This editorial appears in the Nov. 29, 2009, Yakima Herald-Republic.

For the city of Yakima, crime indeed doesn't pay. It costs, dearly.

Skyrocketing jail costs have only added to the city's deepening financial woes. Too many prisoners and too few jail cells contribute to the problem. Solutions are few and the prospect of building more jail space comes with a high price, both in terms of real dollars and political capital.

On average, the city has about 140 prisoners in custody. Its jail, though, has only 76 beds for minor offenders and is rarely at capacity due to security reasons. One more thing: Yakima's jail can't house women.

That means the city must pay other cities -- Wapato, Toppenish and Sunnyside -- to house its prisoners. Yakima also sends some to the county jail.

This is where costs hit the ceiling. Right now Yakima pays almost twice as much for contract beds at other jails. For instance, it costs $52 to house a prisoner in the Yakima jail for one day. At the Yakima County jail, the price jumps to $86 in addition to medical costs.

That results in nearly a 2-to-1 cost ratio -- $2.65 million for contract beds compared to $1.5 million for the city jail.

To remedy the situation, city officials are venturing into stormy waters -- the prospect of building a 160-bed facility next to the current jail so all of its prisoners could be held under one roof.

Two years ago, the city appeared headed in that direction and set aside $80,000 for a feasibility study. That failed to materialize after early estimates pegged the construction costs at $8 million.

However, given the rising jail costs, city officials are again wondering if it's the right time to build that 160-bed facility. The city already has a location in mind. It recently purchased a site across the street from the police station on South Third Street for $350,000.

Looks promising, doesn't it? But not so fast. The city is a long way from even considering this option. Tackling such an expensive project, given the economic troubles the city is dealing with, doesn't make much sense.

The city certainly couldn't undertake such a venture without voter approval, and that likelihood is remote at best. If voters in Yakima are willing to say no to adding more firefighters as they did earlier this year with the defeat of the EMS levy, we hardly see them eager to pay for new sleeping quarters for jail prisoners.

We have two words of advice: cost containment. That's what councilwoman Maureen Adkison has advised, and we heartily agree. The city has already shaved costs by expanding the use of electronic home monitoring and having nonviolent offenders pay fines instead of serving time in jail.

That's where the battle lines should be drawn, not in pursuit of a new jail.

We already have a lot of empty jail space in the area thanks to Yakima County's checkered past with building bigger and better jails. Ideally, the city could work out an arrangement with the county so it could reserve some of that extra jail space at a more affordable rate.

Barring that, the city of Yakima doesn't need to add to the surplus.

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