NCJ Number
159266
Date Published
1995
Length
129 pages
Annotation
The Court Facility Financing Project staff surveyed a number of public officials engaged in court facility financing and compiled a list of experiences that provide an overview of this area of management.
Abstract
This monograph is intended primarily for judges and court managers who are faced with obtaining resources to build or renovate court facilities. The findings show that many governments have, at least temporarily, given up traditional general obligation bond financing for public buildings. Some jurisdictions have relied on an even more traditional method of financing facilities, i.e., saving the money up front to avoid debt. The alternatives to traditional financing are varied and include some interesting instances of lease financing; revenue bonding; privatized financing; public-private cooperation; State- local cooperation; county-county cooperation; city-county cooperation; Federal-local cooperation; and varied uses of court special facility fees, special taxes, property trades, and revenue streams generated by the facility. The legal limits on debt, taxation, contracting, and bonding vary a lot by State and have a significant role in the management decisions that are ultimately made on financing methods, so that it is difficult to draw analogies across State lines on financial methodologies. Sometimes court managers are involved in devising financial strategies, but more commonly, they are not involved, often by their own choice. When they have been involved, they have sometimes been a moving force in getting the facility financed. The overall conclusion of the study is that court managers should be involved and can be involved without becoming "wizards" in public finance, but by knowing the rudiments. 12 figures and 15 tables