July 21, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) -- Benton County Commissioners are nearing agreement on a plan that would ask voters to pay about $45 million to build and operate a new jail.
At Monday's meeting of the Corrections Steering Committee, members didn't agree on what law enforcement divisions would use the new jail, but they did agree on a price tag -- about $25 million to build a 96-bed jail, and about $20 million to operate it for five years.
Voters would have a chance to approve a bond measure to build the new jail and a levy to operate it. The bond measure, probably 15 or 20 years in duration, would cost property owners about 53 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, or $80 a year for a house assessed at $150,000.
The county faces a Sept. 2 deadline for putting the operating levy and bond measure on the November ballot.
One possible site would need to be annexed into the city before a jail could be built there. Choosing it would likely push the bond measure and operating levy back to a March 2000 election.
Determining a location is key to any agreement, said Jim Damitio, a committee member and law enforcement supervisor for the Siuslaw National Forest.
"Voters need to see the county pick a site before asking for a bond," he said. "Otherwise, voters may figure the county doesn't know what it's doing or what it wants."
