Jail security upgrade costs higher than expected

Some unexpected costs in security upgrades at the downtown jail are forcing Yakima County commissioners to choose between delaying the renovations -- which has risks -- or cutting other projects funded by bonds.

Commissioners will decide late this month whether to shift proceeds from the bond issue to complete the security project, deemed necessary to protect inmates and staff from an increasingly dangerous inmate population.

Should they proceed, the question becomes whether jail director Ed Campbell can bring in enough money in bed rentals to make the annual bond payments.

Campbell last year had to cut his budget by more than $8 million when the county lost jail bed-rental agreements with cities in King County. The rental market has remained soft, with several thousand empty jail beds around the state.

Commissioners discussed the dilemma Monday with Campbell and Public Services Director Vern Redifer along with budget personnel. They will have more discussions, but said they will make a final decision Feb. 28.

"What is driving it is we are seeing a progression of an inmate population that is turning ugly on us and putting us at risk," Commissioner Mike Leita said.

Campbell said nearly 40 people in the four-story jail at Front Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard are facing murder charges.

The jail upgrade, included in a $9.7 million bond issue the county sold last year, calls for better fire suppression, modern security hardware and more individual cells to separate inmates involved in gangs and those facing murder charges.

The project is now estimated to cost $6.4 million, a figure that is more than $800,000 above what the county has to spend.

Of the shortage, $500,000 is for new jail elevators that were not included in the original proposal. Redifer said the hydraulically operated elevators are closer to the end of their useful life and need to be replaced.

The bond also paid a portion of the cost for the more energy efficient exterior of the courthouse, a new countywide police record system, installing security in the courthouse, replacement of a failed chiller in the courthouse for air conditioning, and a new water storage reservoir for the county-owned Terrace Heights water system.

Redifer has told commissioners the tower could be delayed to free up money for the jail security project if needed.