The Butler County commissioners' decision to build the new prison downtown made selling the county farm for residential development the right option to be pursued.

The fact that the cost of the Sunnyview Nursing Home renovation project is expected to be double what was originally anticipated - $2.6 million - makes selling the farm even more desirable from the standpoint of taxpayers' wallets and pocketbooks.

The commissioners should not give even a fleeting thought of a tax increase stemming from the Sunnyview work, as long as the farm property remains off the tax rolls. While there hasn't been public discussion about such a higher-tax possibility to date, such discussion should not be allowed to enter the Sunnyview picture.

Some county taxpayers even rightfully wonder whether the county should be staying in the nursing home business. Last year, the home produced a $1.6 million operating loss.

The county's healthy end-of-year fund balances of recent years can't be expected to last, with operating losses and higher-than-planned project costs eating up money at the pace being recorded.

Whatever meager income the county's coffers might be realizing from individuals who are farming the Sunnyview farm land doesn't stack up against what could be gained by selling the acreage for upscale residential development.

If the county intends to stay involved in nursing home care, as the upcoming project indicates, the additional work that will spawn the higher cost is within reason - more private patient rooms than originally planned, a sunroom to accommodate an Alzheimer's disease unit and a chapel. Sunnyview officials contend that the changes are necessary to keep up with market demand and more adequately complement new care philosophies at the nursing home.

The facility's administration believes the renovation project will help the home regain profitable status. If that is the result, the project-planning slowdown and the rethinking of what the project should entail will have been in the county's best interests.

If that isn't the result, the county government shouldn't dump the burden of a bad decision on the backs of property tax payers - again, as long as the county farm is available for sale.

The renovation work is to begin this winter; original plans had called for the project to be nearly completed by now.

The big issue isn't the timetable, however. It is what savings in other segments of the county's operations can be achieved to balance Sunnyview's drain on the county treasury.

The fate of the Sunnyview farm must be part of that consideration, since the site has been rejected for every possible use that has come before county leaders - especially the prison project, which has resulted in significant land-acquisition outlays that would not have been required if the county's own land were used.

- J.R.K.