Opinion: Salt Lake County’s public safety bond is a necessary investment for our future

With such high stakes nationally, it is easy to forget that small, local issues often have the largest impact on communities. Salt Lake County’s public safety bond is one of those issues. As our community continues to grow, so do the challenges we face in law enforcement, homelessness, mental health and criminal justice reform. The public safety bond on Salt Lake County ballots — a measure supported across the political spectrum — is essential to addressing these issues and creating a safer, healthier community for all.
The bond, with the support of County Mayor Jenny Wilson as well as eight of the nine members of the Salt Lake County Council, has broad appeal. Conservatives and progressives alike recognize that this is not just a financial decision but a moral one — a chance to provide the necessary infrastructure to address the root causes of crime, homelessness and recidivism while ensuring the safety and well-being of our residents.
At the heart of the bond is the creation of a new Justice and Accountability Center, a facility designed to provide people who have committed low-level offenses — many struggling with mental health or substance abuse challenges — with the support they need to turn their lives around. The JAC will offer housing assistance, mental health care, substance use treatment and job training as well as other resources essential to breaking harmful cycles. The current jail system, which lacks sufficient mental health and reentry services, simply isn’t equipped to meet these needs. As a result, law enforcement tends to see the same people reenter the justice system again and again.
While the finances of this decision should not outweigh the most supportive option for our community, the two are not mutually exclusive; the JAC provides a cost-effective alternative to incarceration. Jailing someone costs $136 per day; services at the JAC will be only $75 per day. This is not only a more compassionate solution, but one that is both more effective and half the cost of what we do now. By investing in prevention and rehabilitation, the county will save up to $6.8 million annually in reduced jail costs, while simultaneously reducing crime rates and improving public safety.
In addition to this vital new center, the bond will fund long-overdue infrastructure improvements to our county’s jails. One of the county’s jails is already past its lifespan and overcrowding is a serious concern. Delaying this investment will only increase costs in the long run. Combining the county’s two jails into a single, modern facility is the most cost-effective way to address both the current overcrowding and the deteriorating infrastructure. If we fail to act now, the county will face even higher costs down the road to replace failing structures and address the lack of space.
The immense benefits of the Public Safety Bond will have minimal financial impact on the average county resident. The bond will result in an estimated property tax increase of just $4.91 per month for a home with the county’s average value of $602,000 — that is just about the average price of buying a hamburger these days. Frankly, this bond is a well-thought-out, considerate approach to addressing remarkably serious public safety challenges from multiple angles. It is the kind of public policymaking that is so often missing from federal and state efforts to address public safety, where grandstanding, partisanship and winning is often viewed as more important than problem-solving.
The public safety bond is not just a response to the immediate challenges we face — it is a proactive investment in the future of Salt Lake County. It represents a unique opportunity for all of us to come together in support of a common goal: creating a community where every resident has the opportunity to thrive in a safe, healthy and supportive environment.
Jeff Merchant is the executive director of the Alliance for a Better Utah and the Better Utah Institute.