By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

If you want to vote on whether Fayette County issues bonds and increases property taxes to pay for a new jail and courthouse complex, the price tag may be a little higher than if no vote is taken.

Revenue bonds issued by an appointed facilities authority wouldn't be subject to a referendum, but would cost the average three-person household about $450 less (spread over the 30-year life of the bonds) than a general obligation bond with the county government as the issuing body, according to estimates from the county finance and accounting office.

General obligation bonds would cost about $1,750, while bonds issued by a public facilities authority would cost about $1,296, according to the estimates. In the first year of issuance of the bonds, yearly property tax payments would go up $87.50 for general obligation bonds and $82.35 under an authority. After that, the tax cost would be reduced each year, down to $25.02 and $17.06, respectively, in the 30th year.

County commissioners are studying the figures as they wrestle with deciding how to fund the project, which is expected to cost about $70 million. Public facilities bonds and general obligation bonds are two of four options being considered.

The public facilities option was made viable last week when the County Commission unanimously voted to activate a long-dormant public facilities authority. Commissioners will discuss naming a panel of three to serve on that authority at their next meeting tomorrow, Dec. 9.

Commissioner Greg Dunn made the motion to activate the authority, saying the group may decide not to use it in the funding of the complex, but he wants the board to have that option. “It's one more arrow in our quiver,” he said in a previous meeting.

The third arrow in that quiver is the use of certificates of participation, which would cost about $1,315 for the average family of three over the 30 years.

Option four, a special purpose local option sales tax, would cost the average household anywhere from $1,393 to $1,929, spread over only five years instead of 30, according to finance department estimates.

The range of estimates is based on how much nonresidents shop in Fayette, something that finance director Emory McHugh told the commissioners is impossible to pin down. The lower cost is based on 35 percent of the sales tax being paid by nonresidents; the higher cost is based on only 10 percent from outside the county.

And all of the figures are subject to fluctuating interest rates, inflation rates and a host of other variables, he cautioned the commissioners.

“We're going to have to study this for quite awhile to make sure we fully understand the ramifications,” said commission Chairman Harold Bost.

In another jail-related action last week, the commissioners approved a $3.8 million contract with the county's engineering firm, Mallett and Associates, to oversee the design and construction of the complex.

Among other duties, the company will advise the county on every step of the project, provide preliminary and final design, write specifications, handle the bidding process for contractors, oversee contractors and inspect their work during construction.

Not included in the contract fees are salaries for the engineer's resident project representative and other employees who perform on-site work. Those services will be paid at 2.5 times each person's salary for the time involved.

Mallett also will be reimbursed for expenses such as printing, mailing and auto mileage (at 30 cents a mile).