’s meeting, you can attend two other public meetings where the same information will be presented. The Starke County Jail Committee has scheduled those meetings for July 31 at 6 p.m. at the Oregon-Davis High School Cafeteria and August 1 at 6 p.m. at the North Judson-San Pierre High School Auditorium.
