Back in May, Butler County property owners were dismayed to learn that the price tag for the new county prison would be nearly $10 million more than the original estimated cost — $39.5 million instead of $30 million. That dismay was due to the prospects for higher taxes resulting from the initial incorrect estimate.

While Tuesday's construction bid opening didn't send the project skyrocketing above $40 million, it did reveal the need for the county commissioners to be careful in how they exercise options under the contracts that they ultimately award.

Probably the item of biggest concern is whether the county should opt not to complete the prison's third floor for a savings of $807,000. That might seem to be an easy decision for reducing the overall construction cost at this time, but it might not be the smartest move.

Two considerations need to be weighed prior to opting for or against third-floor completion. They are:

How much more expensive is it likely to be to complete the third floor at some future time, based on the current rate of construction-cost increases?

How much could the county lose over the long run in not having the additional unused beds to house inmates from other counties that are experiencing prison-space shortages?

That $807,000 in upfront savings could be dwarfed by the amount that the county could lose by not having the additional space available to rent to others. The county commissioners should dust off some records from recent years to see how much this county has spent housing its excess jail population in other counties' prisons.

Those numbers aren't "small potatoes."

Meanwhile, having the additional prisoner capacity could help in the battle against illegal drugs.

In a letter to the editor of June 6, District Attorney (now Judge) Timothy F. McCune said one of the reasons why officials had "decided not to have large-scale (drug) arrests or 'sweeps' " was because "our county jail is bulging at the seams, and to arrest and incarcerate a large number of people at one time creates an extremely difficult problem for the jail staff to find out-of-county beds for the extra numbers at one time."

Availability of a third floor at the new prison presumably would encourage McCune's successor in the DA's office to step up the pressure against the illegal-drug trade. Also, presumably, the availability of additional space would enable the county's judges to be tougher against individuals involved in the drug trade when those individuals come before them for sentencing.

The county prison being replaced currently is housing fewer than 300 inmates. Having the third floor of the new prison in shape to house inmates would increase the prisoner capacity to more than 500.

Like the issue involving the third floor, which would be part of the general construction contract, the commissioners must closely weigh every aspect of the remaining contract proposals, such as for electrical work and plumbing and heating. It will be good if savings can be achieved, as long as those savings aren't ultimately detrimental.

While there would be additional costs in having to house additional prisoners, payments from other counties for housing their prisoners here could substantially reduce the pressure on the Butler County coffers — and the county's taxpayers.

The buck stops with the commissioners, and it's premature to tout the possibility of savings when the full impact of those savings hasn't been calculated.

When the commissioners, by a majority vote, decided to build the new prison in downtown Butler, they committed the project to several millions of dollars of spending that wouldn't have been necessary if the prison had been built on county-owned property near Sunnyview Home. Now, they must not cause additional, significant negative financial consequences for the county's taxpayers over the long run — and tone down the vigor of the anti-drug fight in the process — by an unwillingness to spend $807,000 to make the prison what it can and probably should be.