Price of Santa Clara County’s new jail soars, with officials blaming it on delays and inflation

Costs for Santa Clara County’s new jail have jumped dramatically, soaring from $390 million to $689 million, according to a newly released budget proposal presented on Monday to the Board of Supervisors.

The 500-bed jail, which was approved in a narrow 3-2 vote in late January, will replace San Jose’s Main Jail South site that was razed in 2020 — and includes the demolition of Main Jail North and possibly parts of Milpitas’ Elmwood Correctional Facility. Criminal justice reform activists have strongly criticized the new jail plan and argued that a new correctional facility would do little to help the county’s widespread mental health and drug addiction issues.

County Executive Jeff Smith blamed the new price tag on delays and the increased costs of raw building materials due to inflation. Smith warned supervisors on Monday that prices could keep rising.

“If the board wants to delay it more, you will soon be talking about a billion dollars,” he said.

In pushing for the new jail in January, Smith argued that the county’s existing facilities are substandard and at a minimum 500 people classified as violent felons must be held in custody. The jail is described as a “Secure Treatment Center” in the new budget and will include ADA-compliant housing units, mental health treatment beds and recreational spaces.

Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, who voted against the jail in January along with Supervisor Cindy Chavez, said in a statement that details are scant as to why the jail’s costs have risen so much, called the “Secure Treatment Center” label misleading and questioned how the county was going to afford the expenditure.

The rising cost was also criticized on Monday by groups who have opposed the jail from the start.

Raj Jayadev, founder of the San Jose-based Silicon Valley De-Bug, called the number an “arrogant proposal.”

“The thing that is just beyond alarming with this proposal is when you’re spending $689 million, it’s not just that it is an incredible amount of money, you’re making an intentional decision to take away dollars from other needs,” he said. “And the fact that the proposal would consider putting dollars into an institution that we know disproportionately hurts communities of color in our county, that does not make the public more safe — if anything it destabilizes and makes our communities more vulnerable — and also allows the county to ignore alternatives that address why people end up in jail.”

Jayadev’s organization was one of eight organizations who signed on to a letter dated May 13 calling for the supervisors to reject the budget proposal to fund the jail. Other groups on the letter included the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, the San Jose State Human Rights Institute and the Care First, Jail Last Coalition.

“If money is an expression of the County’s priorities, then this budget clearly shows the County’s appetite for incarceration,” the letter states. “It is clear from this budget proposal that the County Executive’s office is attempting to trick the Board and community to fund their longstanding dream of a carceral facility. More so, it is also clearly out of line with what the Board even voted for in January.”

While a plan to replace Main Jail North site has been in the works for years, the murder of George Floyd in summer 2020 temporarily put it on hold, with supervisors looking for alternative ideas to tackle mental health and drug abuse issues. The supervisors launched focus groups in response. One study found that 10 percent of respondents wanted a new jail, 34 percent wanted a behavioral health facility and another 34 percent wanted a combination of both. Another study found a large group of individuals against the new jail project.

Despite the change in tune, the county administration plowed ahead with the new jail proposal in mid-November, upsetting activists who thought they had been promised widespread criminal justice reform plans.

The proposal for the jail is part of a larger budget proposal from the county executive’s office that totals $11.4 billion, the largest budget ever and a 17.5 percent increase from last fiscal year. Monday was the first in a series of budget deliberations in which supervisors bring up their fiscal priorities and fit them into the upcoming budget. A final vote will be held on June 16.

It’s not the first time economic pressures have led the county to spend more money. In January, after approving a housing project for Peninsula teachers, the county agreed to lend the developers for the project $21 million to help cover increased construction costs. The loan will be paid back with the rent from future tenants.