Unless Monroe County officials get a law passed granting special permission to sell bonds for financing a $225 criminal justice complex, the long-delayed project could be pushed down the road another two years.
Senate Bill 1, passed by Indiana lawmakers this year, provides welcome property-tax relief to residents. But it also restricts the issuance of general obligation bonds, limits how much local governments can increase their budgets and establishes debt limits.
That means plans to sell bonds this year for construction of a new jail and courts center just west of Bloomington are canceled for now.
"Senate Bill 1 has created problems and at this point, we think that unless there is a legislative change, we're not able to issue bonds until 2028," Monroe County attorney Jeff Cockerill said during a June 6 long-term finance committee meeting. "It puts the project in a couple-years delay."
© 2025 HeraldTimesOnline, Bloomington, IN