MADISON, Wis. — People in Dane County will not have the opportunity to vote on a proposed reconsolidated and renovation project for the Dane County Jail after the county board rejected a proposal to add a referendum for the project to the April ballot.
The vote to ask voters for $13.5 million to help fund the project failed by a count of 21-14 after extensive public input and debate from county board supervisors Thursday night. Earlier in the day, members of Dane County’s Black Caucus said they would be voting against the proposal.
The $13.5 million a referendum would have asked voters for was based on estimates of how much inflation has added to the total cost of the project as it has been delayed over the years, creating a multi-million dollar gap for a project that has already had millions of dollars approved.
Earlier this week, Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett was joined by three of his predecessors in making a plea to the county board to add the referendum to the spring ballot. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi joined Barrett for a similar plea to county supervisors over the summer.
Barrett has consistently decried the conditions inside the jail as “inhumane,” “unsafe,” and “unconstitutional,” going as far to say that someone will eventually die in the jail and the county will eventually be facing a lawsuit if nothing is done.
Design work on the jail is continuing, but without a referendum on the ballot to close the funding gap, the county will need to find the money elsewhere before the construction can begin. The county had hoped to put the project out for bids by this spring before deciding on a contractor by the fall of 2023.
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