by Phil Steinseik
If you thought that school bond measures have had it tough the past several years, try convincing taxpayers to pony up $115 million for a new jail.
But that is precisely the task facing Skagit County’s law and justice community in the not-too-distant future. It is an undertaking made even more challenging of late by a report that more than doubles the price on what just a few years ago was $49 million for a 428-bed facility.
Even the lower price tag was considered a hard sell at the time.
Here is the reality check. The county does badly need a new jail. The present lockup in downtown Mount Vernon has been overcrowded for many years.
It was originally built to hold 83 inmates and has over the years been remodeled to house as many as 180, a number that is routinely exceeded on any given day, with as many as four to a cell.
The tension from the overcrowding gives rise at times to violent outbursts, a threat not only to inmates but to the safety of the corrections staff. Additionally, corrections officials have pointed out that at least one-third of the inmates on any given day have significant mental health problems.
Jail is not the ideal setting for treatment of drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness. A new jail, as currently envisioned, would include facilities to do just that. Unfortunately, that portion of the plan may well have to be set aside as officials begin to slice away at the projected costs.
Even with a scaled-down alternative, local officials will have to make their case clearly and convincingly if they hope to win over recession-weary taxpayers for what could be the county’s biggest bond issue ever.
Meanwhile, those same taxpayers are faced with a daunting laundry list of other urgent capital needs, including Skagit Valley flood protection, long-deferred school improvements and the ongoing levies for fire districts and water and sewer utilities.
It is possible that the economy may show stronger evidence of a turnaround by next spring, when local officials are considering a jail bond issue. But that still begs the question of how taxpayers view the area’s most critical needs.
Every school district, municipality, special district and county government itself tends to focus almost solely on its own priorities. The taxpayers are forced to pick and choose, for the most part, in a vacuum.
Perhaps it is time for a community-wide conversation aimed at bringing about greater consensus on where our precious tax dollars are to be spent.
