ned to the county budget.

TRENDING STORIES:

However, one member of the jail authority who voted against the financing said she believes the process is moving too quickly and warned taxpayers could face additional costs.

 These bonds will have to be refinanced, likely, which is another fee that is incurred and indebted to the Fulton County taxpayers,  said Palmetto Mayor Teresa Thomas-Smith, a member of the jail authority.  This is a huge project. We have to make sure that as we do this, we get it right the first time. 

The South Fulton Municipal Regional Jail Authority was created by the state in the mid-1990s to build a jail in Union City. That facility was eventually sold and is now owned by Fulton County.

Boddie said the authority only met yearly after the jail was sold for procedural obligations.

 There was actually nothing for us to do,  he said.

That changed last year when Fulton County contacted the authority around the same time the U.S. Department of Justice reached a proposed consent decree with the Fulton County Sheriff's Office over conditions inside the Fulton County Jail.

 They go through us to get the money, the financing, but it's a more economical route to take than any of the others,  Boddie said.

Monday's vote does not finalize financing for the entire project. Officials said the county will return to the authority as each phase of construction is ready to be financed, and the authority will vote on financing for each phase separately.

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