Now that the county commissioners have voted 2-1 to build the new prison at West Cunningham and South Washington streets, several important issues must be given serious thought and attention.

Most important among these is that county government must not seek any additional increases in the real estate tax without the county first having sold the Sunnyview Farm property. If the property is unsuitable for any aspect of county operations, there is no good reason for retaining it.

There is plenty of agricultural acreage in the county, so there is no need to retain the property in question for that purpose. And, nearby residents who have opposed a number of proposed uses for the land, such as for a prison, juvenile detention center and mental health facility, should not object to the land being used for homes.

Having homes on the land would increase the amount of tax revenue coming into the county coffers, beyond the price for which the land were sold. Having tax-paying homes on the property also would relieve some of the pressure from municipal and Butler School District budgets.

It would be unconscionable for this or any future board of county commissioners to consider increasing taxes without this source of income first being tapped.

Now that the prison site decision has been made, the commissioners and county salary board - the commissioners are members of that board - should begin to closely scrutinize Sheriff's Department staffing. As the 2007 opening of the new prison nears, the commissioners and salary board should be armed with a firm decision about whether the current complement of deputies should be maintained.

With an adequate-sized prison in place, meaning that deputies won't be traveling to other counties on a regular basis to transport prisoners to and from other lockups, it would seem reasonable to conclude that a smaller staff of deputies would be adequate.

The new prison will be only about 800 feet from the county government center and only a short distance farther from the main courthouse.

The staffing issue regarding the Sheriff's Department also will be very relevant because of the fact that more guards will be needed to staff the larger prison than what currently are needed at the existing facility.

The initial phase of the new prison calls for space to house 512 inmates; the current prison has been responsible for just 250 inmates on average. Meanwhile, the second phase of the prison project will increase the capacity of the facility to 800 inmates, but that will come after 2007.

Despite owning the Sunnyview land that had more than enough space for the prison, Commissioners James Kennedy and Glenn Anderson voted to spend $485,000 for the parking lot on which the multi-level prison will be built. Commissioners Chairman Scott Lowe voted against the motion.

That $485,000 is in addition to the $20,000 the county paid the city parking authority for a purchase agreement and the $5,000 the county gave to the authority to research the legality of the sale.

The fact that the county could have saved $510,000 by using land already owned is justification for taxpayers to demand that there be no more tax hikes until after the sale of the Sunnyview property has taken place.

County government should be concerned about its legitimate responsibilities; maintaining farmland isn't one of them.

The three commissioners voted their conscience in deciding the prison site issue. Now it's time for them to exercise additional conscience in regard to the taxpayers' wallets and pocketbooks.

- J.R.K.