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New Garza County Facility Open for Business
by Tom Stephenson

 

The citizens of Post and Garza County have long been made up of pioneer stock – folks who are more than able to fend for themselves but happy to offer assistance to a neighbor with a moment's notice. Ten years ago, in this rural and drought-stricken county of Garza, dependence on oil and cattle was not a good thing. About 45 miles south of Lubbock sits Post, the county seat, and the economic situation then was a grim one.

County Judge Lee Norman recalled early attempts to woo industry to the region.

"We tried to bring a cotton oil mill to town. We located a section of land for them and everything. We also made a run at a peanut processing plant that needed a good railway connection, and we certainly have that."

But the businesses went elsewhere; now faced with a decreasing tax base, the eyes of the county leaders turned to an industry featuring an income stream that Norman said "might be fairly impervious to other economic factors." The county chose to erect a state-of-the art correctional facility.

Garza County is now on track to elect making an early payoff of the first borrowing certificates. That means the ownership of the facility, designed by Corplan Corrections and a lease/purchase financing structure, will then revert directly to the county.

This correctional investment is a 96-bed Law Enforcement Center that will also act as headquarters for the sheriff and his deputies, game wardens, constables, and an emergency management coordinator. The building opened for business in April of this year.

Sheriff Cliff Laws said he is delighted at the prospect of a centrally located law enforcement structure that will have slots for up to eight full-time deputies. Others in the building are expected to share much of the administrative and management costs, thus reducing the need for additional tax dollars.

While the majority of those housed are likely to be pre-trial detainees from various federal agencies, many of the smaller surrounding counties "have no jails or are working with uncertified facilities, and we will try our best to accommodate the housing of any of those prisoners," Laws said.

The county has invested some $60 million in correctional facilities, including an estimated $6.8 million for this latest expenditure. However, county leaders pointed out that not once have taxpayers been asked to put up a dime in construction costs for this facility, the first to be backed by secured revenue bonds. If not for revenue already generated from other facilities active in the community, Garza's ability to perform in backing those bonds could not be used in the underwriting of the project.

At present, the $1.3 million in revenues at the Giles W. Dalby Correctional Facility make up about 25 percent of the entire county's actual budget of about $5 million. Newman said anticipated revenues from the new Law Enforcement Center could add another $1.3 million in revenues.

"One hundred percent of that money will be dedicated to paying off the certificates of obligation," Newman said.

The once-dwindling county is now growing. Traffic count on Highway 84 through Post is similar to I-20 at Sweetwater. With this growth comes the need for housing prisoners both in Garza and the surrounding area, especially while the Bureau of Prisons is over capacity.

The latest project will add almost 20 full-time jobs and a handful of part-time jobs to the community. This addition will bring the number of workers directly employed by the correctional facilities to more than 350.