The news that Butler County officials are considering construction of a parking garage in connection with the new-prison project provides further fodder to those who argue that the prison should have been built on county-owned land near Sunnyview Nursing Home, rather than in downtown Butler.

Not only did the county waste in excess of $2 million via its decision to build downtown — thanks to required utility relocations and property acquisitions that would not have been necessary under the Sunnyview option — but the county now must wrestle with building a parking garage in a confined space with limited options, in order to comply with a city parking requirement.

The county commissioners plan to build the garage on the site of the current prison after prisoners are moved to the new facility. Had the county built the prison near Sunnyview, there would have been adequate space for parking at that location, as well as for future expansion of the correctional facility, if it someday were needed.

A prison built on the Sunnyview site also could have been a one-story prison, which experts say is easier to manage than a "vertical" prison such as the one under construction.

Though it's a moot point now, had the Sunnyview site been chosen, a city parking expenditure from the county's coffers would not have been necessary, saving taxpayers a sizable sum of money.

A city zoning requirement mandates that the county have 92 parking spaces tied to the new prison. Initial requirements had specified that the county would have to provide 191 parking spaces, but that subsequently was revised downward to 128, and then to the current number.

According to an article in Friday's Butler Eagle, the garage under consideration would provide 66 or 67 parking spaces. County property acquisitions will provide the land for the remaining 25 needed spaces.

Initially, the prison project was touted as a $30 million effort, but the project currently is carrying about a $40 million price tag. Because the parking garage proposal was in such an early stage of discussion last week, there is no estimate as to how much the garage might add to the prison project's final cost, but that cost won't be insignificant.

Those county taxpayers already worried about what the new prison's ultimate impact on their real estate tax bills will be now have grounds for further concern, due to the parking issue.

Earlier this month, the commissioners approved $175,000 for change orders in prison construction. Construction change orders are not uncommon, especially for projects as large as the prison.

But the parking garage is a different story. It is further evidence that the planning leading up to the decision about where to build the prison didn't adequately weigh the taxpayers' best interests.