BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The City of Bellingham is moving forward with the Whatcom County’s plan to finance its new jail.

The city council voted unanimously at its meeting Monday night to approve the interlocal agreement that was sent to seven cities across the county in April. The agreement sets the framework for how revenue from the new 0.2% sales tax will be spent in accordance with the Justice Project Implementation Plan.

Council member Michael Lilliquist says it is important to note that most of the funds won’t be used for the new $150 million jail.

“If you’re one of the people who didn’t like the idea of spending all this money on the jail, please realize many of us were also fighting for the other aspects; to prevent crime, to address root causes, to make the community safer by not treating a criminal problem, but by treating it as a problem in many other ways,” said Lilliquist.

Cities will transfer 75% of their tax revenue to the county for first four and a half years to fund the new jail in Ferndale and an accompanying behavioral care center. The rest will go towards behavioral health and social services outlined in the Justice Project plan.

By 2029, at least 50% of the tax revenue will fund those investments into incarceration prevention.

The county says it’s entering the design phase of the process to build a new jail and needs to develop basic design parameters before going out to solicit bids. Construction of the facility is expected to begin in 2026 and conclude in 2028, according to a rough draft of its timeline by the county.

The Whatcom County Council will vote on the proposed agreement at their meeting on Tuesday, May 8. The rest of the cities have until June 1 to sign off on the agreement.