When Jefferson County voters begin casting ballots on a jail operations levy, Sheriff Jim Adkins is hoping they remember that even with a “yes” vote their taxes will be going down.

Jefferson County voters will be asked to approve a levy of $1.24 per $1,000 in assessed property value, replacing the 99 cent levy set to expire in June 2014. However, because the bond that built the jail alsoexpires in June — taking 77 cents per $1,000 in assessed property value off county tax bills — property taxes will drop even if voters approve the levy.

First opened in 2001, the 160-bed jail has never operated close to capacity, but the county has historically rented its excess beds to Crook and Deschutes counties to offset the cost to local taxpayers — as of Wednesday afternoon, 26 of the 61 jail inmates were from outside of Jefferson County.

In the jail’s first few years, when Crook and Deschutes counties rented more beds, Jefferson County built up a savings account it’s been slowly draining to pay for operations.

Now, with Deschutes County set to add 144 beds to its jail by next summer, and Crook County studying its options for adding jail capacity, Jefferson County is asking voters to shoulder a bigger share of the costs.

“Nobody’s getting a pay increase; we’re not hiring any new people,” he said. “It’s just to maintain our current staffing.”

If approved, the levy on November’s ballot would generate about $400,000 annually, Adkins said. That figure takes into account the loss of revenue from Deschutes County, which is expanding its own jail, but assumes continuing the lease of beds to Crook County. If the Crook County Sheriff’s Office goes its own way, Jefferson County could again be running a deficit.

“If Crook County takes their inmates and houses all of them over there, then my $1.24 (rate per $1,000 assessed property value) isn’t going to cover it, because we based it on that revenue from Crook County,” he said.

Any expansion of Crook County’s 16-bed jail is a few years away. Prineville and Crook County are studying the possibility of converting Pioneer Memorial Hospital into a “justice center,” with a larger jail, once a new hospital is completed in early 2015. Crook County Sheriff Jim Hensley has said he could run a larger jail for less than the $63.93 per inmate per day his department pays Jefferson County, and save his deputies the trouble of ferrying inmates back and forth between Prineville and Madras.

Adkins said he intends to discuss with Hensley options for continuing the Crook-Jefferson relationship. Adkins said he’s open to a new agreement that includes prisoner transportation between Prineville and Madras. The jail also intends to explore other opportunities to rent beds to other law enforcement agencies, he said, including the U.S. Marshals and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Jefferson County jail has a staff of 19, with no fewer than three people on duty during any given shift. Adkins said that, at that level, he could probably house up to 105 inmates.

If the levy fails and the jail must depend solely on about $500,000 it gets from the county general fund, the jail staff could be cut to as little as five, Adkins said. That could mean a single deputy at times patrolling the jail.

Adkins said he has no way to cut power to unused portions of the jail, so jail staff puts fewer inmates in each dormitory than it can hold, a move he believes cuts down on fights and other behavior problems.

The excess space has other advantages. Because the county is never short on beds, individuals who violate their parole or probation are routinely returned to jail, he said. As a patrol officer in the late 1980s, Adkins said, he’d often encounter subjects drinking in violation of their probation. With no jail space available, the sheriff said, suspects were advised to visit the probation office the following day.

“Here, now, you do it — you’re going to jail,” he said. “There’s a hammer over your head, no ifs, ands or buts.”

Adkins said he’d prefer not to have to ask voters for additional funds to operate the jail, but he’s out of ways to significantly cut his costs.

“It’s uncomfortable for me, being as fiscally conservative as I am, to ask for the increase, but that’s what it costs to run the jail, and as a responsible sheriff, that’s what I have to say,” he said.

Nov. 5 election

• Last day to register to vote: Oct. 15 (21 days before the election)

• Ballots mailed: Oct. 18

• Election Day: Nov. 5

• Where to register: County elections offices, Oregon secretary of state’s office, DMV, locations, www.oregonvotes.gov

On the ballot

City of Bend

• Measure 9-94: Increase the temporary lodging rate from 9 to 10 percent, then to 10.4 percent.

Deschutes County

• Measure 9-96: Increase the transient room tax outside incorporated areas by 1 percentage point, from 7 to 8 percent.

Deschutes and Crook counties

• Measure 9-95: Form Alfalfa Fire District and create a permanent taxing district at a rate of $1.75 per $1,000 assessed property value.

Deschutes and Jefferson counties

• Measure 16-69: Renew operations levy for Crooked River Ranch Rural Fire Protection District at a rate of 69 cents per $1,000 assessed property value.

Jefferson County

• Measure 16-70: Levy a five-year jail operations tax of $1.24 per $1,000 assessed property value.

• Measure 16-71: Approve $8 million in bonds for repairs and improvements to schools in the Culver School District.

Read our stories

Coverage leading up to the election is at bendbulletin.com/ election2013