Revised building plans for the Shawano County Courthouse, justice center and jail were unveiled at the Nov. 19 meeting of the county board.
Cory Beyer, of Venture Architects, said the new plan would have the buildings constructed adjacent to the current courthouse and jail.
A government center, justice center, a 150-bed housing pod for the jail and a building for new jail auxiliary services would be built on the two blocks directly west of the current courthouse and jail. Parts of West Fifth Street and North Washington Street will be vacated to accommodate the complex.
“In that connection between the justice center and the existing jail is basically a sally port … and jail support,” Beyer said. “We’d have a new kitchen, laundry area, new intake and then a 15-bed housing pod.”
One of the most significant current safety concerns is walking inmates across the street from the jail to the courthouse and through the public corridors once there. The proposed connection would eliminate that issue.
The cramped kitchen and laundry areas would be enlarged, and the new housing pod would include space for inmates from the Huber facility on Engel Drive.
Kurt Berner, of The Samuels Group, said having the Huber facility across town is operationally inefficient, and the new plan would allow the county to manage its total jail population more efficiently.
Operating costs are a key component of any building plans, he said.
Carol Wirth, president of Wisconsin Public Finance Professionals, presented preliminary tax rate calculations for a building project, although her numbers were not tied to any specific proposal.
Her projections were based on current and future equalized values, existing debt service, short-term reoccurring debt, borrowing plans and an interest rate of 4.25% on future debt.
Each scenario is structured as a three-phase plan of finance and is amortized over 20 years.
“As Carol’s presentation shows, a $50 million project is probably going to be a very minimal, if any, tax increase to your taxpayers,” Berner said. “And for every $25 million that you borrow, it’s about 18 cents.”
Nicole Zuehl, finance director, pointed out that while the debt mill rate may increase, the county’s operating mill rate is projected to continue decreasing.
“Because these two components move in opposite directions, the overall mill rate impact to taxpayers is expected to be minimal,” she said. “In many of our projections, the total mill rate shows little to no change even with the additional debt for the project.”
Berner said original buildings projections included more than $300 million if everything was built new, including two 150-bed housing pods for the jail and a library.
“Master planning is about getting all the data collected … and this next step is going to take those big-picture items and start to make them more defined, more detailed,” he said. “You will see some floor plans when we bring them to you.”
Those floor plans are expected to be presented in early 2026, with decisions to be made at that time. Berner said those decisions include whether to build, how big to build and when to build. Costs will also be presented then.
“That means there will be a vote coming to you, and we will need 75% of you to vote on it for a project to move forward,” he said. “We anticipate that to happen shortly after the first of the year. We’re targeting February.”
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
