Public safety center: It's now or later

Whether for or against the public safety center planned for the City of McCook and Red Willow County, we should tip our hats to all the people -- specifically the jail study committee -- who worked so hard on the proposal.

Proponents do have some points -- potential danger from a derailment, older facilities and inefficiency in operation.

Most importantly, the county has no jail, and the city has only a 96-hour holding facility.

It's a problem that should have been addressed 20 years ago when the old Red Willow County jail was closed.

Instead, we've invested thousands of dollars in transporting prisoners to jails in other counties, which have used our prisoner fees -- financed by Red Willow County taxpayers -- to improve their own jails.

There are problems with the proposal, such as siting uncertainties. Voters might be more comfortable with proponents' first choice -- the old West Ward building -- instead of the current Q Street location which could create added expense as routes are upgraded to reduce response times.

And, it would be a cleaner vote if we could give a simple "yea or nay" than picking between a county portion AND city portion, a county portion ONLY or a city portion ONLY (which would effectively kill the whole project).

Then there is the all-important question of funding, which has questions of its own. The county's $5.1 million bond would cost the owner of a $75,000 home $50.25 a year, while the city's $2.5 million bond would add another $51 a year to that home's tax bill.

Someone outside of McCook would pay only the county portion of the tax bill, of course, while a homeowner in McCook would support both bonds, for about $101.25 a year -- for about $8.44 a month.

McCook and Red Willow County need a new public safety center for the future of our community. Voters' real choice Tuesday is whether to build one now, or later.