By Gail Binkly

Love is better the second time around, the song says, and so are the chances of getting a jail sales tax passed -- at least that's what the Montezuma County commissioners are hoping.

In a special meeting Tuesday, they unanimously passed a resolution placing a sales-tax question on the ballot for the second year in a row.

Such a question failed by 344 votes in 1998. This time around, however, the commissioners believe they have a better proposal to offer, one that would build a larger jail for the same amount of money and provide for operating costs as well.

The proposal to be put before the voters Nov. 2 seeks approval of a 0.45-cent sales and use tax that would go to pay off a $6.26 million bond over a period of 20 years or less. The bond would provide $5.5 million to construct a new, 110-bed jail facility that would also house the sheriff's offices. With the same money, the old jail and offices would be converted into a 72-bed center for an overnight detox unit and an expanded community-corrections/work-release program.

In addition, the bond would pay for $130,000 in fees, commissions, and insurance associated with the bond sale, and for a $630,000 reserve fund. The reserve fund was required in order to obtain a better bond rating and lower interest rate, explained Slim McWilliams, a member of the Citizens' Committee for the Jail.

Two advantages of the tax, he said, are that it will not be charged on groceries, prescription medicines, farm equipment, or utilities; and that it will mean tourists will pay a portion of the costs -- 17 percent, according to one study.

The sales tax, which would raise an estimated $7.2 million in the next five years, would also go to pay operating expenses for the new jail, detox and community-corrections center of approximately $270,000 per year, according to Dan Avery, chairman of the jail committee. The ballot resolution allows for a maximum 3 percent increase per year in operating costs.

Excess revenues would go to pay off the bond faster; the tax would end as soon as the bond was paid off, unless voters chose for some reason to continue it.

That leaves the question of how to pay operating costs after the tax sunsets, McWilliams admitted, but that will be up to voters and the commissioners at that time to decide.

1998's sales-tax proposal called for a half-cent tax to pay for a 96-bed, $5.5 million jail. It did not provide for operating costs or renovation of the old facility.

In addition, last year the commissioners had no location set for the jail. Now, however, they plan for it to be erected on a portion of a 40-acre tract the county purchased along Mildred and Empire streets north of the existing jail and Justice Building.

The existing detention facility was built in 1974 and designed for 46 inmates. It regularly holds twice that many, a situation that sheriff's officers and elected officials alike say is dangerous for both the guards and the inmates. Non-violent offenders (drug- and alcohol-related offenses constituted 26 percent of the local bookings in 1997) are often thrown in with violent inmates (9.8 percent of the bookings the same year).

The National Institute of Corrections called the building "grossly inadequate" in a study in 1998, and the county commissioners have said repeatedly that they fear an inmate lawsuit that would result in the county being fined until it provided a facility that met federal standards.

The new jail would be "110 percent better" in terms of safety and security, according to Lt. Jim Keen, head detention officer.

It would have a "podular" design, meaning it would be constructed in separate units, or pods. Each is a solid unit that is already constructed and trucked in, Keen explained. The walls are 2-1/2-feet-thick concrete and rebar, he said.

The architectural firm, Archetype Design Group, Inc., of Kansas, specializes in jails.

A number of inmates have escaped from the current Montezuma County jail throughout its history -- going up through ceiling tiles, sawing through the walls, crawling through a plumbing panel in a wall. No escapes have occurred in recent months, however.

Each cell block would be a square with a control center located in the middle and the cells around the perimeter. The officer in the center, which would be enclosed in bulletproof glass, could see into all the cells and would have complete control over the doors and the outside entrance, Keen said.

The existing jail has a linear design, and, even with the use of video cameras, it's difficult to monitor all the area at once, he said.

The modern design of the proposed jail would allow it to be operated with only a minimal increase in staff, Keen said.

Around the state, counties and other entities are scrambling to build jails as Colorado's inmate population booms along with the economy and the residential growth rate.

The Ute Mountain Ute tribe is just completing a $9.6 million, 78-bed detention facility, but will allow the county to contract to house just two inmates there, Avery said.

In La Plata County, the sheriff recently warned the commissioners that overcrowding at the 103-bed facility there could soon result in a lawsuit. However, the commissioners decided against putting a jail-related property-tax increase on the ballot this year, saying they needed more time to plan.

Visions of a regional detention facility have generally fallen through because of the high transportation costs that would be involved for most of the entities using the facility.

The proposed Montezuma County jail would include eight holding cells for juveniles, a feature that would help cut expenses considerably, Avery said.