Is it true Whatcom County doesn't have a plan for spending the levy funds on a new jail?

In a recent article, Cascadia Daily reporter Ralph Schwartz claims “no one knows” how much the new jail will cost. A local businessperson, who has a great deal of experience running large, costly projects states in an email to the Yes! campaign:

The assertion that Whatcom County does not have a plan for spending the funds is a red herring. Ralph keeps stating in the article that “the numbers are not real” which does not make sense to business-minded people who manage large projects . Project plans consist of estimates for scope, cost, and schedule. These estimates have contingencies associated with them which are incorporated as best/worst-case scenarios.

Since the County has completed these estimates at least twice before, the latest estimates in the current 118-page plan are quite mature/vetted. When Ralph states they “aren’t real” do you think he means that they are not accurate enough for citizens to determine whether we’ll get the scope completed under budget and within the schedule? 

He seems to imply that Whatcom County should have formal fixed-price bids from all the contractors before we vote on the project. In the real world, no one gets “real” bids until the budget is approved and the funds are secured. How can we demand that from our government? 

Instead of talking about whether a plan or numbers are “real” we should be focused on the project risks, success criteria, and how quickly we can triage the current deplorable and inhumane conditions in the current facility.”

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Capital planning experts know that all large projects begin with an estimate that is then refined over time as the project moves through its standard phases of pre-design, planning, programming, design, and construction. Notably, cost estimating is a critical piece of each phase of a capital project, with project costs being updated as the project moves through its phases.

Whatcom County will follow established best practices for capital project planning.