Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said he solidly supports a proposed funding plan that would set aside money over seven years to expand the county jail.

The county commissioners will consider the funding mechanism as part of the final budget following a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

“Everyone’s heard about jail overcrowding for years, but I’ve been somewhat silent,” Curry said.

With the local economy struggling for several years during the recession, Curry said pushing for a larger jail would have been perceived as “whining,” and since it seemed unlikely voters would have supported a bond issue at that point in time, he simply didn’t broach the subject.

He’s talking now, though, in favor of an innovative funding concept to save rather than borrow money for an expanded jail.

Curry, along with Flathead District Judge Bob Allison, Justice of the Peace Mark Sullivan, county Commissioner Gary Krueger and county Administrator Mike Pence met with the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board Tuesday, with all five voicing support for the plan.

While the county has levied the maximum number of mills allowed by law most years, during the recession the commissioners opted to leave some mills “on the table” to soften the tax burden for county residents. The county is able to reclaim those mills from past years and levy them in future years.

By tapping into those permissive mills and levying to the maximum level allowed, the county would earmark the new tax revenue and transfer it to the capital improvement plan for the jail expansion.

The additional tax money would be raised over seven years and could generate close to $10 million. The owner of a home valued at $200,000 would pay $9.58 more in county taxes for the first year. For the 2015 fiscal year the county would set aside 3.6 mills for the jail expansion. In subsequent years it would allocate roughly 5.67 mills, which would mean slightly bigger tax bills for property owners.

The funding is contingent on commissioner approval each year. If other critical needs arise in future years, the commissioners would have the discretion to reallocate the tax dollars.

Krueger said he hopes support for the jail funding scenario will be so strong that future commissioners will say, “Don’t mess with it.”

Curry said he’s excited about the saving plan.

“It’s fiscally prudent to save money instead of borrowing it.”

Krueger pointed out the county would save roughly $4.5 million in interest that would be charged if 20-year bonds were approved for the jail project.

“I believe it would be very difficult to pass a bond,” Krueger said.

The need for a larger jail isn’t going to go away, Curry pointed out. When the jail was built in 1985 it was designed for a maximum of 63 prisoners.

“Over the years we have increased capacity as much as we can by double-bunking,” he said. Today, the jail can accommodate just over 100 prisoners, depending on the mix of violent felons, women and other offenders.

“We quit taking nonviolent misdemeanors when we hit 92,” Curry said. “We always take felons and those who are an imminent threat to public safety.”

Based on current needs and future projections, Curry estimates the county jail should have about 200 beds.

The county jail is designed to hold accused felons until they’re tried and sent elsewhere for incarceration or are let go, and it’s designed to hold people charged with misdemeanors both pre- and post-trial and sentencing, Curry explained.

“Currently we’re greater than 80 percent felons,” he said about the jail roster. That’s about double the percentage of felons that should be in the jail.

“We’re upside-down because we don’t have the space,” Curry said. “It’s very frustrating for the JPs (justices of the peace) and city judges.

While the county doesn’t calculate how many nonviolent misdemeanor offenders aren’t jailed, it’s something that happens “almost every day,” Curry said.

“We do outsource [inmates] if it’s absolutely necessary,” he added, noting the huge expense of transferring prisoners elsewhere for holding. “It would be cheaper to put them in a hotel and guard them.”

An additional capital improvement project, a $3 million community gymnasium, also is proposed within the same funding mechanism, with the county paying half the cost and private donations matching the other half.

Krueger said the intent of adding the gymnasium to the long-range capital improvements was to provide seed money for the project.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.