Vote to pay for Thurston County’s new courthouse not coming until April 2020
A recent survey of nearly 1,000 Thurston County residents showed most people think the county courthouse is safe, conveniently located, easy to get around and in at least satisfactory condition.
County leaders are giving themselves one year to convince voters otherwise.
The Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday to ask voters to raise property taxes to pay for a new courthouse and office complex in downtown Olympia for an estimated $250 million. The measure will be on the April 2020 ballot.
The levy lid lift would add 47 cents per $1,000 of assessed value to the county’s levy rate in 2021. That translates to an extra $129 a year for 25 years for a $275,000 house.
The measure will require a simple majority to pass.
Commissioner Gary Edwards voted against putting it on the ballot, saying he doesn’t think it will pass, that downtown isn’t the right place to build, and that the county is moving too fast.
The current complex on Lakeridge Drive Southwest was built in the late 1970s and is costly to maintain. At a public hearing on the project last week, Thurston County Treasurer Jeff Gadman said the buildings are failing, with power outages to leaking roofs, and encouraged commissioners to act.
“The longer you wait, the more expensive construction will be. Construction never gets cheaper by waiting,” he told them.
Others described a complex that is too small and hard to navigate, especially for people with disabilities. Current and former lawyers raised concerns about security, because judges, jurors, defendants and the public share common areas.
“Every other courthouse in Western Washington has more security than this. We are fortunate that we have not had more incidents,” said Jonathan Sprouffske, warning a lawsuit over courthouse security would make the project “infinitely more expensive.”
The county’s plan is to build on the site of Olympia’s former city hall on Plum Street Southeast, which now houses the city’s municipal court. That would move into the new complex.
At the public hearing, Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby touted the efficiency in having county and city courts in one place, with easy access to Interstate 5 and public transportation.
But opponents questioned the need for a new complex and its large price tag. Conservative activist Glen Morgan said the current complex was sold to taxpayers as long-lasting with room to expand.
“There are opportunities to use the existing facility and spaces that we already have without burdening my kids and my grandkids with another promise that’s probably not any more true than the one (that was made) when they built this building,” he said.
The survey by Elway Research, Inc. commissioned by the county found only 1 in 3 respondents had heard anything about the building project, and less than half saw the need for a new courthouse. Elway called the downtown location “the most controversial feature of the proposal,” with 32 percent saying moving to downtown would be a significant improvement and 32 percent saying it would not be.
In choosing the April 2020 special election to run the measure, commissioners said they need time to convince voters and that the question could get lost in November’s general election ballot, which typically is the largest.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Tye Menser said maintenance issues and space constraints at the current complex need to be addressed.
“If they say no, we’re going to have to do something else, because the need is not going to go away,” he said.
This story was originally published May 1, 2019 at 1:25 PM.
