Whatcom County Annual Incarceration Costs – per projection #2.

Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 11:48 am  David Camp

Key data to help you make your decision on the county’s proposal to borrow $97 million to build a new jail:

Amount borrowed:  $  97,000,000

Annual Interest Cost:  $  4,850,000  (Based on 5% coupon)
Total Interest Cost Over Bond Term:  $ 145,000,000 (30-year term)

Total Whatcom County Incarceration Expense:

1998 (actual):   $  4,996,850
2015 (budget):   $ 13,637,274

Avg. Annual Whatcom County Incarceration Expense Increase 1998-2015: 6.1%
Avg. Annual Consumer Price Index Inflation, 1998 to 2015:  2.8%

Projection 1: Annual Incarceration Expense, 2027: $ 24,300,000
(Including bond interest and inflation of 3%)

Projection 2: Using inflation at the rate the county has been increasing incarceration costs 1998-2015 (6.1%) gives Total Annual Projected Incarceration Expense, 2027: $ 29,340,000

Graphically, the county’s proposal under projection 2 is shown above. […]

Read David’s complete post on NorthwestCitizen here.