SANDPOINT — Bonner County officials are investigating the possibility of seeking voter approval of a two-year override levy to fund the construction of a new juvenile detention facility.

Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize Scott Bauer, the board’s civil counsel, to sort out project cost estimates, anticipated revenue and time frames for a potential vote.

The commission stopped short of deciding whether they will ask voters to approve a levy.

Rocky Mountain Corrections has projected it could construct a 34-bed juvenile unit for about $5.1 million.

If the county were to proceed with a levy for a facility at that cost, Commissioner Cornel Rasor calculated that the owner of a home valued at $200,000 would see an annual tax increase of nearly $18 for two years if they qualify for Idaho’s homeowner exemption.

The new facility would replace the existing 12-bed facility, which was retrofitted from a residence adjacent to the sheriff’s office and jail. The juvenile facility no longer conforms to state standards, although it has been allowed to continue operating because the county has had a replacement plan in the pipeline.

Debbie Stallcup, director of Justice Services for Bonner County, said the existing facility cannot be remodeled or expanded to meet state standards.

“We cannot fix what we have. We need something new,” she said.

If the facility is shut down, the county would have no choice but to send youthful offenders to a regional facility in Kootenai County. Bonner County officials have estimated that boarding them elsewhere and shuttling them to and from Sandpoint for court hearings could cost upwards of $1 million a year.

Contemplation of a levy comes about two months after a 1st District judge affirmed a prior ruling that the county could not embark on a lease-to-purchase plan to pay for a new facility without putting the question to voters. The county argued a vote was unnecessary because the proposal did not involve a tax hike.

Judge Charles Hosack ruled last fall that the arrangement with Rocky Mountain Corrections extended the county’s indebtedness beyond a single fiscal year and would have clouded the ownership of public land if the county terminated the arrangement. Commissioners asked Hosack to reconsider his ruling in December 2008, but the judge declined.

“The two-year override seems like the best option right now,” Bauer told commissioners.

Although Rocky Mountain has indicated a preference for conducting a bond election to pay for the new facility, Clerk Marie Scott counseled commissioners against a bond measure. She said a proposal to pay off something in two years would likely be more palatable to voters than a long-term bond obligation.

Commissioner Cornel Rasor said a bond measure could also result in interest payments which exceed the principal.

“To me, that’s an improper use of tax dollars,” he said.