This endorsement editorial appears in the Oct. 22, 2009, Yakima Herald-Republic.

When proponents of Yakima County's criminal justice sales tax use words like "devastating" and "catastrophic" to describe what would happen if voters turn down its renewal on Nov. 3, a question is likely to follow: Could it really be that bad?

In fact, it could. And law enforcement officials have the numbers to prove their case: 17 sheriff's deputies, 11 attorneys in the prosecutor's office, six police officers in the city of Yakima, three officers in Toppenish, an officer in Zillah and two patrol vehicles in the small town of Mabton. The list goes on.

Some $7.8 million has been divvied up this year among the county and cities from funds generated by the three-tenths of a cent sales tax. This money, in turn, has paid for 96 positions in law and justice departments. Those positions could be in jeopardy if voters say no to renewing the sales tax for another six years.

In 2004, most law enforcement officials conceded the justice system in Yakima County, and in many cities, was on the verge of collapse. A backlog of criminal cases had soared to an unmanageable 1,500. Most of the beds in the juvenile justice center were empty because the county didn't have the money to lock up wayward youth for crimes they had committed.

That's when proponents, led by Sheriff Ken Irwin and then-Prosecuting Attorney Ron Zirkle, proposed the sales tax to fight crime and handle increased criminal cases. Crucial to the measure for many was its sunset clause: It had to be renewed after six years.

Also critical to the ballot-box success of the measure was a promise by backers that all of the funds generated by the tax -- which for residents amounts to 30 cents on a $100 purchase -- would be used to bolster law enforcement and criminal justice priorities. They also promised to make this spending easy to track.

While the county and cities eventually lived up to these promises, it wasn't a smooth process by any means. Initially, a few of the cities started to siphon off the sales-tax money for expenses far removed from law enforcement. Wapato officials wanted to spend the extra funds on a youth center, arguing it was a way to keep kids from committing crimes.

A noble thought, but it flew in the face of what Proposition 1 had promised to the voters. The state's attorney general had to weigh in and declare that all funds had to be spent on law enforcement. Street repairs and youth centers don't make the grade.

Then there were serious problems with tracking how governments spent the money. When the campaign to renew the sales tax was launched earlier this fall, backers failed to present a complete audit of how the money has been spent since 2005. Instead, they told the news media, and the public, to check each city's Web site and patch together their own accounting of the expenditures.

That's not acceptable. While the county does have a spot on its Web site dedicated to three-tenths expenditures, not all of the cities are listed and much of the information is not current. This needs to be corrected, sooner than later.

Then there's the incongruity within the Yakima County Sheriff's Office. Instead of growing its cadre of officers over the years, the actual number of deputies has decreased, from 71 in 2005 to 66 this year. The sheriff blames the reduction on escalating expenses for wages, health care premiums, gasoline and vehicles.

Here's some advice -- get tougher in the collective bargaining sessions. Gone are the days of five-star health care plans. Gone are the days of hefty pay increases. Just two years ago, the starting wage for deputies was $40,934. It will rise to $48,417 in 2010 -- an 18 percent boost. Surely this is part of the reason we have fewer deputies.

Though the criminal justice sales tax may have encountered a few bumps along the way these past six years, that certainly doesn't mean the extra funds are not needed. As we clearly saw this summer with a spike in gang violence and the response by the Yakima City Council to beef up the city's police presence in troubled neighborhoods, this is not the time to pull back.

Those in law enforcement and the judicial system are there when we need them. Now it's our turn to be there when they need us.

We strongly urge a yes vote on Proposition 1
and continue the three-tenths of a cent criminal justice sales tax for another six years.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Bob Crider, Spencer Hatton and Karen Troianello.