(KLZA)-- A proposal to expand the Richardson County Jail by up to 40 beds has been put on hold by the Richardson County Citizens Advisory Committee.

More than 20 people attending the third meeting of the Committee Wednesday evening at the Richardson County Courthouse asking questions and providing input about the proposal.

Andy Fornay with D.A. Davidson, a public finance company said the company estimated property taxes on a $100-thousand property would increase approximately $32 annually on a 15 year bond or just over $25 annually for a 20 year bond.

Sheriff Rick Hardesty estimated an expansion of beds could potentially bring in from $438 thousand to $625 thousand annually if 20 of the new beds were used to house state and federal prisoners in Richardson County. Those funds would be used to pay expenses including an estimated four more employees with the rest used to help make the annual bond payment.

Hardesty said in the past five months, Richardson County has spent approximately $14 thousand to house prisoners at other facilities when the current 24-bed jail was at capacity.

Following comments from the audience that were mostly concerns about additional taxes to local residents and safety the committee went to another room to discuss the topic amongst themselves.

When the committee returned, Chairman Ray Joy said the consensus of the committee was for Commissioners to continue to investigate the issue further, gather more information and revisit the issue in a couple of years.

Sheriff Hardesty said that he has no issues with the proposal being delayed at this time, noting that his department will keep doing the job they are doing and determine where extra prisoners will be taken to in the future.

Denny Macomber with Nebraska Jail Standards was in attendance to help answer questions during the meeting. He said that he felt Jail Standards would support the proposal to add beds to the Richardson County Law Enforcement Center.

Macomber said smaller jails are having trouble finding employees and that is causing some to close. He said 7 -8 jails in the past few years have added beds to new facilities after five or six years of being open.

Macomber said that it is likely that if beds were added to the Richardson County facility, other counties along with state and federal agencies would likely utilize the facility to house prisoners, noting it is happening routinely around the state.

The committee was facing a deadline of March 1 to advise the County Board to move forward with a proposal to add beds to the facility if the measure were to be on the May primary election ballot.