By Warren Cornwall
Herald Writer
Snohomish County’s main answer to the rising tide of inmates is to build a bigger jail.
But officials still aren’t sure where they will get the money to run it.
The county has already hired an architect and lined up financing to more than double the size of the downtown Everett jail for an estimated $87 million.
"The next big thing is getting the dollars to staff it," said county deputy executive Gary Weikel.
The executive’s office is banking on county voters to pick up much of the operation’s estimated $12.5 million cost with a sales tax increase to go on the ballot in 2002. The tenth-of-a-penny tax hike would generate between $8 and $8.5 million, leaving the rest to come from existing tax revenues.
But county executive Bob Drewel acknowledged there is a risk that voters will turn down the request.
"Do I have a concern? Yes," he said. "Do we have a need? Yes."
Voters in much of the county recently approved a three-tenths of a cent sales tax increase to pay for added bus service by Community Transit. While it indicated a public willingness to raise taxes, it also gave some parts of the county the highest sales tax in the state.
A poll of 400 people recently commissioned by the county found 74 percent of people would support the sales tax increase. People polled also tended to side with a tax increase over service cuts to deal with the jail costs. The county estimates the increase would cost each person $13 a year.
However, people were evenly split over whether they can afford to raise the sales tax further, given that the county has one of the highest sales taxes in the state, according to the poll.
"It was clear from the discussion that Snohomish County citizens were willing to consider a sales tax if Snohomish County was doing all it could to operate efficiently and effectively," said executive analyst Jim Hammond.
Regardless of the election outcome, the county will have to go ahead with construction, Drewel said. The jail has been overcrowded since the mid-1990s, and the county would be risking a lawsuit over jail conditions if it didn’t work toward a solution, he said. Construction is scheduled to start next year.
"This is not a choice issue for us," he said.
Without a tax increase, the county would have to find all the money in its existing budget, Weikel said. If so, that could claim more than 7 percent of the county’s general fund in 2004, according to county budget projections. The general fund finances many basic county operations, including the jail and sheriff’s department, and is fed largely by tax revenues.
"That’s the only alternative we have left," he said.
The project, which would enlarge the jail from 477 to 1040 beds, is being designed now. Its doors are expected to open in late 2004.
You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.