Sales Tax To Finance More Beds Revenue Aimed At Crowded Juvenile Detention Facility

Spokane County commissioners agreed Thursday to use sales tax money to add beds to its crowded juvenile detention center.

Faced with an appeal by the county’s Superior Court judges, commissioners decided to spend some of the money set aside by a 1995 tax increase approved by voters to expand jails.

But commissioners remain wary of a proposed $1.8 million expansion of the juvenile detention center that judges have supported for several years.

Commissioners instead committed to spending $90,000 to add four beds to the Mallon Avenue center by remodeling existing cells.

Freeing up more space behind bars, they also agreed to stop leasing nine of the center’s existing 65 beds to the state.

The judges want the nine beds in order to tackle a backlog of juvenile offenders awaiting detention, said Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen.

County commissioners said they will use the sales tax money to offset about $350,000 in lost lease income.

Eitzen agreed with commissioners Phil Harris and Kate McCaslin that the new beds provide only short-term relief.

The judges prefer the $1.8 million expansion plan, which would add two wings and 24 beds to the 20-year-old detention center.

But Harris said he doubts the county can afford the additional $750,000 a year it would cost to run the center if it is expanded by 24 beds. Eight more correctional officers would be needed, he said.

The 1995 sales tax increase added one-tenth of one percent to most purchases. It runs until the end of 1998, raising an estimated $12 million for improvements to juvenile and adult jails in Spokane County.

“My concern is what happens when we hit that magical date when there’s no more one-tenth of a percent sales tax?” Harris asked. “I don’t know how we’re going to pay for that (expansion).”

McCaslin said the judges have wrongly concluded that commissioners want to spend that tax money to increase Spokane County’s participation in a planned regional juvenile jail.

Martin Hall, expected to open this fall near Medical Lake, is being managed by a consortium of nine Eastern Washington counties.

Spokane County has committed to leasing five beds at Martin Hall.

Last week, the judges released a report suggesting the county would lose money if it broadened its interest in the project.

McCaslin said she hasn’t made up her mind on which way the county should go. “We may want to do a bit of both,” she said, referring to Martin Hall and detention center expansion.

Commissioners will take another look at both options in about a month when more accurate figures on Martin Hall’s operating costs are available.

, DataTimes