County commissioners take first tentative step to ask voters next year to pass a bond measure to help pay for the mammoth project

Editor’s note: This story has been revised to correct an inaccurate interpretation of the poll results presented to county commissioners Tuesday regarding a proposed bond measure.

The proposed new county courthouse will stand seven stories tall and carry an estimated price tag of a quarter-billion dollars.

The county unwrapped the mammoth $252 million project Tuesday as elected commissioners took the first tentative step toward asking Lane County voters in May to approve a bond measure that would likely pay for the majority of the cost.

The county is counting on state lawmakers chipping in $94 million toward the project. Lawmakers have already committed $6.4 million, and Gov. Kate Brown's budget proposal includes another $87.6 million, subject to lawmakers' approval during next year's legislative session.

That leaves $158 million in local funding that county officials must secure for the project to move forward under the current plan. Officials plan to scour future budgets for potential one-time dollars and may seek out grants, but it's likely they'll float a bond measure to secure most, if not all, of the money.

Officials say the current courthouse, which will turn 60 years old next year, is too antiquated to serve as the center of justice for Lane County's 375,000 residents. The proposed courthouse is expected to last up to 100 years.

"The current courthouse was intended to serve a smaller community and a vision of justice that no longer represents our community or our community's expectations for equal access," County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky said.

Mokrohisky vowed that the figures presented Tuesday would be "numbers that we will not exceed at any point in this project."

"Our hope certainly is if ... any numbers change, they change in a downward direction, and that's certainly our goal," he added.

The proposed courthouse would be built on the former Eugene City Hall lot and accommodate 18 state-run courtrooms, up from the current 15, as well as the district attorney's office, parole and probation, victim services and sheriff's office. At 297,000 square feet, the proposed building would be more than double the size of the current county courthouse at Seventh Avenue and Oak Street in downtown Eugene. It would be 30,000 square feet larger than the six-story federal courthouse that opened more than a decade ago.

The proposed courthouse would provide more space, designated rooms for mediation and attorney-client conversations, better access for people with disabilities, and separation between inmates and victims, officials said. Currently, inmates walk the public hallways to get to courtrooms; in the proposed courthouse, a separate holding area accessible by elevator would be located between every two courtrooms to keep the parties separated.

The cost breakdown includes $5.4 million to buy the former City Hall property, $180.1 million for construction and $66.5 million for design and project management fees and other "soft" costs.

County commissioners directed staff to begin preparing for a referral of a bond measure on the May ballot. They would need to hold at least one public hearing before voting to refer any measure.

The direction followed a staff recommendation for a spring election as it would attract high-frequency voters that recent polling showed are positioned to narrowly support a bond. In addition, there looks to be competing bond measures on future ballots, and a May ballot placement should come around the time state lawmakers consider the $87.6 million funding request, county officials said.

The ability to show state lawmakers that Lane County has secured local dollars to move the project forward "will be critical to us getting an approval" of the state funding, Commissioner Jay Bozievich said.

The state funding would come from a program that provides money to help counties replace aging courthouses.

Commissioner Sid Leiken, in his last meeting as a county elected official, raised concerns about the "optics" of asking voters for a hefty bond measure for a new courthouse when city and county officials continue to grapple with sheltering homeless people.

"You're going to have to figure out a narrative on this one," he said. "I can't help you out on this one. I have no clue how to deal with that one."

Leiken and Commissioner Gary Williams will be replaced by commissioners-elect Joe Berney and Heather Buch next month.

But it was clear from the meeting that a narrative is taking shape, with county officials talking about the constraints of the current courthouse, how not moving forward would potentially leave tens of millions of state dollars on the table, and the preeminent role the building plays in the community.

"It's just not when you're on a jury, it's not just when you're on trial, it's not just when you want to stand on the courthouse steps proclaiming your First Amendment rights," Commissioner Pat Farr said. "Everybody needs a courthouse for a lot of different reasons and for us to be able to articulate those reasons in terms people understand is going to be very important for us from this point forward."

Recent polling of about 400 high-frequency voters found 47 percent would support, 43 percent would reject and 9 percent were undecided about a bond measure costing taxpayers 29 cents per $1,000 of assessed value — or $54 in additional property taxes a year for a $187,000 home, the median price in Lane County. Such a bond would generate the $158 million for the local funding need.

The margin of support widened after voters heard various arguments about the proposed measure, with 53 percent in favor, 43 percent opposed and 4 percent unsure. The primary arguments that resonated were the availability of the state funding and that Lane County wouldn't collect the extra taxes if it wasn't able to secure the state funding, poll results showed.

Commissioners are scheduled to receive their next update on the project in early January, after Berney and Buch have begun their terms.

As the discussion continues, it's now all but certain the former City Hall lot will be the proposed courthouse's new home.

Also on Tuesday, commissioners directed the county administrator with a unanimous vote to finalize the land swap with Eugene city officials.

Under the proposal, the city will sell to the county the vacant City Hall lot in exchange for Lane County selling the "butterfly" parking lot across from the county courthouse as the future site of a City Hall and year-round farmers market.

The legal uncertainty that has long followed the proposal ended Monday when the appeals window closed for a judge's recent decision that the land swap could go forward.

The land exchange is now expected to close early next year.