SANTA ANA : Tax for Police Station and Jail Stirs Dispute

Residents will see higher taxes on their utility bills if Santa Ana goes ahead with its plan to build a police headquarters and a large jail.

The proposed utility users tax increase, expected to be 1%, has been the target of a bitter debate in recent months. About 30 people attended this week’s City Council meeting to protest the proposal.

Residents will have another chance to tell the City Council how they feel about the increase at a public hearing at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 at Santa Ana council chambers.

City officials say the tax hike is necessary to support a bond that will pay for the jail and police facility, which will cost $90 million.

Police say they must build the jail because the county jail is too crowded and criminals are quickly freed after they are arrested.

The 390,000-square-foot building is proposed for a site on Shelton Street between Civic Center Drive and 6th Street, near the Santa Ana Municipal Stadium. It would augment the 48-cell Santa Ana Detention Facility, and would have 256 cells that would house up to 420 male and female inmates.

Some residents have spoken against the utility users tax increase.

“Why does the city talk jail, while what they really want is a shiny, new, large, well-equipped police headquarters?” asked Judy Buffin-Edge, a Santa Ana resident. Buffin-Edge, one of the leaders of a campaign against the proposed tax, insists the city should allow residents to vote on the issue.