To Fund Courts, Jails : County Puts Sales Tax Boost on Fall Ballot

San Diego County voters will be asked in November to raise the sales tax a half-cent on the dollar for five years to fund a $420-million courthouse and jail construction program.

The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to place the measure on the ballot, with Supervisors Susan Golding and Paul Eckert dissenting.

Supervisor George Bailey, chief backer of the tax increase, said the money would give the county’s criminal justice system the tools it needs to reduce jail overcrowding and courtroom backlogs.

With the county’s jail system running about 75% over capacity, almost all misdemeanor suspects and some felony suspects are turned away at the jailhouse door without ever getting a cell.

The sales tax increase, which requires approval from two-thirds of the voters, would pay for a new pretrial jail and a larger facility to replace the aging central jail downtown. The money would also fund a new downtown courthouse and new courtrooms at the county’s regional complexes in Chula Vista, El Cajon and Vista.

“Unless we ensure rapid incarceration, rapid progress through the courts, we can’t get tough on crime,” Bailey said. “We cannot have a no-drug society. We cannot put drunken drivers where they belong. We cannot protect our children. We cannot protect our seniors from property loss due to petty theft, because we are putting those people back on the streets now.”

Supervisor Brian Bilbray said he was tired of waiting for the state to pay for San Diego’s jails and courtrooms. Traditionally, court and jail construction has been a state, rather than a local, responsibility.

“If we wait for the State of California to come to the aid of San Diego, we can wait until the cows come home,” Bilbray said. “The state has put us at the end of the line on almost everything. I have zero trust in the state coming to the aid of the citizens of San Diego County.”

Golding said she opposed the sales tax increase but favored asking voters to approve a bond measure instead, a move that would raise property taxes about $60 per residence.

Golding said the property tax increase would be fairer and might stand a better chance with the voters. She also said putting either measure on the ballot would be risky.

“Should it not pass, the next time we have to convince the State of California that the citizens need a facility, we will be subjected to the argument . . . that obviously our citizens are not that serious about the need because they were not willing to pass the tax,” she said.

Eckert said he would urge opposition to all local tax increases until the state agrees to give San Diego County a higher percentage of tax dollars raised here and elsewhere in the state.

J.T. (Tom) Hawthorne, state transportation commissioner from San Diego and a strong supporter of a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to fund road and transit projects in the county, Tuesday urged the county not to go forward with the jail tax measure until the transit issue is resolved. The San Diego Assn. of Governments has supported a November vote for the transportation tax, raising the prospect that both tax measures could appear on the same ballot. Both the county and Sandag received approval from the state Legislature to place the new tax measures on the November ballot.

In a separate, unanimous vote, the board moved forward on its plan to provide emergency jail beds and sites for future, permanent jails. The next jail to be built will be funded in part by $32 million the county is eligible to receive from a state bond measure approved by the voters June 3.

Santee, which three months ago was named the favorite site for a new jail, is now one of four sites under consideration. The others are in Otay Mesa, Miramar and downtown San Diego. The board voted Tuesday to refer the question of the future jail’s location to the county’s Criminal Justice Council for a recommendation.

The board also ordered that 268 new jail beds be made available within nine months by building three new dormitories at existing jail sites, expanding the work furlough center and adding more beds at the Camp Barrett probation honor camp. An additional 100 beds would be freed up by expanding programs providing early release for certain inmates.